Crêpes Suzette

Many wonderful things have come out of France – Champagne, Chanel and Crêpes Suzette to name but a few. In this recipe, I poured all of the ingredients into a medium-sized pot and simmered for half an hour. The results? A gooey rich caramelised sauce with bursts of citrus. You don’t need to pay constant attention to the sauce, only stirring occasionally as it simmers, so you can get on with other things like pouring yourself a tipple of Cointreau and making the crêpes while the sauce thickens to perfection. Drizzle the orange sauce over the pancakes, serve with ice cream and marvel at how such a simple pancake recipe can turn into a thing of beauty!

For the pancakes (makes 4):
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Butter for frying

 

 

For the sauce:
Juice of 2 large oranges (± 250ml/1cup)
Zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
100g butter
50g caster sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau (or any good orange liqueur)

Making the pancakes:

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Slowly pour in the milk, beating as you do, then add the salt and vanilla and give it one last beat until thoroughly combined and batter is smooth.

Heat the butter in a pan on medium, pour in a quarter of the pancake batter and fry for two or three minutes until browned underneath. Flip the pancake and fry the other side until golden brown. Remove from the pan, heat some more butter and repeat.

 

For the sauce:

Pour the orange juice and zest into a medium pan. Add the butter, lemon juice and caster sugar. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Add the Cointreau and simmer on low for 30 minutes,stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened to a rich dark orange syrup. Drizzle over the pancakes and serve with ice cream.

 

 

 

 

I’m getting so hungry typing this! The sauce can be refrigerated for a few days and reheated in the microwave or on the stove top/hob.