"CREPES SUZETTE"
Source of Recipe
Who Cooked That Up? is copyrighted 1998 by J.J. Schnebel
Recipe Introduction
This is my story and I am sticking to it !!!
by Henri Charpentier
List of Ingredients
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cream
2 tablespoons milk
1 pinch of salt
Recipe
"Stir the ingredients smoothly to the consistency of olive oil, or until it will pour back silently and smoothly from a foot or more above the mixing bowl. Remember this is a French pancake and must be thin. Put 1 teaspoon of butter into a small round-bottomed frying pan (not aluminum) and when it bubbles pour in enough paste to cover the bottom of the pan. Be quick in moving the pan so as to spread the paste thinly. Keep the pan moving; that paste is a delicate substance. After 1 minute turn the pancake over, then turn it again and again until it is nicely browned. Fold the circle in half, then again to form a triangle. Make eight of these, which should serve four. This first step is a smoky one and should be done in the kitchen. The pancakes, however, are to be cooked a second time, a procedure which occurs in the dining room.
"SUZETTE SAUCE"
Vanilla sugar Juice of 2 oranges
Skin of 2 oranges Juice of 1 lemon
Orange Blossom water Rum
Kirsch Maraschino
White Curacao
"This sauce should be made in advance since it keeps for many months without spoiling. It can be made in great quantities; like good wine, it will improve with age. Vanilla sugar is one of the requisites for a fine cuisine. Put three or four vanilla beans in a quart jar of granulated sugar. After several days the sugar will be delicately flavored by the vanilla in the beans.
"With a knife peel 2 oranges and 1 lemon so thin that the pulp remains on the fruit. Cut the peel julienne style and mix it with 4 tablespoons of vanilla sugar. Squeeze the strained juice of the 2 oranges and 1 lemon into a chafing dish. Add the vanilla sugar, etc. and 1/8 pound of butter. Let it come to a boil and then add 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water, 2 ponies* of kirsch, 2 ponies of white curacao, 2 ponies of rum and 1 pony of maraschino. When it comes to a boil, remove it from the fire. This is the sauce which, if prepared in advance, will keep indefinitely.
"After the Crepes Suzette have been made and have been brought to the dining room, the final step is ready to be taken. Put some of the above prepared sauce into a large chafing dish (the quantity depends on your desire) and when it begins to bubble lay the pancakes in the sauce. Those who have no chafing dish need not worry: it's not the chafing dish that makes the Crepes Suzette, it's the sauce. If necessary, make it in the kitchen using a pan. Cut minute pieces of orange and lemon peel (no pulp) and put a little on top of each pancake. Blend 1 pony* of each of the cordials used in the making of the sauce by placing them in a small heated casserole. Make the cordials flame and pour it over the pancakes which are in the bubbling sauce. Serve immediately. The perfect Crepes Suzette are not too liqueur-y. This is an equally delicious sauce for compotes, puddings, ice cream or sweet omelets. "
*Note: a "pony" is a small glass or jigger, about one ounce, or 2 tablespoons.
The most popular variation of the recipe provides the substitution of Grand Marnier (or orange liqueur) for the mixture of cordials. The delightful colored photo of crepes you see above is from the Cafe Creosoterecipe which uses Grand Marnier. However, one of the most informative sites about French pancakes in general comes from the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency, where they tell you how to beat, blend, whisk, refrigerate or freeze crepes and how to use one of those fancy upside-down crepe pans, if you happen to have one.
As for Henri, he spent the last fifteen years of his life in Redondo Beach, California, where he retired. Retirement for Henri? That meant doing what he loved best. Each night he served just sixteen people whatever meal he chose from the produce available. Hollywood stars including Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Ingrid Bergman and Edward G. Robinson, as well as local residents, paid a deposit and often waited four years for a reservation. They never knew what they would be served when they arrived, but for one thing: there would always be Crepes Suzette for dessert.
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