Crpes Suzette

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Check out this simple, elegant dessert!

Print out a Crpes Suzette recipe card. (PDF)

Crpes Suzette

• 8 oz all-purpose flour (approximately 1 cups)
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tbsp butter, melted

• 3 tbsp Vanilla Sugar*
• cup unsalted butter
• 5 oz orange juice
• oz lemon juice
• grated orange rind from one orange
• 3 oz Grand Marnier or Cointreau liqueur

Method: Making the Crpes

Wisk together the flour, salt, and eggs.

Mix in the milk to make a smooth batter.

Strain the batter through a fine sieve and whisk in the melted butter.

Cover and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Heat crpe pan over moderate heat, lightly oil and swirl 2 to 3 tbsp of batter to coat the bottom of the pan.

Cook until the edges and the bottom of the crpe are golden brown.

Flip over and cook one more minute.

Place crpe on wire rack to cool.

Yield: 36 crpes

Method: Making the Crpes Suzette

Melt butter in the crpe pan until it becomes frothy.

Add vanilla sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add orange rind and juices and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low.

Add each crep into the sauce one at a time, fold in half and then in half again, forming a triangle.

Continue until all crpes for the order have been sauced and folded.

Warm liqueur and pour over crpes and sauce; ignite with a long match.

When flames subside, place crpes on dessert plate and serve.

Yield: 4 orders of Crpes Suzette, 3 crpes per order

*Vanilla Sugar can be made by adding one vanilla bean into 2 cups of granulated sugar. Cover tightly for one week. As sugar is removed, more sugar can be added as long as there is a vanilla fragrance.

Notes from the Chef

Making the Crpe

• Straining removes lumps and produces a smooth batter.
• Melted butter adds flavor and helps to prevent sticking.
• Resting the batter allows the gluten to relax in the flour producing a tender crpe.
• Pan temperature is very important; too high will blister the crpe; too low will cause the crpe to stick.

Perfecting Crpes Suzette

• Be careful not to burn the butter.
• Sauce can be flamed with the liqueur before the crpes are added when making larger quantities.
• When adding the crpes to the sauce, work quickly so that the first crpes do not absorb all the sauce.
• When adding any kind of alcohol to a product never add directly from the bottle, this could produce a flash.

The History of Crpes Suzette

• Crpes Suzette was created by accident in 1895 by a fourteen year-old assistant waiter Henri Carpentier (1880-1961) in 1895 at the Maitre at Monte Carlo's Caf de Paris.
• Henri was preparing a dessert for the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII (1841-1910) of England.
• The dessert was named in honor of the lady accompanying the prince.