Desserts from France: Crepes with peach jam

If you're wondering why the headline says peach jam but the picture features something reddish/black, I'd like to introduce you to the black peach. As of now, it appears to only grow in my neighbor's yard, a situation I shall quickly remedy by planting every single pit I can get my hands on. Come 3 or 4 years from now, I'll be the queen of black peaches. Or someone will.

Anyhow, I had this wonderful peach jam that didn't quite fit in the jars. As you know, any 'leftover' sweets MUST BE EATEN IMMEDIATELY or the world will stop turning and everything on the Earth's crust will be swept off the mantle, leaving a big hunk of rock. It's such a small price to pay to save all of humanity, so I went ahead and planned my use.

One of the wonderful things the French have give us is crepes. Now, I'm going to be honest - American desserts as a rule are far superior to other country's desserts, taken on a whole. That's because we got the best of all the ethnic stuff and aren't trapped by our traditions. But, crepes make a wonderful dessert from France and are dead simple.

Here's the 'recipe' if something so simple can be called a recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk (maybe plus a bit)
2 eggs
2 TB butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar

(If you're not making dessert crepes, leave out the sugar and double the salt)

Mix it all together until is very pourable - about the consistency of kefir, if you are familiar with it. Pour a Tablespoon of oil into your frying pan then wipe it around with a paper towel. It should just have a sheen of oil, any more and your crepe will slide around the pan. Put it on a medium high heat, then add about 1/4 cup of batter, quickly rotating the pan to evenly coat the bottom with batter. If your crepe won't run, or comes out too thick, add a bit of milk until it works right.

Cook until the whole top has lost its gloss and you see bubble forming underneath. Turn it. I use a knife and my fingers, but you can use a good sharp spatula to turn it over. Let cook for about 10-15 seconds, then fold in half and half again and remove from the pan.

You need to be fast, crepes cook very quickly. The first one is usually a throwaway - it doesn't color correctly and you rarely get the batter right straight away. So if your first one is awful, that's how it's supposed to be.

The beautiful thing about crepes is that they don't soak up liquids, so they are great for something that clings, like a loose peach jam or similar.

Arrange your triangles to look nice, add whatever your topping is and you have a lovely, easy, not very filling dessert. And because a lot of people think it's hard to make crepes, you might impress someone.