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Crepes Suzette
Answer
Dear Sally
CRÊPES SUZETTE
Crêpes Suzette is probably the most famous pancake dish in the world. In a restaurant, it is usually prepared in a chafing dish over a spirit burner in full view of the guests by a Gueridon Chef. They are served hot with a sauce of sugar, orange juice, and a liqueur (usually Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Curaçao). Brandy is finally poured over the crêpes and the dish is tilted to allow the warm alcohol vapour to ignite. During the early eighties I spent many a Saturday night preparing this dish in front of customers wishing to impress their attractive girlfriends, often eliciting generous tips. Happy Days.....
The legends as to the origins of this famous dish are as varied as the number of recipes for preparing it. The one I like best is recounted by Morrison Wood in his wittily-written book, With a Jug of Wine. According to Mr Wood, the well-known French chef, Henri Carpentier, as a young 14 year old waiter was working in 1895 as the Maitre at Monte Carlo`s Café de Paris. He was preparing some crêpes in a liqueur sauce at the table for Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, when the dish accidentally burst into flames. Without batting an eyelid, the young Henri carried the dish across to the plates with tremendous aplomb and served the pancakes to the Prince and his guests.
The Prince pronounced them delicious and enquired what they were called. The young Henri replied that they had been created that very day, and he called them Crêpes Princesse. The Prince indicated to the young daughter of his host and announced: "Then they shall be called Crêpes Suzette, in Mademoiselle`s honour."
Whatever you call them, these paper-thin pancakes are really easy to make and absolutely scrummy. A particular favourite of mine, because the pancakes can be prepared hours or even days ahead and frozen. The flaming sauce calls more for showmanship than for skill - a great finish to a romantic or retro evening.
Orange Crêpe Recipe
4 oz (115g) plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 eggs
10 fl oz (300ml) milk
rind of 1/2 unwaxed orange, finely grated
2 oz (50g) butter, melted
2 tbsp brandy
a little extra butter for greasing the pan
Sift together the first three ingredients. Whisk the eggs with the milk. Make a well in the mixture and gradually whisk in the liquid by degrees. Alternatively, use a blender or food processor, starting with half the liquid and then adding all the dry ingredients. Process, scrape down and then continue, adding the remaining liquid with the motor running. Finally whisk in the rind, melted butter and brandy. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to stand for at least 2 hours. The batter should be the consistency of single cream - thin with a little water if necessary.
For each crêpe, heat a teaspoon of butter in a small heavy-based pan - I like to use a 6 inch cast iron pan. Add about 2 tablespoons of batter and swirl the pan to cover the surface thinly. Cook over a medium heat (on the Aga I take the pan on and off the Boiling Plate) to get the finished crêpes just golden, but not browned. If using an Aga, lightly oil the Simmering Plate so the "Side B" of the crêpe can be cooked there while the "Side A" of the next crêpe is started in the pan on the Boiling Plate. In this way you can double your production speed. Repeat until all the crêpes are cooked, stacking them on a plate, interleaved with pieces of greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Cover with a clean cloth to prevent any chance of them drying out.
Traditional Restaurant Sauce Recipe:
Take 8 white sugar lumps and rub over the surface of 2 large, juicy unwaxed oranges. They will become saturated with the orange oil and start to disintegrate. Place in a large chafing dish or frying pan. Add 2 oz (50g) of caster sugar and place over a gentle heat (Aga Simmering Plate) until the sugar starts to melt. While it is melting, squeeze the juices from the oranges plus the juice of 1 lemon. Strain. When the sugar has melted, transfer to a high heat (Aga Boiling Plate) to caramelise the sugar to a golden colour. Take off the heat and carefully add the juices together with 2 oz (50g) diced unsalted butter. Take care as the caramel is extremely hot. On a gentle heat (Aga Simmering Plate), take a crêpe and place in the sauce. Flip it onto the other side, fold in half and then again for form a rounded triangle. Slide to the side of the pan and repeat with the rest of the crêpes until they have all been bathed in the delicious sauce. If necessary because the sauce has reduced too much to a sticky goo, as can often happen to the best of us(!), add some more orange juice to thin down to a glossy coating consistency again. Whisk in a further 2 oz (50g) diced unsalted butter. Now add 2 tablespoons of Cointreau. To flambé the dish, heat 2 tablespoons of brandy in a small pan on a medium heat (Aga Simmering Plate) for half a minute, then pour warm over the crêpes and ignite. If using a gas burner, heat the brandy in a ladle over the flame until it ignites, then pour over.
Easy Get-Ahead Home Recipe:
Cream 4 oz (100g) soft unsalted butter with 2 oz (50g) sifted icing sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of finely grated unwaxed lemon zest and the finely grated unwaxed zest and strained juice of 1 orange. Work into the butter and sugar together with 4 tablespoons of Cointreau. Melt the orange butter in a pan over a medium heat (Aga Simmering Plate), and then bathe each crêpe in the mixture, folding up and arranging in the pan as described above. Heat 2 further tablespoons of Cointreau with 4 tablespoons of brandy to flambé the dish using either of the above methods. I am grateful to Robert Carrier for this version.
With either method, make sure you send the Crêpes Suzette to the table toute de suit - the touter the sweeter!
A final thought. In his memoirs, Life A La Henri, Henri Carpentier somewhat immodestly describes his famous dish as, "this confection, one taste of which, I really believe, would reform a cannibal into a civilised gentleman."
Quite.
Happy Cooking!
Best Wishes
Richard Maggs
THE AGA COOKERY DOCTOR
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Please provide a good recipe for Crêpe Suzette. Thank you Sally Smith