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Snack · Breakfast

Crêpes Suzette

Thin crêpes warmed in a buttery orange sauce. Escoffier’s 1907 version brushes them with orange butter; ours makes it a glossy pan sauce, with no liqueur and no flames.

⏱ 1 hr 15 min (15 min prep, 30 min cooking, 30 min waiting) 🍽 Serves 4 · 3 crêpes make aheadfreezer friendly vegetarian
📅 Add to my plan

ContainsMilk, Eggs, Wheat. Check the labels on what you buy; brands differ.

Ingredients

Make 4 servings

  • Crêpes

  • 125 g All-purpose flour
  • 2 Eggs, large
  • 1¼ cup Whole milk
  • 2 tbsp Butter, unsalted, melted, plus a little for the pan
  • 1 tbsp Granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch Table salt

  • Orange butter sauce

  • 6 tbsp Butter, unsalted, softened
  • ¼ cup Granulated sugar
  • 1 Orange, zest finely grated
  • ¾ cup Orange juice, or the juice of clementines or tangerines
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice (bottled)

Make it yourself

Make the butter yourself →

In the planner, Make it on the shopping list swaps the store item for these ingredients and puts the work on your prep day.

Nutrition

Nutrition coming: the USDA numbers for these ingredients are being added.

📜 Where it comes from

Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935), the Savoy (1890–1898) and Carlton (1899–1919) hotels, London.

A Guide to Modern Cookery (London: William Heinemann, 1907; the English edition of Le Guide culinaire, Paris, 1903), No. 2450, p. 723: “Suzette Pancakes”.

“Make these from preparation A, flavoured with curaçoa and tangerine juice. Coat them, like Gil-Blas pancakes, with softened butter, flavoured with curaçoa and tangerine juice.”

The original text, quoted as printed; it is in the public domain.

The origin is disputed. Henri Charpentier said he created the dish by accident in 1895 as a young waiter at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo, serving the Prince of Wales. Another account ties the name to the actress Suzanne Reichenberg, known as Suzette, in Paris in the 1890s. Escoffier’s book printed a recipe in 1907; flaming it at the table came later.

What we changed: Escoffier flavored the crêpes and butter with curaçao, an orange liqueur. We use orange zest and juice, cook the butter into a sauce, and skip the flaming.

Escoffier did this work in London before Michelin gave out its first stars (1926), so no star ratings apply.

Internet Archive scan (Cornell University Library)Project Gutenberg textLe Guide culinaire, 1903 (Internet Archive)Auguste EscoffierCrêpes SuzetteMore from the great kitchens →

Steps

You’ll need: blender or bowl and whisk, 8-inch nonstick skillet, large skillet, zester or fine grater.

  1. Blend or whisk the flour, eggs, milk, melted butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Rest the batter 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge).
  2. Heat the 8-inch skillet over medium and brush it with butter. Pour in 3 tablespoons of batter and swirl to coat the pan thinly. Cook about 1 minute, until the edges lift and the bottom is lightly browned, then flip and cook 20 seconds. Stack the crêpes on a plate. You’ll have about 12.
  3. For the sauce, mash the soft butter with the sugar and orange zest. Melt it in the large skillet over medium heat, add the orange and lemon juice, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly syrupy.
  4. Fold each crêpe in quarters, lay them in the sauce, and spoon it over. Warm 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, and serve with the sauce.
Make aheadCook the crêpes up to 2 days ahead; stack with wax paper between, wrap and refrigerate.
❄️ FreezerFreeze cooked crêpes, stacked with wax paper and wrapped well, up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.
↺ LeftoversRefrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat within 2 days.
🧒 With kidsKids can zest the orange and fold the crêpes into triangles.
Dairy-free swapUse a plant milk in the batter and a dairy-free butter in the pan and the sauce.

Good to know

All-purpose vs. bread flour (and friends) Cooking Fats Compared Salted vs. unsalted butter Table salt vs. kosher salt vs. sea salt

Our own adaptation of a public-domain recipe, in our own words. Nutrition is estimated from USDA FoodData Central and changes with brands and portions.