Crêpes

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl, make a well in the middle and break in the eggs. Whisk from the centre outwards, pulling the flour in a little at a time, until you have a smooth thick paste with no dry flour left at the sides.

Melt the butter. Whisk in the milk a third at a time, then 40 g of the melted butter, keeping the rest for the pan. The batter should have the consistency of single cream and run off the whisk in an unbroken thread.

Cover the bowl and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes. The flour takes up the liquid and the gluten relaxes; batter cooked straight away tears at the edges and chews like rubber.

Set a 24 cm frying pan over a medium heat and wipe it round with a little of the remaining butter on kitchen paper. It is hot enough when a drop of batter sets the moment it lands.

Pour in a small ladleful, about 60 ml, and immediately lift the pan and tilt it in a circle so the batter runs out to the edges in a thin even layer. Tip any excess back into the bowl.

Cook for 45 to 60 seconds, until the edge lifts away from the pan on its own and the underside is patched with brown, then turn it over and give the second side 20 to 30 seconds. That side always looks paler and spottier, and it is the one to fold inwards.

Stack the crêpes one on top of another on a warm plate as they come out of the pan, so the trapped steam keeps them soft. Wipe the pan with butter again every second or third crêpe.