Crepe Suzette

Another of my favorite Breakfast/Dessert/Snack dish. I modified a version from the Savoy's cookbook, which has great tasting and wonderful looking recipes. The Savoy Restaurant was opened by French Chef Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel in 1890 (founded by the founder of Ritz Hotels). It's an excellent book that reinvents many grand classics such as the Pêche Melba and Veal Holstein.

Crêpes Suzettes

1cup plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
8 tbsp sugar
1 ¼ cups milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter (or half salted)

Sauce

1 ¼ cups orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
¼ cup Grand Marnier
Lemon Juice
Vanilla Ice Cream, to serve


To make the crepes:

• sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, then add the eggs, half the sugar, and about a quarter of the milk.
  
• Mix to a thick batter, then gradually whisk in the rest of the milk. Melt the butter in a pan until it begins to froth and mix half into the batter.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan. Brush the inside with a little of the remaining butter, and ladle in enough batter to cover the base of the pan in a thin layer, tilting the pan gently to spread it evenly. I usually take the pan off the heat when I do this, to ensure that the whole surface is covered by a runny batter.
  
• Cook for 30 seconds, turn the crepe over, and cook for another 30 seconds. The crepe should be evenly browned on both sides. Take it out of the pan, and continue to make more crepes in the same way, greasing the pan with a paper towel dipped in melted butter.
  

To make the sauce:

• Heat the remaining sugar in a wide pan, stirring constantly until amber colored.
  
• Add the orange juice and vanilla extract. Simmer the sauce until thickened to your taste.

*I like to add pieces of mandarin in my sauce, to make less sweet and more fruity. Another variant is to make the crêpes and fill them with jam (cherry jam works very well) instead of adding the sauce. It makes an easy snack.

To serve:

• Heat 4 plates in your oven. Take a crepe, lay it in the sauce, then turn it and fold it in half, then into half again.
  
• Arrange all the crepe like this in the pan, squeeze on a little lemon juice, and add the Grand Marnier.
  
• Leave to infuse for 1 minute, then serve 2 crepes on each plate. At the last moment, top with the vanilla ice cream, which will melt deliciously over the hot crepes.

*You can also flambé the Grand Marnier with a torch while on the plates. You can also skip the Grand Marnier and just serve the Crêpes alcohol free :)