Crêpes Suzette

Crêpes Suzette
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(311)
Notes
Read community notes

This is just one of those desserts that seem, on the page as on the plate, to be labor-intensive and tricky, but in fact are as simple to make as they are gratifying to eat. For one thing, you can make the crepes in advance; they could sit, piled between torn-off sheets of baking parchment and well wrapped in the refrigerator, for a good three days without coming to any harm. But I must admit to taking, more than once, an even quicker route: using good store-bought crepes. Once they're immersed in the sweet orangey syrup, they will not betray their prefabricated origins.

Featured in: AT MY TABLE; Not Quite Spring, But Hardly Winter

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • Finely grated zest of 1 orange
  • 10tablespoons unsalted butter
  • cup superfine sugar
  • 8 to 12crepes (see recipe)
  • cup Grand Marnier, Cointreau or triple sec liqueur
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

436 calories; 25 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 22 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 282 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, zest, butter and sugar. Place over high heat and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until syrupy, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Fold crepes into quarters, and arrange in circular pattern, slightly overlapping, in a nonreactive skillet or other shallow flameproof pan. Pour warm syrup on top (reserve syrup pan), and place over low heat until crepes are warm, about 5 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Warm liqueur in pan that held orange syrup. When crepes are hot, pour liqueur on top; carefully touch a flame to surface to light it. Serve immediately, spooning crepes and sauce onto each plate.

Ratings

4 out of 5
311 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

No way a flour tortilla could even come close to taste or texture of a CREPE. You have obviously never hrad a crepe.

You may not believe this, but get some soft flour tortillas, give them an egg and milk wash (just like French toast), pan fry briefly and you will not be able to tell the difference between them and "real" crepes.

Crepes Suezette is a classic French dish, as such I beg you to not to use floor tortillas. If you need a shortcut for dessert, buy ice cream, don't bastardize a classic. Crepes are extremely easy and fun to make, worth learning how, as they can be used for sweet and savory meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I do not believe you, you are right.

This recipe reminds me of the Crepes Suzette that my French mother made for us on Mardi Gras. She always made them with Grand Marnier, which I learned to appreciate from a tender age. She is now 93 years old and still makes more than 100 of them for the local Club Francais each year. They are legendary!

But I must admit to taking, more than once, an even quicker route: using good store-bought crepes. Once they're immersed in the sweet orangey syrup, they will not betray their prefabricated origins.

I beg of you, do NOT use tortillas. Make homemade crepes- they're not hard, fun to make, and taste immeasurably better than anything store bought or any substitutes. They can also be frozen between layers of wax paper or parchment in a plastic bag and then thawed out later.

get some soft flour tortillas, give them an egg and milk wash (just like French toast), pan fry briefly and you will not be able to tell the difference between them and "real" crepes.

Crepes Suzette reminds me from a line from Patty Duke theme song on reruns. There’s such a thing, lol?

The liquid in the pan has to be HOT before you try lighting it. Please have a pan lid at the ready to put out the flames in case they leap up too high, too.

Please do not use Tortillas, they are not the same. A well made Crepe is amazing and can be stuffed with many things for most any meal.

My favorite pancakes in the world are Swedish pancakes. The recipe is nearly the same as for crepes and with the same texture. The only real difference is they are poured a tiny bit thicker into the pan. I make them several times a year for dinner. This Suzette sauce goes perfectly!

Did not catch fire

Where Cathy adores a minuet, The Ballets Russes, and Crepes Suzette, Our Patty loves to rock and roll, A hot dog makes her lose control - What a wild duet! Jean - Crepes Suzette reminds me of a line from Patty Duke's theme song on reruns. There’s such a thing, lol?

Just one more word to the wise. Do not make the same mistake I did. DO NOT STIR THE LIQUEUR WHEN YOU PUT ON THE SAUCE. IT WILL NOT LIGHT! Carefully spoon it on top. We had a very boozy sauce before we figured it out.

This was lovely! I didn't have any Grand Marnier or triple sec, so I left a spoonful of syrup in the pan, added a little glug of bourbon and orange bitters, and used that. You could taste the whiskey, but not too strongly. I also used a channel knife to cut thin straps of orange peel and cooked those with the syrup to make a pretty garnish. This was easy and impressive for a Friday night dinner's dessert. My flambé was not as big and scary as I thought, and no smoke alarms went off!

I'm thinking of filling the crêpes with a shmear of sweetened cream cheese before folding into quarters. I know that's not a traditional way to make Crêpes Suzette. Does anyone see an issue with this adaptation when proceeding with step 3 of the recipe? For example, when the crépes get hot, would the cheese ooze out and make a mess?

i learned how to make crepes after reading a (sadly discontinued) comic called "flavor." the creator hired ali bouzari as a food consultant for the comic, and they shared their crepe recipe at the end of one of the issues. no special ingredients required - 1c flour, 1c milk, 2 eggs. (i add a sprinkling of sugar if i'm making sweet crepes.) whisk until smooth. butter a hot nonstick pan, coat it with batter and go to town. stack them on a plate as you go, no need to put anything in between them.

Is there any substitute for Grand Marnier? I prefer to cook without alcohol, if I can

Crepes are so easy to make there's no reason to use flour tortillas! Find a nice 8" non-stick skillet with rounded sides and it's an easy meal. Takes about 1.5 minutes per crepe at medium high heat using a scant 1/4 cup of mix.

This recipe reminds me of the Crepes Suzette that my French mother made for us on Mardi Gras. She always made them with Grand Marnier, which I learned to appreciate from a tender age. She is now 93 years old and still makes more than 100 of them for the local Club Francais each year. They are legendary!

Every time my immigrant mother made us balacinka she recounted the story of when a rich college friend took her to a fancy restaurant with promises of Crepe Suzettes for dessert. Having never had Crepe Suzette, and having dressed in her best outfit for the occasion, she was anticipating something spectacular. She still laughs at the shock and disappointment when she realized this was the same pancake her mother made in the refugee camp.

I tried this recipe twice and couldn’t get it to flambé either time, even after studying YouTube tutorials. I ran them under the broiler to approximate a flambé, which wasn’t as much fun as pyrotechnics. It was delicious, but something has to be wrong with the directions.

The liquid in the pan has to be HOT before you try lighting it. Please have a pan lid at the ready to put out the flames in case they leap up too high, too.

Fantastic! My family and I loved this desert! I am totally shocked there are so few reviews on the NYT website on this amazing dish. I am a coward so didn't set it on fire;. Instead drizzled a little cointreau over a scoop of vanilla ice cream that sat atop 3-4 warm syrupy crepes. I was given a crepe pan by my kids for Christmas - this was a great excuse to use the pan. Was short on orange juice by 1/4 cup so added pineapple juice & a good squeeze of lemon juice. Great celebration dish!

I beg of you, do NOT use tortillas. Make homemade crepes- they're not hard, fun to make, and taste immeasurably better than anything store bought or any substitutes. They can also be frozen between layers of wax paper or parchment in a plastic bag and then thawed out later.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.