Crêpes Suzette

Desserts

The classic French dessert: thin, delicate crêpes (pancakes) bathed in a buttery orange sauce and flambéed with Grand Marnier. Ridiculously good, and surprisingly straightforward to make at home.

Pin recipe Print

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients 

1x2x3x?

For the crêpes

• 125 gr plain flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 250 ml whole milk
• 1 tbsp Grand Marnier Liqueur or Cointreau
• 30 gr unsalted butter plus extra for the pan
• ½ orange zest

For the orange sauce

• 100 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
• 50 gr caster sugar
• 2 orange zest finely grated
• 100 ml orange juice
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier Liqueur
• 3 tbsp Grand Marnier Liqueur optional to flambée

Equipment

mixing jug

whisk

frying pan or Crêpe pan

lemon zester

frying pan for the sauce

ladle

pastry brush for greasing the pan

Instructions

1. Make the pancake batter

• In a mixing jug, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the centre and crack in the eggs. Start whisking from the middle, gradually incorporating the flour from the sides. Add the milk bit by bit, don't rush it or you'll get lumps. Whisk in the melted butter, Grand Marnier, and orange zest until you've got a smooth batter about the consistency of single cream. Cover and stick it in the fridge for an hour.

2. Cook the pancakes

• Heat your frying or crêpe pan over medium-high heat and brush it lightly with butter. Pour in a small ladle full of batter, tilting the pan immediately to spread it thin and even. Cook for about a minute until the edges start to lift and the bottom's golden. Flip it and cook the other side for 30 seconds. Stack the finished crêpes on a plate. You should get about 12 crêpes. Brush the pan with butter between each one.

3. Make the orange butter sauce

• In a large frying pan, melt the butter with the sugar over medium heat. When it starts to bubble and turn golden (about 3 minutes), add the orange zest and juice. Let it bubble away for 2-3 minutes until it thickens slightly and looks glossy. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of Grand Marnier.

4. Coat the pancakes

• Take a pancake, fold it in half, then in half again to make a triangle. Dip it in the orange sauce, turning it to coat both sides. Tuck it to the side of the pan. Repeat with the remaining pancakes, arranging them in a single layer (you might need to work in batches).

5. Flambé (optional but brilliant)

• If you want to do the full theatrical number, warm 2-3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier in a small pan or ladle. Remove the pancakes pan from the heat, pour the warmed Grand Marnier over the crêpes, and carefully light it with a long match or lighter. Let the flames die down naturally, takes about 30 seconds.

6. Serve immediately

• Plate up 3 pancakes per person, drizzle with extra sauce from the pan, and serve whilst hot. Some people add vanilla ice cream on the side, though I reckon that's gilding the lily.

Notes

• You can cook the pancakes a few hours in advance. Stack them with greaseproof paper between each one and keep them covered. The orange butter can be made ahead too and gently rewarmed, just don’t let it boil once the butter’s in or it’ll split.
• No Grand Marnier? Cointreau works brilliantly, as does any orange liqueur. The original Escoffier recipe used Curaçao. In a pinch, use extra orange juice and a splash of brandy.
• Flambé safety! Keep your face and hair well back when you light it. Make sure there’s nothing flammable nearby. The alcohol will burn off quickly and it’s mostly for show, the flavour doesn’t change drastically if you skip this step.
• If your pancake batter’s too thick after resting, add a splash more milk. It should pour easily and spread thinly across the pan.
• In case of lumps in the batter, pass the batter through a fine sieve. Or just whisk harder next time and add the liquid more gradually.

About this recipe

If there is one dessert that makes people gasp when it arrives at the table, it’s Crêpes Suzette. They are thin crêpes or pancakes, folded into quarters and bathed in a delicious buttery orange sauce. To add to the drama, it’s then flambéed with Grand Marnier right in front of you. When the flames die down, the sauce caramelises slightly, and what you get is one of the great classics of French cooking. It looks like a performance really, and it tastes even better than it looks.

