For many of us, buckwheat flour is one of the ingredients in a pancake mix. Growing up, there were usually only three flours in my parents’ pantry: all purpose, whole wheat, and pastry. Occasionally rye flour would make an appearance, if someone had gone on a bread-baking spree.
Now, after a decade of living with someone who has celiac disease, my definition of pantry staples has shifted. In fact, there is a whole shelf devoted to gluten-free flours. Quinoa? Right there. Coconut? Two jars down. Oat? Let me grind a little for you. Garfava? It’s sitting there, a little unloved, at the end of the row.
So, sourcing buckwheat flour wasn’t the most challenging part of this week’s assignment for me.
Surprisingly, neither was making the crêpes. I put together the batter last night, but wasn’t able to start cooking until this evening. The batter held up well. My pan is only eight inches wide, so mine were a little small, but they were lacy, golden brown, light, but resilient. Nearly perfect.
My woes began with the egg. My stove is ever so slightly a-tilt. Something I forget until carefully placed food starts sliding to one side. On my first attempt, the egg skated over the surface of the crêpe, settling against the side of the pan. I managed to move it back a few times, but then it burst. The crêpe was a little too Pollock to photograph, but it was delicious.
On my second attempt, I built a little wall of grated cheese around the centre of the crêpe and trapped the yolk inside. This time, my problem was folding the sides of the crêpe – I’d been a little too enthusiastic in my wall-building and the crêpe was over-filled with cheese.
As you can see, it prevented me from making a perfect square, which was probably not helped by the fact that my crêpes were a little smaller than they should have been. But, again, it was delicious and there was nothing to regret about the extra cheese.
My next attempt at this recipe will involve the purchase of a proper crêpe pan. In the name of science, of course.
You can read through everyone’s posts here. And consider joining this community of wonderful cooks and lovely people, as we work our way through David Lebovitz‘ My Paris Kitchen.
One Wet Foot 
Great post Teresa! I have mr flour, and will make my batter. I thing it will be a French Saturday lunch!
Yours look good, and I’m happy for the tips!!
Have a great weekend!
It’s amazing how far we have come with new ingredients such as all the flour that you
mentioned. My results for this recipe were a disaster, but what the heck, you can’t win them all,
I just have to try harder next time. Your galette turned out well, looks quite delicious.
Wow! they really have the lacey effect too! these look gorgeous! xxxxxxxxxx
Ah, yes: all things in the name of science! 😉 Your galettes look gorgeous and it appears your flour was the lighter buckwheat. Somehow, I purchased the dark buckwheat and had such an annoying time dealing with the batter. My crepe pan is also only 8 or 9 inches. It’s been really interesting to see the vast array of experiences with this recipe!
Yup, I now really want a crêpe pan but I’m also determined to master this in a regular non-stick pan too…. Your galettes look nearly black in the top photo… Mine were nowhere near the colour they are supposed to be!
Oh the things we do for science. I had some issues with the folding part as well, but since it didn’t seem to affect the taste, I didn’t let it bother me.
I am having the best time reading everyone’s posts tonight because you all are making me laugh. First, I had the same problems that everyone else did (well, not as bad as Nana and Katie). What is funny is how we all wrote this week’s recipe up. Love your second paragraph, Teresa. I also agree, the galettes are beautiful with the holes. Your photo of that is better than mine. Looks like crocheting. My yolk slipped and slide to the side also I kept propping it up and building a “wall” of grated cheese around it. (We Americans seem to be big on building walls right now!) I couldn’t get my sides to fold either. Was there anyone who figured out how to successfully do that? I did enjoy the rich taste but couldn’t even finish the first one.
Your post made me smile, especially the part about the tilty stovetop. It surprised me that the stumbling block for most of us was folding up the edges. That seems like it would be a no-brainer, but it was hard! Your crepe looks perfectly lacy. I wish you’d shared a picture of your abstract crepe though!
Love the lacy structure of your crêpe. This is something new I discovered with this recipe. Not the smooth eggy texture of most crêpes. I would love to do an experiment using and substituting all the different flours and see what happens. Even if I have a lousy time in the kitchen cooking it, it’ll be fun writing about it. Fun reading your post!
Ah yes, the crepe complete! My personal favorite. Yours came out so well – the important thing is how delicious it was 🙂
Oh I love the idea of too much cheese! A lovely post!
Your galette looks lacy and perfect! We’ve enjoyed this one very much too! I did not bother to fold mine!
Your galette looks so lacy, and just perfect. I too am going to purchase a crepe pan (love your thought- in the name of science!
Love it. Your experience is like mine. We have an electric stove in our rental and the little coils are not always level. I had egg running amok on my first one and then I made a cheese nest which helped but took a little longer to cook the egg. Ah well. It was delicious.
Love it. Your experience is like mine. We have an electric stove in our rental and the little coils are not always level. I had egg running amok on my first one and then I made a cheese nest which helped but took a little longer to cook the egg. Ah well. It was delicious.
The egg was the hardest part for me too! Although I like your idea of the wall of cheese! It’s a very tasty recipe though!