Julia Child's Flour Pro-Tip For Lacy, Tender Crepes
Julia Child is certainly not the first American to travel to Paris and fall in love with crepes, but she might be the most famous one.
For anyone who doesn't know, Child is best known as the author of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which would go on to become one of the best-selling resources for French culinary wisdom in the United States (via Encyclopedia Britannica). She would then go on to become a household name by hosting her own cooking show "The French Chef." Her program was even given one of the greatest signs of cultural relevance when it was parodied on "Saturday Night Live" (per YouTube). She also may have changed the way we cook more than any other chef of the last century.
Child was well known for her comprehensive understanding of French cuisine and is one of the best sources for translating the French crepes recipe for American kitchens. Her secret weapon for her own crepes seems to be a particular type of flour that is used in this versatile French treat.
The best flour for crepes according to Julia Child
Crepes are a highly simple dish that only consists of a few ingredients. It makes sense then that one of the keys to nailing this recipe is to have the proper ingredients on hand. Cuisine at Home says that one of Julia Child's top tips for preparing crepes is all about the flour.
Child says that using the right flour will make the difference between perfectly tender crepes, and chewy frisbees. She recommends using instant flours like Wondra to achieve this miraculous effect.
Martha Stewart claims that instant flour is made using a process known as pre-gelatinization. This means that it has been pre-steamed and then dried to render a super fine powder. It also tends to have a low protein content. That means it will have less gluten form during the mixing process.
These two qualities help to render perfectly light and tender crepes, since they will easily absorb the water, and won't toughen up thanks to the low protein content.
Substitutions for instant flour
If you aren't able to find instant flour at your local grocery store, or just want to make great crepes on a whim one day, then there are other similar flours you can work in as a substitute. A Mind "Full" Mom suggests that cake flour and whole wheat pastry flour as worthy substitutes.
According to the Wheat Foods Council, cake and pastry flours are both made with softer wheats. This means that they have lower protein content. Cake flour especially has less protein, and features a greater percentage of starch as well. It's normally used in cakes to create a light and gentle crumb, but it will accomplish the same goal when making crepes. Softer wheat makes for softer crepes.
Cuisine At Home notes that if you do have to use all-purpose flour, then you should let the batter sit "for at least an hour." This will help the flour to absorb the liquid completely, and help make up for the differences between the flours.