This is a perfect tea for lots of hungry children, but it would also be a good weekend late breakfast, depending on your mood. It's the classic way that many crêpe stallholders cook crêpes to order late at night around the major tourist attractions in Paris. They are always very popular, often with long queues, and once you’ve tasted them it’s easy to understand why.

  • 24 asparagus spears
  • 8 eggs
  • 450g (1lb) Swiss cheese, such
  • as Gruyère or Emmental, thinly
  • sliced
  • 8 slices of cooked ham
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Pancakes:
  • 100g (4oz) plain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 300ml (½ pint) milk
  • sunflower oil, for frying
  • sea salt and freshly ground black
  • pepper

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg and whisk well with a balloon whisk. Gradually beat in the milk, drawing in the flour from the sides to make a

smooth batter. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Trim the asparagus spears and blanch in a pan of boiling water for 1–2 minutes, until almost tender but still with a slight bite. Drain, refresh under cold running water to prevent them from cooking any further and set aside until needed.

Heat a little oil in an 18cm (7in) heavy-based pancake or frying pan. Pour in just enough batter to thinly coat the base of the pan. Cook over a moderately high heat for about 1 minute, until golden

brown. Turn or toss the crêpe and break in an egg, then gently whisk to spread it evenly all over the crêpe. Season to taste. Put a layer of cheese on half of the crêpe and allow it to melt for

30–60 seconds. Top with a slice of ham and flip in half, then flip into quarters and keep warm in a low oven loosely covered with foil while cooking the remainder. This mixture should make 8 ham,

cheese and egg crêpes. To finish the asparagus spears, heat a cast-iron griddle pan until smoking hot. Toss the blanched asparagus spears in the olive oil and season to taste. Add to the griddle pan and quickly sear on both sides, until heated through and lightly charred. Arrange the ham, cheese and egg crêpe on warmed plates with the griddled asparagus and serve at once.

American-style pancakes with bananas and maple syrup

These are a great instant pancake that children seem to adore. You can make the batter in the amount of time it takes to heat up the frying pan, and as the amount of batter isn’t too much you can use a cereal bowl and fork for perfect results every time.

  • 100g (4oz) plain flour pinch of salt
  • 1 large egg
  • about 6 tbsp buttermilk butter, for frying
  • sunflower oil, for frying
  • 2 large bananas, sliced
  • about 4 tsp maple syrup icing sugar, to dust

FOR THE VANILLA AND LIME YOGURT: 4 tbsp vanilla yogurt finely grated rind of ½ lime

1 Place the vanilla yogurt in a bowl and stir in the lime rind. Set aside while you make the pancakes.

2 Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl and make a slight dip in the middle with a fork. Break in the egg and add a little of the buttermilk, then beat until smooth, adding enough of the rest of the buttermilk to make a smooth, thick batter.

3 Add a knob of butter to the heated frying pan with a tiny splash of sunflower oil, then spoon in heaped tablespoons of the batter. Once bubbles begin to appear on the pancakes, turn them over using a metal spatula and cook for another minute or so, until golden. Keep warm on a plate while you cook the remainder.

4 Arrange the pancakes on warmed plates in stacks with the sliced bananas and then drizzle over the maple syrup. Add a dollop of the vanilla and lime yogurt to each one and give them a light dusting of icing sugar to serve.