Two traditional French recipes for Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday)!

Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday) is originally a Catholic celebration, a moment of entertainment for all of us. It celebrates the end of the winter, which  is coming soon, by dressing up and eating sugary and fatty foods! It’s also a party day in many schools!

There are some carnivals throughout France, including Nantes, Mulhouse and Cherbourg.

The most famous carnivals in France are the Nice Carnival, the Annecy Carnival and the Dunkerque Carnival.

With its flowered floats parading through the streets, the Carnival of Nice is renowned worldwide. The Annecy carnival is spectacular with its magnificent masks and costumes, whilst Dunkerque Carnival is famous for its herrings that are thrown into the crowd!

Each country and region has its own specialties. In France, there exists various culinary traditions for Mardi Gras. The most common tradition is making (and eating!) Breton crepes or beignets.

For this gluttonous feast, here are two easy French recipes:

Bretons Crepes

The sweet crepes are a must for Mardi Gras, there are plenty of opportunities to make the pancake batter. They are delicious and simple to make!

Ingredients (for about 12 pancakes)
-250g of flour
-50g of sugar
-50ml of milk
-4 eggs
-50g of salted butter
-Optionally vanilla sugar and rum for flavoring.

Recipe
-In a bowl, mix the flour with the sugar.
-Add Milk gradually stirring with a whisk.
-Mix the eggs and add them.
-Finally, add the melted butter and optionally: vanilla sugar and a little of alcohol to flavor.
Tip: Leave the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Baking
Just bake the dough in the pan! Pour a ladle of batter and cook about 2 minutes. Then, flip the crepe with a spatula.
Tip: Do not put a lot of dough to make very thin pancakes.
Your pancakes are ready!

Tasting
Generally, we accompany the pancakes with a glass of Breton cider! You can enjoy them without adding anything or garnish as you wish: caramel, chocolate, jam, Nutella, whipped cream, ice, …

Bottereaux

Bottereaux are donuts which are produced in France during Mardi Gras! These donuts have different names in different regions. In Bretagne and in the Nantes region, they are called “Bottereaux” but in other regions they are called “bugnes”, “tourtisseaux”, “foutimassons”, “Merveilles”, etc.

Ingredients
-600g of flour
-100g of salted butter
-150g of sugar
-4 eggs
-1 packet of yeast
-1/2 glass of milk
-Icing sugar
-Optionally vanilla sugar and rum for flavoring.

Recipe
-In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and yeast.
-Add milk, eggs, butter and optionally: vanilla sugar and a little of alcohol to flavor.
-Knead and make a ball with the dough.
Tip: Leave the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
-Flour the surface and spread the dough.
-Carve in diamond shape (or other shapes, for example, with the help of a simple glass, you can make circles).

Baking
-Plunge your donuts in a deep fryer.
-Drain them. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy!