Crêpes Suzette
Here’s how to make classic Crêpes Suzette! There’s buttery French crêpes, a rich, caramelised orange sauce & creamy vanilla ice cream.
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It’s almost pancake day, so it’s time for another pancake recipe! This time, we’re making Crêpes Suzette!
Here, our classic French crêpes are served with a boozy, caramelised orange sauce as well as fresh orange segments & a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This impressive French dessert is vibrant & delicious yet surprisingly easy to make. And if you’d like to keep things traditional, the sauce can even be flambéed to serve!
What Are Crêpes Suzette?
Crêpes suzette is a classic French dessert consisting of crêpes, served with a caramelised orange sauce (or buerre suzette). The crêpes are made the traditional way with flour, milk & eggs and the orange sauce is made by caramelising sugar & butter then whisking in orange juice & zest and orange liqueur. This dish goes fantastically well with a scoop of ice cream or softly whipped cream.
What You’ll Need
- Oranges – For the orange sauce, we’re using the zest of 1 orange & 160ml of juice. This roughly equates to the juice of 2 large oranges. If you’d like to serve the crêpes with orange segments as well, you’ll need two more.
- Butter – Unsalted butter works best for this recipe, as it allows to control the salt content in each component.
- Sugar – We’re using caster sugar for both the sauce & batter!
- Grand Marnier/Cointreau – Either of these orange liqueurs will work. Grand Marnier would be the more traditional option but Cointreau works just as well. You’ll need a double shot for the sauce (60ml).
- Flour – Plain/ all purpose flour is used in the crêpe batter. Don’t worry about sifting it, as we’re using a blender to mix the batter!
- Milk – To give the pancakes the best flavour, I’d recommend using whole milk but semi skimmed will work as well.
- Eggs – You’ll need two large eggs for the crêpe batter.
How To Make Crêpes Suzette
The full, printable recipe card for these crêpes can be found at the bottom of this post!
Crêpes
We’re using our classic French crêpe recipe for this dish! These should be made before the orange sauce.
- Batter – To make the crêpe batter, simply place the flour, sugar, milk, eggs, butter & salt into a jug blender then blend until smooth. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes then it can be cooked!
- Cooking – To cook the crêpes, place a 10″ frying pan/skillet over a medium heat then once hot, grease with a small amount of butter or oil. Next, pour in a small ladle full of batter (around 4 tbsp/60 ml) into the pan then tilt so that the batter completely covers the bottom, in a thin, even layer. Cook for 30-40 seconds, until the bottom is lightly browned & the top looks dry then flip over with a spatula & cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the pan & repeat with the remaining batter.
Buerre Suzette (Caramelised Orange Sauce)
- Caramel – The first step for our orange sauce, is to make a caramel. To do this, we place butter & sugar into a large frying pan then cook over a medium heat until it is a deep, golden brown colour. This will take 3-4 minutes. To prevent the sugar from crystallising, stirring should be kept to a minimum.
- Adding Orange Juice – Once we’ve made a caramel, we whisk in orange & lemon juice then reduce the sauce until it’s nice & syrupy. This will take 2-3 minutes. If the sugar solidifies after you’ve added the juice in, keep whisking & it will dissolve.
- To Finish – To finish the orange sauce, we stir in orange zest & either Grand Marnier or Cointreau then cook out for 2 more minutes (or flambé!).
- To Serve – Lay a crêpe in the sauce then carefully fold in half then half again (to form a triangle) then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining crêpes, placing 2 or 3 crêpes on each plate. Spoon any remaining sauce over each plate then finish each portion with some orange segments & a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Crêpes Suzette Tips & Trick
- Use a blender to make the batter – This mixes the batter in a matter of seconds! It also removes any lumps that might have formed.
- Rest the batter before cooking – Resting the batter relaxes the gluten which results in soft, tender pancakes. I find that 15 minutes at room temperature does the trick but an overnight rest in the fridge will also work.
- Cook until just set – Crêpes take around 30 seconds to cook on each side. You’ll know when to flip because the top will look dry & the underneath will be a light golden brown.
- Cook the caramel until a deep golden brown – For the best tasting & looking suzette sauce, the butter & sugar should be well caramelised. It should be a deep golden brown colour.
