CREPES SUZETTE

from Laurent Branover

Crepes are a family favourite in France and are often part of a weekend breakfast. This classic recipe is more dessert than breakfast, with lashings of citrus-flavoured butter and a finishing touch of flamed citrus liqueur.

You might like to slip some segments of orange into the crepes when you fold them up to add an extra citrus dimension.

Makes 10–16 crepes

Crepes

250 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour

50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar

pinch of salt

3 eggs

500 ml milk

2 tablespoons citrus-flavoured liqueur such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier or curaçao

butter for frying

Suzette butter

150 g butter at room temperature

180 g caster sugar

1 orange, zested to give fine shreds

3 sugar cubes

1 lemon

2 tablespoons cognac

2 tablespoons citrusflavoured liqueur

To flame

2 tablespoons cognac

2 tablespoons citrusflavoured liqueur

1 tablespoon caster sugar

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and start whisking with the flour. Slowly add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the liqueur and leave the batter to rest for 1 hour.

To make the suzette butter, combine the butter, caster sugar and orange zest in a bowl and mix well. Rub the sugar cubes against the skin of the lemon to absorb its flavour. Place the cubes in a separate bowl and add the juice of half the orange. (The remaining orange and lemon can be juiced for another purpose.) Crush the sugar cubes with a fork, mixing them into the juice. Stir the juice into the butter along with the cognac and liqueur.

Heat a crepe pan and add a small knob of butter. Add a ladleful of crepe batter, tilting the pan to spread it out to a thin crepe. Cook until golden at the edges, then flip and cook the other side. Continue cooking crepes until you have used all the batter.

Add a knob of suzette butter to the pan and when it melts (without colouring), place a crepe in the pan and coat it in the butter. Flip the crepe to coat the other side in butter, then fold the crepe in half, and in half again to a triangle. Keep the crepe warm and repeat with the rest of the crepes.

To flame the crepes, return all the folded crepes to the pan and pour on the cognac and liqueur. Carefully flame by tilting the pan towards the stove flame or by setting a match to it. Sprinkle the sugar on the flame and serve. (You can also flame each serve individually if you prefer.)