Complimenting the European wine varietals at High Country Victoria’s Ros Ritchie wines cellar door, Essentials Megan Chalmers has put together a collection of French recipes to indulge in throughout the autumn and winter seasons. Stay tuned to Essentials for more classic French food recipes.
Crêpes Suzette with Vanilla Mascarpone
Crêpe Batter
Makes 12 crêpes
150g self-raising flour or Gluten-Free Flour (rice flour corned flour combined, commercially available)
3 free-range eggs
300ml milk
¼ cup skim milk powder
Pinch salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Extra melted butter or sunflower oil for cooking
Method
1. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, gently warm the milk and melt the butter. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl add self-raising flour, skim milk powder and a pinch of salt; make a well in the middle and add the eggs.
3. Using an electric beater or hand beater, add the milk and melted butter and beat until a smooth batter has formed. Test the batter texture with a ladle, by lifting some of the batters and pouring it back into the bowl. The batter should be smooth and runny, neither too thick nor too watery thin.
4. Heat a 30cm nonstick crêpe pan or skillet over medium to high heat. Lightly coat with melted butter or a drop of sunflower oil. Add one-third of a cup, a medium-sized ladleful of batter to the pan and swirl to completely cover the bottom of the pan. Cook until the underside of crêpe is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
8. Loosen the edge of the crêpe with a thin metal spatula, then quickly flip. Cook for an additional minute. Slide the crêpe out of the pan and paint with melted butter and repeat with the remaining batter. (Coat pan with additional butter or oil as needed.)
You should make about a dozen crêpes with this amount of batter. Ideally, let them stand in the oven at 30-40C to keep the crêpes warm.
Suzette Sauce
200g sugar
2 tbsp water
70g unsalted butter
300ml freshly squeezed orange juice
Zest of 2 oranges
3-4 candied clementines or mandarines
6 tbsp Grand Marnier liqueur
Method
1. In a large frying pan, over low heat, add the sugar and water. Stir well to dissolve the sugar.
2. Add the butter and increase the heat to medium and cook for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
3. Add the orange juice and zest and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the Grand Marnier and sliced fruit and continue to simmer to reduce liquid slightly.
Vanilla Bean Mascarpone
200 mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
Method
Place in a bowl and condone all ingredients well.
To Flambé & Serve
Extra Grand Marnier liqueur to flambé
Fambé pan and table trolly
Matches
1. Using a flambé pan (tableside), add 3-4 triangle-folded crêpes and soak a generous amount of Suzette sauce. Heat Grand Marnier and flambé. To do so, scratch a match and approach the hot sauce with alcohol. Flames will suddenly appear and after a few minutes the alcohol will burn off.
2. To serve, place the crêpes in the centre of a plate. Top with the Suzette sauce and several clementines or mandarines segments to garnish the crêpes. Add a large dollop of vanilla bean mascarpone and drizzle with an extra cap measure of Grand Marnier liqueur.
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