Crêpes Suzette

Crêpes Suzette is a classic French dessert. Its creation dates back to the late 19th century. There are many stories told around it's creation.

One anecdote claims that it was created from a mistake made by a fourteen-year-old assistant waiter Henri Charpentier in 1895 at the Maitre at Monte Carlo's Café de Paris. He was preparing a dessert for the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, whose guests included a beautiful French girl named Suzette. This story was told by Charpentier himself:

"It was quite by accident as I worked in front of a chafing dish that the cordials caught fire. I thought it was ruined. The Prince and his friends were waiting. How could I begin all over? I tasted it. It was, I thought, the most delicious medley of sweet flavors I had ever tasted. I still think so. That accident of the flame was precisely what was needed to bring all those various instruments into one harmony of taste ... He ate the pancakes with a fork; but he used a spoon to capture the remaining syrup. He asked me the name of that which he had eaten with so much relish. I told him it was to be called Crêpes Princesse. He recognized that the pancake controlled the gender and that this was a compliment designed for him; but he protested with mock ferocity that there was a lady present. She was alert and rose to her feet and holding her little skirt wide with her hands she made him a curtsey. "Will you," said His Majesty, "change Crêpes Princesse to Crêpes Suzette?" Thus was born and baptized this confection, one taste of which, I really believe, would reform a cannibal into a civilized gentleman. The next day I received a present from the Prince, a jeweled ring, a panama hat and a cane.

Usually the Grand Marnier liquor used in the recipe is set alight and the dessert is flambé – I skipped that part.

History source: Wikipedia

 

Ingredients | Serving 4
Sauce  
4 Oranges
3 Tbsp
Sugar
40 ml
Grand Marnier or other Orange liqor
50 g
Butter
 
Halved pistachio nuts, unsalted
 
Icing sugar for dusting
Crêpes
 
150 g
Plain flour
200 ml
Milk
2
Eggs
25 g
Butter, melted

 

Preparation

Oranges and sauce

  1. Cutaway the peel of two oranges and slice-out the segments. Set aside. Cut over a bowl to preserve the dripping juices. The other two oranges half and squeeze out the juice.

  2. Heat the sugar in a non-stick frying pan and stir until the sugar is dissolved and becomes slightly coloured. Add the orange juice and let it simmer until the sauce as become sirupy. Finally, add some nobs of butter to give the sauce a glossy shine.

  3. Before serving add the Grand Marnier and stir well.

Pancakes – Crêpes

  1. Sifted the flour in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Make a well in the middle the flour, add the egg and start whisking slowly. Mix the milk and 100 ml of water together, and pour in a steady stream into the flour, whisking constantly and gradually incorporating the flour to create a batter.

  2. Whisk until the batter is smooth and thuroughly mixed. Set aside to rest for 30 mins, then whisk in the melted butter.

  3. Heat a pan over medium heat. Grease the pan a little with melted butter. Using a ladle, pour about 2 tbsp of batter into the pan and swirl it around so the bottom of the pan is evenly coated. You want to use just enough batter to make a delicate, lacy pancake. Cook the pancake for about 45 secs on one side until golden and then using a palette knife or fish slice, flip the pancake over and cook the other side for about 30 secs until it freckles.

  4. Slide the pancake out of the pan on a plate and stack the next on top with a baking parchment in between each pancake. Continue until all the batter is used up.

    Serve | Lay the warm pancakes on warmed plates. Spoon a few or orange slices onto the pancakes fold it it to a third. Spoon some more orange slices on top, drizzle with the orange sauce. Sprinkle with some cut pistachios and dust with icing sugar.