Crepes Suzette Flambe With Grand Marnier

Amaze your guests with Crepes Suzette flambe with Grand Marnier. Learn how to ignite the orange-flavored sauce and succeed every time in making this spectacular French dessert. Do not you feel comfortable to flambe? Serve crepes with the sauce and ice cream!

Yes, it is another recipe for crepes - crepes Suzette flambe into the buttery orange sauce with the delicate touch of Grand Marnier.

History has elevated the humble crepe into one of the top deserts served in upscale restaurants today. Why not bring these delicious crepes to your home table?

What are crepes Suzette?

Crepes Suzette is a famous French dessert made with crepes and Suzette butter - a sauce of caramelized sugar, butter, orange juice, zest of orange, and orange liqueur.

The crepes are usually prepared in full view of guests, making a tableside show by igniting the orange sauce with Grand Marnier (aka flambé).

Flambé meaning

Flambé is a cooking procedure when alcohol (in case of crepes Suzette Grand Marnier) is poured into a hot pan to create a burst of flames. This word means "flamed" in French. 

Crepes Suzette is the best example of the most famous flambé dish. Watch this video of how to flambé crepes Suzette. Sometimes cognac or even hot Grand Marnier is poured into the hot pan to intensify the flames.

Crepes Suzette history

Crepes Suzette were created by a mistake of a fourteen-years-old waiter Henri Charpentier who worked at Monte Carlo’s Café de Paris in 1895. While serving a dessert to the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII of England, the boy accidentally caught fire with the crepe sauce.

He was so upset, but while tasting the sauce, he found it delicious. The Royal Highness liked the desert and asked to name it after his companion, Suzette.

Why crepe Suzette flambe recipe works

• Simple crepes soaked in the buttery orange sauce make a dramatic and utterly dessert.
• Igniting the sauce with Grand Marnier in front of guests transforms the dessert into a show-stopping masterpiece.
• Making crepes in advance is a step to save time on the day of serving. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to make the sauce, flambé, and serve crepes!

How to make crepes Zusette flambe step by step

To make the crepe batter, place flour, sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon and orange zest, Grand Marnier, and melted butter in a large bowl (photo 1) and mix with a hand whisk (photo 2).

Add half of the milk, gradually adding the remaining milk and water and mix to get a smooth batter (photo 3). Cover the bowl with a plastic film and let it rest at room temperature for one hour.

Cook crepes in a nonstick crepe pan (no need to grease). Cook one side for about 1 minute (photo 4)...

turn it over and cook another side until lightly browned, about 1 minute (photo 5). Repeat until all the batter has been used.

To make the crepe Suzette sauce, melt butter, and sugar in a pan until the sugar begins to caramelize (photo 6).

Add orange juice, Grand Marnier (be careful of the splash), and orange peel made with a channel knife or citrus peeler and bring the sauce to a boil. Fold each crepe twice and place four of them in the pan with the sauce to soak (photo 7). Cook for a few seconds and turn them over (photo 8).

To flambe, remove the pan from heat, add some Grand Marnier and ignite carefully. Scratch a long-handled match and approach the hot sauce. Flames will appear for a few seconds. When the alcohol burns off, flames will disappear.

Serve two crepes per person. Pour with the crepe Suzette sauce and serve immediately. Repeat each serving of crepes, starting from making the sauce again.

Expert tips

1. Read this post on how to make authentic French crepes before you start.
2. Make crepes in advance, stack them between layers of parchment paper, wrap in a plastic film, and refrigerate for up to three days.
3. Substitute Grand Marnier with Cointreau.
4. To make crepes kids friendly, replace Grand Marnier with the same amount of orange juice. You will surely omit to ignite the sauce.
5. To make the orange peel without a citrus peeler, peel the fruit with a vegetable peeler and cut the peel into thin strips.
6. Omit to flambé crepes if you do not feel comfortable with the procedure. 
7. Serve crepes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you prefer.
8. Accompany the dessert with Sauternes - a French sweet wine.

More delicious crepe recipes you will love

• Authentic French Crepes Recipe
• Beggar’s Purses With Caramelized Apples
• Seriously Yummy French Chocolate Crepes
• Browse all the Crepe Recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.aveceric.com. It was originally published on February 08, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.