Julian & Julia - Crepes Suzette Recipe Video

A delicious and decadent dessert made with loads of butter, this French classic is easy and of course, cheap to make. Flour, eggs, milk, orange juice, butter and a 99 cent airline bottle of cognac make up the main ingredients. (You can leave out half the butter, but then it would not be a true Julia Child culinary experience. Try it this way at least once!)

Julian & Julia - Video

Play it here. The video runs 6 minutes, 28 seconds.

Ingredients (about 6 crepes)
1 cup of flour

3/4 cup of milk
3/4 cup of water
2 to 3 whole eggs
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. of vanilla - optional
Pinch of salt

Orange Butter Sauce
1/2 cup of orange juice - fresh squeezed or carton pasteurized
Zest of 1/2 orange - optional
1/2 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter - OK to use less
99 cent airline bottle of cognac (or brandy) - about 1/4 cup

Directions for Crepes
In a large bowl mix together flour, milk, water, salt, eggs and 1 tbsp. of melted or soft butter. Whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Heat your medium (about 8 inches) non-stick omelet pan and coat with 1 pat of butter or oil. When butter is melted, add 1/4 cup of crepe batter - enough to just cover the bottom of the pan. Hold up pan and swirl to coat pan evenly. It is better to have too much batter than too little - a thin crepe will tear when turning. Cook crepe for a minute, then loosen around the edges and continue cooking for another minute. Peek before turning to see if crepe is starting to brown. Carefully turn crepe over and cook for another half minute. As my video shows, the first crepe may stick and be unusable. Don't worry, it takes a couple of crepes to get it right. Your crepes may not be perfect, but with a sweet Orange Butter Sauce no one will be complaining about the appearance. Set aside your cooked crepes to add to the Orange Butter Sauce.

Directions for Orange Butter Sauce
Use a large enough pan to dip a whole crepe into. Melt butter, then add orange juice, zest and sugar into pan, over a medium/high heat. Cook until sauce is reduced by half and thickened, about 5 minutes.


Reduce heat and add a crepe. Notice my use of a spoon and fork, in the video, to fold crepe into sauce. Fold in half once, then fold one more time and push crepe to the edge of the pan to make room for more. I managed to fit about 3 crepes at a time to my pan. Allow crepes to heat through for a minute.

Now the fun part - cognac flambe! Have a long handled match ready. This is when you want an audience. Your table should be set and the lights dimmed so you can serve the flaming Crepes Suzettes with a flourish! When sauce and crepes are warm, pour in half the cognac and bring to the table. Place before your dazzled guest and strike a match, lighting the sauce. Be careful: the cognac will flame up, so you don't want flammable items nearby (overhead curtains, paper, etc.) and your kids should not attempt this! Serve this first batch of crepes with a spoonful of sauce. Finish saucing the other crepes, then flambe, and repeat. Bon Appetit!