The Best Boozy Crêpes Suzette Recipe

A whole lot fancier than your average pancake, Crêpes Suzette is a traditional French dessert that exudes style and sophistication. This simple recipe of crêpe pancakes and a decadently boozy orange syrup is the perfect dish to conclude a dinner party – especially if you execute a dazzling flambé.  

Despite its reputation as a meal reserved for flashy restaurants, Crêpes Suzette are easy to put together at home. Crêpes are very light pancakes, so will be familiar to all pancake-day-celebrators, but with a runnier batter and shorter cooking time.  

The syrupy sauce which elevates Crêpes Suzette to truly sumptuous heights is a basic reduction of sugar, butter, orange juice, and orange liqueur. Grand Marnier is the traditional liqueur for this recipe, but a bottle of Cointreau or Triple Sec also works perfectly.  

Orange liqueur is also the magic ingredient for flambéing your Crêpes Suzette. When the pancakes are doused in booze, holding a match to them sets alight a beautiful display of flames that will both infuse your dessert with a rich, spirited kick and look spectacular!  

Ingredients

Crêpes: 

  • 140g all-purpose flour 
  • 200ml milk 
  • 25g unsalted butter (plus a little more for frying) 
  • 2 eggs 
  • Pinch of salt 

 Orange Liqueur Syrup: 

  • 100ml orange liqueur 
  • 2 large oranges 
  • 175g butter 
  • 75g caster sugar 

How to Make Crêpes

  1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle 
  2. Break the eggs into the well and gently whisk together 
  3. Pour the milk in a small splash at a time, whisking constantly 
  4. Melt the butter and pour it into the mixture, giving it a final stir 
  5. Warm a frying pan on medium heat and grease it with a knob of butter 
  6. Use a ladle to spoon a small amount of the crêpe mixture into the pan and quickly swirl it so that it thinly covers the base 
  7. Fry on one side for around 45 seconds, then flip and cook for a further 30 seconds or until just turning brown 
  8. Continue until the batter is finished, storing the pancakes on a plate with a roll of baking parchment between each crêpe to ensure they don’t stick together 

 

How to Make Crêpes Suzette

  1.  Grate the zest of 1 orange and juice 2 oranges 
  2. Place the orange juice, orange zest, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil 
  3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and stir regularly for 10 minutes until the liquid has become thick and syrupy 
  4. Returning to the crêpes, fold all the pancakes into quarters and arrange them in a large pan, baking tray, or heatproof container 
  5. Pour the orange syrup over the pancakes and warm the pan on a very low heat for a couple of minutes before removing and placing on a clean, empty surface 
  6. Pour 100ml of orange liqueur evenly over the crêpes 
  7. Using a safety gas lighter or long match, set light to the crêpes and enjoy the effects of the flambé (it looks even better with the lights off!) 
  8. After the fire has gone out, serve the crêpes with a generous spooning of sauce 

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