Crêpes Suzette
Serves 4 · 1 hour 10 minutes · Crêpe pan
Thin crêpes warmed through in a buttery orange caramel with a splash of liqueur. The small carbon steel crêpe pan cooks even crêpes and holds exactly four folded crêpes in the sauce.
Crêpes Suzette are thin French pancakes folded into quarters and warmed in a sauce of lightly caramelised sugar, butter, fresh orange juice and orange liqueur. Cook the crêpes first, make the sauce in the same pan and serve straight away while the sauce is glossy.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Crêpes
- 90 g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 250 ml milk
- 25 g melted butter, plus a little for cooking
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
Orange sauce
- 80 g caster sugar
- 60 g butter
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 200 ml freshly squeezed orange juice (2–3 oranges)
- 4 tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 1 orange, cut into segments, to serve
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, salt and half the milk to a smooth batter. Whisk in the rest of the milk, the eggs and the melted butter. Leave the batter to rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat the crêpe pan over a medium-high heat and brush it thinly with butter. Pour in about 3 tbsp batter and swirl the pan so it covers the base. Cook until the edge lifts, flip with the crêpe turner and cook for another 20–30 seconds. Make 8 crêpes and fold each into quarters.
- Wipe out the pan. Sprinkle in half the sugar and let it melt over a medium heat to a pale caramel without stirring. Add half the butter and stir until combined.
- Pour in half the orange juice and the zest. The caramel will seize at first but melts again; simmer for 2–3 minutes until slightly syrupy. Stir in 2 tbsp liqueur.
- Add four folded crêpes, spoon the sauce over them and warm for 1 minute. To flambé, carefully light the sauce with a long match, with the extractor fan off and the pan angled away from you, and let the flames die down on their own.
- Serve two crêpes per person with sauce and orange segments. Make the second batch of sauce and crêpes the same way and serve at once.
Why it works
Carbon steel heats quickly and evenly, so every crêpe browns the same, and the almost flat rim makes it easy to slide the turner underneath. The orange sauce is only in the pan for a few minutes, which carbon steel handles well; wipe and oil the pan afterwards.
FAQ
Do you have to flambé crêpes Suzette?
No. Simmering the sauce for a minute after adding the liqueur gives almost the same flavour, and that is how most people make it at home.
Can you make crêpes Suzette without alcohol?
Yes. Replace the liqueur with a little extra orange juice and a drop of vanilla extract or a few drops of orange blossom water.
Can I make the crêpes in advance?
Yes, cook them a few hours ahead, keep them stacked under cling film and warm them in the sauce just before serving.
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