Crepes Suzette

This Crepe Suzette recipe makes the most delicious thin French crepes, cooked in orange butter caramel and ignited with Grand Marnier.

An easy French dessert recipe guaranteed to impress your guests every time!

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As a French person, I have a passion for French desserts like French crepes, floating Island, Liege Waffles, or these Crepes Suzette!

Let me share with you how to make this fancy French dessert in the comfort of your own kitchen.

What Is A Crepe Suzette?

A crepe Suzette is a classic French dessert where a French crepe recipe, often flavored with a touch of rum in the batter, is cooked with orange butter caramel and then topped with Grand Mariner alcohol and ignited just before serving.

It’s a very sensational French dessert, similar to the Madeleine, to serve in a restaurant because it’s served with a flame on and the smell of Grand Mariner and oranges diffuses in the room.

It’s one of the most common desserts in the Grand Restaurants of Paris.

History Of The Crêpes Suzette

Like many other culturally significant dishes, the Crepe Suzette has a debated history.

The legend has it that it was invented by mistake while preparing a dessert for the Prince of Wales in 1895 when he was visiting Paris and named in honor of one of the guests.

According to the story, the crepes were flambee by accident, and that’s what impressed these famous guests the most.

What Is In A Crepe Suzette?

The inside of a crepe Suzette is empty. Crepes Suzette are not filled, but instead, they are cooked in orange caramel butter and ignited with orange liquor.

How To Make Crepe Suzette

To make a delicious crepe Suzette at home, you must start by making a French Crepe batter.

Ingredients For Crepe Batter

• Eggs – Prefer free-range eggs for a better taste.
• Milk – Any milk works in this recipe. You can use regular dairy milk, but if you want to reduce the carbs, opt for a plant-based alternative such as almond milk.
• All-Purpose Flour – The classic Crepe Suzette recipe is always made with all-purpose flour, but you can use some alternatives if you are gluten-intolerant.
• Butter – You can use classic butter or some of the plant-based alternatives. Use an unsalted option.
• Vanilla Extract – Vanilla adds a delicious flavor to these sweet crepes.
• Sugar – You can use classic sugar or coconut sugar. For a low-sugar alternative, try Allulose or Erythritol.
• Rum – Rum is optional but frequently used for crepe Suzette recipes, You can take white Rum or dark Rum. Avoid spicy options.

Suzette Butter Ingredients

• Orange Juice – Freshly-squeezed orange juice is the best, but you can also use bottled orange juice as long as it’s made only from fresh oranges and not reconstituted juice.
• Orange Zest – Use freshly grated zest from an untreated orange. Even if your orange is organic, it’s good practice to wash it thoroughly.
• Unsalted Butter – Or a plant-based alternative.
• Powdered Sugar – Any powdered sweetener works, from classic powdered sugar to powdered erythritol.
• Grand Marnier – Grand Marnier is an orange-flavored liqueur used to serve and ignite the crepe Suzette. Grand Mariner is a blend of Orange Liqueur (also known as Triple Sec or Cointreau) and Cognac (a type of French Brandy, or distilled wine). If you can’t find Grand Marnier, you can make your own blend of Triple Sec and Brandy.

Preparation

First, prepare the crepe mixture. In a large bowl, whisk flour, and sugar and stir in the eggs, milk, melted unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and rum until a smooth batter forms.

It’s fine if there are a few lumps of flour showing.

Cooking The Crepes

You can cook the crepe the day you intend to serve the dessert or make the crepes ahead and store them in the fridge on a plate covered with plastic wrap.

Warm a crepe pan or non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

Add a teaspoon of butter or oil to the pan and use a piece of absorbent paper to rub the pan with the butter.

Don’t keep too much oil or butter in the pan or fry the crepes.

Next, ladle about 1/3 cup of crepe batter, pour in the center of the warm pan, and tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the crepe batter as thin as possible all over the crepe pan.

Cook until the sides of the crepes unstick from the pan and get dry and crispy.

Flipping The Crepes

Now slide a flat spatula under the crepe and flip it on the other side.

Keep cooking the crepes until golden brown.

Place the cooked crepe onto a clean plate, and don’t foil the plate because you want the crepes to cool down before adding the orange butter.

Repeat the process above to cook the remaining crepe batter.

Folding Crepes

The particularity of the crêpes Suzette is the way crepes are folded into a triangle shape before being cooked in orange caramel.

To fold the crepes, fold them in half, then in half again until a triangle forms.

Store them on a plate folded as a triangle until no more batter is left.

Crepe Suzette Sauce

Now that you have cooked your crepes, it’s time to prepare the orange caramel or Suzette Sauce.

In a large skillet, add the caster sugar and cook over medium heat without stirring until the sugar melts.

Keep cooking until the sugar forms a golden caramel.

Remove the skillet from heat and carefully pour orange juice and orange zest – watch out it may splash, and caramel will crystalize, that’s normal.

Return to medium heat until the caramel form again, then add butter.

Melt butter and bring to a light boil.

Cook the orange sauce for a few minutes to slightly reduce, then cook the crepes in the orange butter.

Cooking Crepes In Orange Butter

Reduce heat and add the folded crepe to the warm orange butter.

You can add 3 crepes at once in a large pan, if your pan is smaller, cook one crepe at a time without overlapping the Crepe Suzette in the pan.

Serving Crêpes Suzette

Meanwhile, warm the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan over low-medium heat.

When the crepes are warm, place them on a plate. Sprinkle the white sugar all over the crepes.

Pour the warm Grand Marnier on top of the crepe, and using a lighter or long match, ignite the crepes.

The flame stops when there’s no more alcohol. You can stop the flame after a few seconds to keep a stronger Grand Marnier flavor in their crepes.

Serve plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Storage

Below I listed all the storage options for this recipe:

• Uncooked Crepe Batter – Store the crepe batter in the fridge for up to 2 days in an airtight container. Stir it before using it. Thin it with almond milk and cook it straight away, no need to bring it to room temperature.
• Cooked Crepes – Place the cooked crepe on a plate, film it with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out, and store them for up to 3 days in the fridge. You can freeze cooked crepes, flat, wrapped individually, or in a plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge the day before
• Suzette Orange Butter – Store the butter for up to 2 days in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze it for later and thaw it in the fridge the day before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have you made this crepe Suzette recipe? Share a comment or review below.