- Serve with ice cream – Crêpes suzette are pretty sweet so are best served with something creamy, to cut through & balance the sweetness. Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream works best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although traditionally made with Grand Marnier (or Cointreau), crêpes suzette can be made alcohol free. Simply replace the alcohol with extra orange juice.
This dish is best served straight away but the crêpes can be cooked in advance. You can use the orange sauce to reheat them!
A 10″ frying pan or skillet works best to cook large, thin crêpes. Alternatively, you could use a specially designed crêpe pan or a crêpe maker. If you’d like to make smaller crêpes, use a smaller pan & reduce the amount of batter used.
Crêpes take a matter of seconds to cook (30 seconds or less on each side) over a medium heat. It’s important not to overcook them as they will be tough. You’ll know when they’re cooked as they’ll be just set & a light golden brown.
From start to finish, buerre suzette (caramelised orange sauce) takes roughly 10-15 minutes to make.
How To Cook Crêpes Suzette On An Aga
With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas. Here’s how to cook this recipe in an Aga…
Cook the pancakes on the boiling plate. If your pan gets too hot, move over to the simmering plate. Use the boiling plate to cook the orange sauce as well then use the simmering plate to keep it warm/reheat if necessary.
Equipment Used
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More Dessert Recipes To Try!
- Amaretto Tiramisu
- Classic Apple Crumble
- Toffee Apple Crumble Ice Cream
- Brown Butter Hobnob Cheesecake
- Sticky Toffee Gingerbread
- 1901 Irn Bru Ice Cream
- Vanilla Panna Cotta & Roasted Strawberries
- French Toast Ice Cream
- Small Batch Sticky Toffee Pudding
If you have enjoyed this crêpes suzette recipe, it would mean a lot if you could leave a review & rating!
Crêpes Suzette
Equipment
- Jug Blender
- Large Frying Pans
- Spatula
- Microplane/Grater
- Juicer
Ingredients
Crêpes
- 25 g Unsalted Butter Plus Extra For Cooking
- 130 g Plain Flour
- 15 g Caster Sugar
- 280 g Whole Milk
- 2 Large Eggs
- A Pinch Of Table Salt
Orange Sauce
- 100 g Unsalted Butter Diced
- 175 g Caster Sugar
- 160 ml Orange Juice Roughly 2 Large Oranges
- 40 ml Lemon Juice
- 1 Orange, Zested
- 60 ml Cointreau/Grand Marnier
To Serve
- 2 Oranges, Segmented
- Vanilla Ice Cream
Instructions
Crêpes
- Melt the 25 grams of butter then place into a jug blender along with the flour, sugar, milk, eggs & salt.If you haven't got a jug blender, use a stick blender or a whisk to bring the batter together.
- Blend the batter on a medium speed for 10-20 seconds, until smooth then set aside to rest for 15 minutes.The batter can also be rested overnight in the fridge. Make sure not to add in the salt until just before cooking.
- Place a 10" frying pan/skillet over a medium heat then once hot, grease with a small amount of butter or oil.Use a pastry brush or a piece of kitchen paper to grease the pan!
- Next, add a small ladle full (roughly 4 tbsp/60 ml) of batter into the pan then tilt so that the batter completely covers the bottom, in a thin, even layer.
- Cook the crêpe for 30-40 seconds, until the bottom is lightly browned & the top looks dry then flip over with a spatula & cook for another 30 seconds.If the edges of the crêpe need releasing from the pan, use a small palette knife.
- Once cooked, transfer the crêpe to a plate to keep warm, then repeat with the remaining batter.
Orange Sauce
- Place the butter & sugar into a large frying pan then set over a medium heat.
- Cook the butter & sugar for 3-4 minutes, until it turns a deep golden brown then whisk in the orange & lemon juice. Try not to stir the butter & sugar too much whilst it is caramelising!
- Reduce the sauce for 2-3 minutes, until syrupy then stir in the Grand Marnier/Cointreau & orange zest. Cook for 2 minutes more then take the sauce off the heat.If you like, you can flambé the sauce by setting the alcohol alight then taking the sauce off the heat as soon as the flames have gone.
To Serve
- Lay a crêpe in the sauce then carefully fold in half then half again (to form a triangle) then transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining crêpes, placing 2 or 3 crêpes on each plate.
- Spoon any remaining sauce over each plate then finish each portion with some orange segments & a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
