Crêpes Suzette

Life moves through so many vagaries. It’s important to remember that this too shall pass. Making crepes make me think of a time when I could show my girls the world. Right now, for me, memory is a taste and nostalgia gives me hope!

Did you know that crêpes suzette were created by mistake?

While serving dessert to the Prince of Wales (Future King Edwards VII of England) in 1895, Henri Charpentier, a 14 year old waiter at Monte Carlo’s Café de Paris, accidentally set the crêpe sauce on fire. Initially, he was most upset, but upon tasting the sauce, he discovered it was delicious!

The Prince of Wales agreed, and asked to name it after his companion, Suzette.

Crepe Batter Ingredients: – 250 g flour – 3 eggs – 250 ml milk – Pinch of salt – Juice of 1 Orange – 1 Tbsp Grand Manier – 2 Tbsp melted butter

Orange Butter Ingredients: – 50g butter – Juice and Zest of one Orange – 1 Tbsp Grand Manier – 4 Tbsp Caster Sugar

Method:

1. To make the crêpe batter: combine crêpe ingredients, and let the batter stand for 2 hours at room temperature before cooking. (Don’t skip this step! It allows the gluten in the flour to relax and hydrate properly, meaning you get light and fluffy non-lumpy crêpes. This is THE secret of making good French crêpes) A tip from Julia Child: You can also flavour the crêpes with some Grand Marnier or orange liqueur to enhance the flavours and sweetness of the crêpes

   
   

2. To make the Orange butter, mix butter, juice and zest of 1 orange, Grand Marnier and caster sugar together.

   
   

3. Make thin crêpes in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Remove each one from the frying pan and set aside. * Pro tip: Add some melted butter to the batter just before cooking to prevent sticking. Don’t grease the pan at all – This makes sure the crêpes are tender

   
   

4. Coat each crêpe with a little of the orange butter, and fold in four (in half, and then in half again.

   
   

5. Return the crêpes to the frying pan one by one to heat.

   
   

6. To serve: arrange in a warm dish, slightly overlapping

   
   

How to Flambé

Remove the pan from the heat, add the Grand Marnier and ignite the sauce carefully with a long handled match / lighter (I lit a wooden chopstick so I wouldn’t burn my fingers!)

Carefully bring the flame to the sauce, while hot, and the flames will appear for a few seconds. Once the alcohol has burnt off they will disappear.