Crepes Suzette: Regular and Gluten Free

I woke up yesterday morning, inspired by a blog post at Chow and Chatter.  The headline read “Crepes with Nutella and Orange.”  While that sounded wonderful in and of itself, it got me thinking about crepes in general…specifically gluten free Crepes Suzette.

I decided upon Crepes Suzette because it was a childhood favorite of mine.  I remember going to the Westgate Hotel in San Diego with my family and being mesmerized by the flaming crepes that were made right at our table.  Later, my dad would make Crepes Suzette for special occasions.  I always loved the buttery orange sauce that accompanied the crepes.

What started out as a breakfast idea, turned into brunch, as I had never in my life made crepes before, let alone gluten free crepes, so the learning curve was pretty steep.  I consulted several cookbooks and the Internet and finally found a recipe at the World of Crepes website.  If you are in to crepes, there are over 200 crepe recipes, so you will definitely want to check it out!

Here’s the original recipe I used with my gluten free adaptations in orange.

Crepe ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour OR 3/4 cup sorghum flour + 3/4 cup tapioca starch + 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons orange liqueur (I omitted this)
• pinch of salt

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in blender and mix until well-blended.  Mix in the melted butter last. Important:Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes.  This gives the batter the opportunity to rest and fully come together.  While the batter is resting you can get the ingredients ready for the orange sauce.

Orange Sauce Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Juice from 6 oranges (I used organic Valencia oranges); zest from one orange
  
• 3 tablespoons of orange liqueur.  I used Grand Marnier.
  
• 3 tablespoons cognac . This is optional if you are going to flambe the crepes.  I skipped this step because I had no idea where my fire extinguisher was!

Instructions: (I got all the ingredients ready while the batter was “resting”, but waited to cook the sauce until after all the crepes were made.)  Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the sugar, zest, juice, and liqueur.  Stirring constantly, reduce sauce to 2/3 cup. (I reduced the sauce to approximately 1 cup and it still was delicious, plus I had a lot leftover!)

Cooking the crepes.  Now the fun begins…

1. Place your preferred pan on a medium-hot burner.  Once hot, brush with a little oil or butter.  (I used melted butter)
2. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter onto the pan.
3. Remove pan from the heat.
4. Swirl pan around until batter coats the bottom.  Some batter will roll up to the sides; you will get a thin, crisp edge.
5. Return pan to burner.  When the edge turns light brown-the crepe itself will become golden brown-flip the crepe.
6. Cook the other side for about 15 seconds until done.

Repeat the procedure (buttering as necessary between crepes).  Depending upon the recipe and pan you choose, you may end up with 12-24 crepes.  (I ended up with 18 crepes.)  Stack each crepe between a sheet of waxed paper until you’re ready to use it.  At this point, you may freeze the entire stack for later.  FLIP TIPS: Don’t try to flip the crepe while it’s still moist.  A “flip-ready” crepe will be dry and will actually slide at the nudge of a spatula.

My First Ever Crepe!

Abstract Art Crepe

Scrambled Crepe

Not Bad!

Serving the crepes: Roll 2-3 crepes on each plate and spoon the orange sauce over the top.  Fresh oranges and pomegranate arils make a nice topping!

Crepe making lessons learned…

• The gluten free crepes turned out really tasty.  I am definitely inspired to make more crepes!
• Experiment with the best temperature.  I have a gas stove and found that the optimal heat level was between medium and medium low, with the temperature slightly skewed towards medium low.
• You may want to spend a morning or afternoon in crepe making mode and make a double or triple batch to freeze for another day.
• I really do love my SCAN Pan.  Not a single crepe stuck to the pan!
  
• Orange butter sauce tastes good on everything!  I had a lot left over, which I plan to use on pancakes, waffles, french toast, fresh fruit, and ice cream!

Enjoy!

Have you ever made crepes before?  If so, how did they turn out?  Any crepe making “words of wisdom” to share?

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