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This is my contribution to the 8th food blog event “Is my blog burning” hosted today by Donna from “There’s a Chef in The Kitchen”. The theme today is: use wine or spirits as a central component of your recipe!
We already had 7 events after Alberto from blog “Il Forno” had this brilliant idea. Themes so far were soup, tartines, cakes, bowl of rice, fish, grill and barbecue fare and dumpling.
I began to participate at the 2nd event and unfortunately missed the last two during summer.
I’m back today with the brilliant theme of wine or spirits.
I love that first stage when you discover the new subject and begin to think “what am I going to cook ?”. This time - and don’t ask me why - it took me quite a while to come up with an idea.
As a French person I often use white or red wine to cook but each time I was thinking of a dish, I had the feeling of “déjà vu”.
Last week-end, we had a wonderful time with David for my birthday in Chablis (Burgundy), discovering how they create that wonderful wine we both love and tasting some fantastic bottles.
As we were driving back, I found my idea: Crepes Suzette.
For those who never had Crepes Suzette before : they are crepes with orange butter and flambéd or just reheated.
This idea came from very far back in my memory. Crepe Suzette is quite a well-know dessert, invented by one of the most famous French chefs, Auguste Escoffier. I’ve eaten them twice in my life, a long time ago in a restaurant and it was such a treat. Imagine that : a waiter comes especially to your table, with a trolley, adds some orange butter on crepes, reheats them and flambées them just for you.
It is quite rare now to find them on the menu in French restaurants and it’s a shame as it is a fantastic dessert. Perhaps it’s just out of fashion.
I sometimes wish they would change some deserts we’ve known for ages on menus and serve Crepe Suzette instead.
Perhaps I could create an association called “Bring Back Crepe Suzette in our Restaurants”. Anyone want to join ?
I made these Crepes Suzette last Friday for the first time at home and David had never had them before.
We all enjoyed them, including Gabrielle (11 years old) who had them but not flambéed !
Before cooking this dessert, I spent quite a long time searching for information on the Internet. I found a lot of stories both in French and English.
People are not really sure of the origin of the name, but it’s pretty sure that it was a creation of Auguste Escoffier. The real Crepe Suzette recipe uses Curacao and tangerines but most people now use oranges and Grand-Marnier or Cointreau.
There is a serious dispute on whether you should flambé the crepes or not.
I’ll let you choose : I’ve tried both methods and I love them both.
The recipe I used is a mix of 10 recipes I read.
Crepes Suzette
Orange butter
100g butter
100 g sugar
zest of two grated oranges
2 Tbsp of Grand-Marnier or Cointreau
2 Tbsp of orange juice
these 2 liquids should give approximately 5 cl of liquid
You’ll need extra Grand-Marnier or Cointreau for the crepe batter and to flambé them.
Mix the butter at room temperature with the zest.
Add the sugar and mix.
Add the liquid and mix again.
Cover with cling film and let it rest in you refrigerator.
Crepes batter
For 10 crepes approximately
½ litre full fat milk
3 eggs
salt
250 g flour
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp Grand-Marnier
Put flour and salt in a bowl.
Add the eggs and the oil and mix with an electric whisk.
Add the milk little by little, mixing at the same time.
Add the Grand-Marnier.
Leave the batter to rest for 2 hours.
Make your crepes in a non-stick frying pan.
Transfer them to a plate and cover with cling film.
Crepes Suzette preparation
The previous steps can be done in advance. The following step has to be done just before serving.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
On each crepe :
Spread a levelled Tbsp of orange butter.
Fold the crepe in four and spread a tsp of orange butter on the top.
Lay the crepe on a baking tray.
Reheat your crepes 5 minutes in the oven.
In the meantime, heat the Grand-Marnier in a saucepan (half a glass for 4 crepes).
Remove the crepes from the oven and place them on a big serving plate.
If you don’t wish to flambé your crepes you can eat them right now.
When the Grand-Marnier is hot, light with a match and pour the liquid on the crepes. Please be careful as it’s surprisingly volatile. I’m lucky I still have my eyebrows... and kitchen.
Serve and enjoy !