← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 125 g plain flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar (for the batter)
• 1 pinch Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 300 ml Milk
• 15 g butter, melted, plus extra for the pan
• 3 oranges (zest of 1, about 200 ml juice)
• 60 g caster sugar (for the sauce)
• 60 g butter (for the sauce), cubed
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp Grand Marnier or Cointreau, plus 2 tbsp to flambé if you like

Method

1. Whisk the flour, 1 tbsp sugar and salt with the eggs, then gradually whisk in the milk until smooth. Stir in the melted butter and half the orange zest and rest the batter for 30 min.
2. Heat a 20–22 cm crêpe or frying pan over medium heat and wipe it with a little butter. Pour in about 3 tbsp batter, swirl to coat thinly and cook for 1 minute until lacy and golden underneath, then flip for 30 seconds. Stack the crêpes; you should get 12.
3. For the sauce, melt the 60 g sugar in a wide frying pan over medium heat, without stirring, until it turns a light amber caramel. Carefully add the butter, then the orange juice, remaining zest and lemon juice; it will splutter. Simmer for 3–4 min, stirring, until syrupy.
4. Stir in the liqueur. Fold each crêpe into quarters, lay it in the sauce, turn to coat and nudge it aside, until all are in the pan and glossy.
5. To flambé, warm the extra 2 tbsp liqueur in a small pan, take the pan off the heat, ignite it with a long match and pour it, flaming, over the crêpes. Serve as soon as the flames die down.

Tips

• Flambéing burns off much, but not all, of the alcohol: for children, skip the liqueur and add a little extra orange juice.
• Flame well away from extractor hoods and anything flammable, and never pour liqueur straight from the bottle into a hot pan.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Serious Eats