Crepes Too Crisp

Our answer

Nigella's Crepes (from FEAST) are thin pancakes made with flour, milk, egg and butter. If the crepes were crisp then it is likely that the frying pan was too hot and the crepe was cooked for too long. The frying pan should not be so hot that the batter starts to set as soon as it hits the pan, instead you should be able to tilt the pan so that the batter forms a thin layer over the base of the pan. If the base of the pancake is browning within 30 seconds then turn the heat down a little. Once the bottom side of the pancake is golden flip it over and cook for a further 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the other side has a couple of brown spots on, then transfer to a plate. Repeat the process, adjusting the heat until it takes about a minute to cook the first side of the pancake.

As there are very few ingredients in a pancake batter it is difficult to change the flour for an alternative, but the addition of melted butter to the pancake batter usually gives the pancakes a buttery, rather than a floury taste. However you can increase the eggs from 1 to 2, which will make the batter taste richer. But don't add more than one extra egg as otherwise you will end up with something tasting closer to an omelette. As an alternative you could also try Nigella's Arabian Pancakes With Orange-Flower Syrup, which are doused in a sweet syrup or the Dutch Baby that has more eggs in the batter and is a large, baked pancake, rather than a thin crepe.