From Julia · 2022-2023 · Reconstructed
Crêpes Suzette
Serve when
Serve the instant the pan is tilted to the flame and the sauce catches — that's the moment the whole dish is built for.
In the series
Season 1
- S1E5 · ~00:30:00 Julia demonstrates crêpes suzette on The French Chef, flambéing the orange-butter sauce tableside for the camera
In the series
Crêpes suzette is pure showmanship — a dessert built around a moment of fire in front of an audience — which makes it the natural centerpiece for an episode about Julia learning to perform for a camera rather than just cook in front of it.
Ingredients
- For the crêpes:
- For the sauce:
Method
- Whisk the flour, eggs, milk, melted butter, and salt into a thin, smooth batter. Rest it for at least 20 minutes.
- Cook thin crêpes in a lightly buttered pan, one at a time, and stack them as you go.
- Melt the butter with the sugar and orange zest in a wide skillet or chafing pan until it turns a light amber.
- Whisk in the orange juice and simmer until slightly syrupy, then stir in the orange liqueur.
- Fold each crêpe into quarters and warm it through in the sauce, basting as it soaks.
- Off heat, pour the warmed brandy over the pan, tilt it toward the flame (or light it carefully with a long match), and let the alcohol burn off before serving.
Substitutions
- No open flame: skip the flambé step entirely and just reduce the brandy into the sauce for a minute before serving — the dish is still excellent, just without the tableside theater.
- Orange liqueur: a good triple sec stands in for Grand Marnier without much loss of character.