Crêpes Suzette is a popular French dessert made with thin pancakes and a sauce of orange and lemon zest, butter, sugar, and brandy. The dessert is traditionally lit on fire before serving and can be filled with brandy cherries. It is a flamboyant and exciting way to end a meal.
As one of French cuisine’s most recognizable imports, Crêpes Suzette is a deliciously thin-layered dessert that’s not only appealing to the palate but a lovely treat to the eye as well. Here are some of the features that make this wonderful dessert crêpe creation so popular.
Crêpes Suzette uses crêpes as the basic ingredient. A crepe is simply a very thin, flat cake that resembles a pancake. There’s really nothing remarkable about the cracks themselves. They can actually be made with packaged pancake mix by simply diluting the batter a bit.
What really creates the sensation with Crêpes Suzette is the sauce that is drizzled over the crêpes before and after they are rolled. Usually referred to as orange sauce, the mixture contains orange and lemon zest, butter, sugar and orange juice. Along with these basic ingredients, brandy is often added, giving the crêpe sauce an extra kick. If brandy isn’t available, any type of liquor will work as well.
Before rolling up the crêpes, add a little sauce. Roll up the crepes and place them on the dessert plate. Depending on the size of the crêpes, there may be one to three crêpes as part of a single dessert. Once the crêpes are in place, drizzle some of the sauce on top. The Crêpes Suzette is now ready to be served.
As Crêpes Suzette are served, it is traditional to light up the sauce. The alcohol used in the orange sauce provides the fuel for the flames. Don’t worry about damaging the crêpes in the dessert; the alcohol will run out quickly. The crêpes themselves will still have a delicious coating on the outside, while the inside of the dessert will be warm and moist.
While there are some variations of Crêpes Suzette that call for brandy cherries to be used as a filler in the rolled crêpes, this appears to be a later innovation. The original recipe for Crêpes Suzette was intended to provide a light yet filling dessert after a multi-course dinner, with the added benefit of the lemon and orange zest leaving a fresh, clean taste in the mouth. Today, most people still prefer the simple Crêpes Suzette with crêpes and orange sauce.
As a flamboyant dessert option, Crêpes Suzette has remained a popular choice for many years. Not only does the dessert taste wonderful, but it also appeals to diners who want a little excitement during their meal. Whether as a compliment to a celebration dinner or as a cap to an intimate dinner for two, Crêpes Suzette is a great way to end a meal.
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