The Escoffier version vs the flambéed showstopper

Did you know that the “proper” traditional Crêpes Suzette created by Auguste Escoffier in 1903 were not flambéed at all? The original recipe used a mandarin butter with Curaçao orange liqueur. So there were no flames and no theatrics. The crêpes suzette were simply folded, coated in the butter, and warmed through.

The flambéed version came later, almost certainly invented by Parisian restaurant chefs who understood that a dish set on fire at the table sells itself. And honestly, can you blame them? By the mid-20th century, tableside flambéing had become the expected finale at any restaurant worth its Michelin star.

These days most people expect oranges and Grand Marnier rather than mandarins and Curaçao, mainly because good mandarins are nearly impossible to find outside France. So that’s what this recipe uses, and it works beautifully.

The legend of Suzette

The origin story is disputed, naturally like everything in France. The most popular version involves a young waiter called Henri Charpentier who accidentally set fire to a pan of pancakes whilst serving the Prince of Wales at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo in 1895. The prince loved them and asked what they were called. Charpentier supposedly replied “Crêpes Princesse” but the prince insisted on naming them after a woman called Suzette who was dining with him.

Lovely story. but most probably nonsense. Charpentier was only 14 at the time, so he’s pretty unlikely to have been serving royalty. The Larousse Gastronomique considers it a false claim he made years later whilst working as the Rockefeller family’s cook in America.

Another version credits Escoffier himself, working at the Savoy Hotel in London in the 1890s. A third involves actress Suzanne Reichenberg, stage name Suzette, and a restaurant owner flambéing crêpes on stage to keep them warm for the actors. Nobody really knows the truth. But Escoffier included Crêpes Suzette in his 1903 Guide Culinaire, and that’s when it became part of the French culinary canon. I love that about French food history, there’s always a good story, even if it’s not quite ever the full truth.

The crepe suzette sauce

The crepe suzette sauce is really the heart of this dish. It’s French butter, sugar, orange zest and juice, and Grand Marnier, all melted and reduced together until glossy and slightly syrupy. It sounds technical but it’s actually one of the more forgiving French sauces in cooking. Even if it splits slightly, a moment off the heat and a quick swirl brings it right back together. So don’t worry too much about it.

One thing I will say though: please don’t substitute cheap orange liqueur for the Grand Marnier. It’s widely available and the flavour difference is really significant, trust me it’s worth it.

When you add the crêpes to the sauce, fold them into quarters first. They absorb all that gorgeous sauce as they warm through, and by the time they reach the table they’re glossy, fragrant, and completely transformed from the plain crêpes you started with.

The right equipment makes a difference

Good crêpes suzette really do start with a good pan. I recommend using the Le Creuset crêpe pan, which has a perfectly flat, low-sided surface that makes swirling the batter and flipping the crêpes so much easier. The heat distribution is even, which means no hot spots and no patches of uncooked batter. And for the batter, a good mixing jug with a proper pour spout helps you add the exact same amount to the pan each time. Getting consistent crêpes is mostly about consistent pouring, and the right jug really does make a difference.

Why Crêpes Suzette are worth making at home

The whole thing looks incredibly impressive but it’s actually quite forgiving. Your first crêpe or two will probably be a disaster, but by the fourth you’ll have the rhythm. That’s just how crêpes work and it’s completely normal, so don’t be put off. My husband and I always share that first one together while we wait for the rest. The first one is never quite right and it has become a little tradition of ours to get our taste buds going.

The flambé is optional too. If you’re feeling fancy or have something to celebrate, it adds a really special moment to the table. But if you’d rather skip the flames, just warm the crêpes gently in the sauce and serve as they are. The flavour is identical, I promise.

Do serve these after a fairly light main course though. They’re rich and sweet and you will absolutely have to undo the button of your jeans afterwards. But it will be completely worth it.