I’ve always been kind of scared of crêpes…and perhaps any other word with a circumflex in it

When I was about ten or eleven I came across a recipe (I think it was Julia Child’s) in a magazine I was reading in a doctor’s office waiting room. I don’t remember very much about the recipe itself, aside from the photo of well-arranged crêpes on a white plate, framed by a silver charger, but the overwhelming sense of complexity and inevitable failure has never left me. Years later, I came across another recipe, this time from a Time/Life French cookbook I’d checked out of the library, and decided to give it a go. It called for several pieces of special cookware/equipment and made the entire process seem like a feat stopping short only of gene splicing. I visited a local culinary specialty store, priced the special crêpe pan, the tool for flipping and a couple of other “must-have” items and walked right back out empty-handed. The approximate cost of “crepe fixins” was way out of my nineteen-year-old college student budget; the abominable crêpe had triumped again.

Obviously another recipe came my way, otherwise I wouldn’t be boasting about it on my blog. A couple of weeks ago, I was flipping through the channels and an episode of PBS’s America’s Test Kitchen caught my eye—they were making Crêpes Suzette…both hosts swore the method was both foolproof and easy. I grabbed a notepad to take down a list of the cookware and whatnot I’d have to go out and buy, but the demonstrating chef used just a basic skillet and a rubber spatula. She repeatedly stated that anyone could follow the recipe and it would be delicious. I’m pretty much anyone, so I took that optimism straight into the kitchen. My boyfriend stood by with a mop bucket of water, stating he just didn’t feel comfortable knowing I was going to intentionally set something aflame in the name of epicurean exploration.

All in all, they did turn out pretty well and nothing was charred in the flambé process. I look forward to making them again:

Crêpe Suzette
from the America’s Test Kitchen Episode: Flambé at Home
Serves 6

I made a few modifications to the original, but nothing that would alter the taste of the dish at all.

The dish is intended to serve six guests two crêpes each, for a total of twelve. The original recipe advised that it takes a few crêpes to get the pan’s temperature ‘just right’ so the first two or three will likely be unusable so the actual recipe yields sixteen crêpes to allow for some “practice.”

The original recipe called for moving the batter from the blender to a bowl and then portioning it off into the measuring cup ¼ cup at a time. I skipped the bowl and poured the batter from the blender’s pitcher directly into the measuring cup.

The original recipe calls for whole milk but also noted that 2% or skim milk are acceptable; tasters apparently had a slight preference for crêpes made with whole milk.

Crêpes
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk (see note above)
½ cup water
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 ½ oz)
2 TB cognac
3 TB sugar
½ tsp table salt
5 TB unsalted butter, melted (plus extra for brushing pan)

Orange sauce
4 TB cognac
6 TB unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
4 TB sugar
1 TB grated orange zest
1 ¼ cups fresh orange juice (from 3-4 large oranges)
2 TB Cointreau

For the crêpes:

1) Combine eggs, milk, water, flour, cognac, sugar, salt, and melted butter in blender until smooth batter forms (about 10 seconds).

2) Using pastry brush, coat bottom and sides of 10-inch nonstick skillet very lightly with melted butter; place skillet over medium heat.

3) Pour ¼ cup of batter from blender into measuring cup.

4) When the butter stops sizzling, tilt the pan to right and begin pouring in the scant ¼ of batter in a slow, steady stream. Rotate wrist and twirl pan slowly counter- clockwise until pan bottom is covered with even layer of batter.

5) Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until crêpe begins to lose opaqueness and turns spotty light golden brown on bottom. Loosen crêpe from pan with rubber spatula. To flip, loosen edge with spatular and, with fingertips on the top side, slide spatula under crêpe and flip. Continue cooking until dry on second side, about 20 seconds.

6) Place cooked crêpe on plate and repeat cooking process with remaining batter, brushing pan very lightly with melted butter before making each crêpe. As they are done, stack crêpes on plate.

Crêpes can be double-wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days. If crêpes have been refrigerated, bring them to room temperature before making sauce.

For the orange sauce

1) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler.

2) Add 3 TB cognac to broiler-safe 12-inch skillet; set over medium heat just until vapors begin to rise from the cognac, about 5 seconds. Remove pan from heat and wave lit chimney match over cognac until it ignites; shake pan until flames subside. The cognac should burn for about 15 seconds; reignite if flame dies too soon.

3) Add butter, 3 TB sugar, and 1 cup orange juice to cognac in skillet; simmer briskley over high heat, whisking occasionally, until many large bubbles appear and mixture reduces to thick syrup (approximately 6-8 minutes). You should have just over ½ cup of sauce. Transfer sauce to small bowl. Do not wash skillet. Stir remaining ¼ orange juice, orange zest, Cointreau, and remaining tablespoon of cognac into sauce. Cover to keep warm.

4) Assemble crêpes by folding each in half, then in half again to form a wedge shape. Arrange 9 folded crêpes with rounded edges facing inward around edge of now-empty skillet, overlapping as necessary to fit. Arrange remaining 3 crêpes in center of pan. Sprinkle crêpes evenly with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Place skillet in oven and broil until sugar carmelizes and crêpes turn spotty brown (about 5 minutes).

Watch crêpes constantly to prevent scorching. Turn pan in oven as necessary to ensure even browning.

5) Remove pan from oven and pour half of the orange sauce over crêpes, leaving some areas unsauced. Transfer crêpes from pan to individual dishes and serve immediately, each guest adding extra sauce to taste.

The original recipe notes that traditionally, since Crêpe Suzette is typically made to serve two, the sauce is flambéed with the crêpes in the pan. When creating this dish for several guests, in this instance six individuals, it would prove difficult to ignite the cognac in the pan with twelve crêpes. The crêpes would absorb the alcohol too quickly and turn into boozy sponges. The more effective solution is to flambé the cognac separately, then build the sauce, and then spoon it over the crêpes just prior to serving.

Original recipe link (registration required).