This morning, I decided to try a crepe recipe that was submitted by Mrs. Viva Lefter for a recipe contest and won third prize. The title of the recipe in the newspaper is French Griddle Cakes. I know them by the name Crepes. This crepe recipe made a thicker crepe than I am used to and they didn’t roll too well, but they are very yummy. It could probably use a little more milk to thin it out, so if you don’t have cream on hand, I think using 1 1/2 cups of milk would work just fine.
You can see that “rolling” ended up more like “folding”. I used about 1/3 cup of batter for each and rolled the pan around to spread the batter as thin as I could. If you’ve never made crepes, don’t be intimidated. They really are easy to make and you can fill them with anything. When they are cooking, wait for the edges to look dry before flipping them over.
This recipe made 8 crepes, so I set the servings to 4 people. The cost of the ingredients, including jam and powdered sugar, came to about $1.21. That makes this breakfast 30 cents per serving. Since I have started gathering and making these old recipes and realizing how cheap you can make meals for when you spend a little extra time cooking, it has surprised me. I have been known to be in a hurry and run to grab a fast food breakfast and spent around $8. With the extra planning, I have saved a lot of money by cooking at home.
Original Recipe
Third Prize Recipe
French Griddle Cakes1 cup sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 well-beaten egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
jam and powdered sugarCombine all dry materials and sift; add egg which has been beaten with sugar, milk and cream; batter should be thin; pour batter to cover bottom of griddle; fry over hot fire; spread with jam, roll up and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup
Mrs. Viva Lefter. 302 Shawnee St., Cambridge City, Ind.
Printed in The Richmond Item on November 30, 1923

Mrs. Lefter's French Griddle Cakes - Crepes
Crepe recipe from 1923
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 4 tsp powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp jam
Instructions
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Sift the dry ingredients together. Add a well beaten egg, sugar, milk and cream. Mix well. The batter will be thin.
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Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into a hot pan and spread as thin as possible. When the edges start to look dry, flip and cook the other side.
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Spread jam onto the crepe, roll and sprinkle with powdered sugar.