Chandeleur: the history of crêpe Suzette and the recipe for its variant with mandarins

Chef Olivier Poels presents his recipe for the crepe Suzette with mandarins, a dessert whose first version, with oranges, was thought to have been designed at the end of the 19th century by chef Auguste Escoffier for the future king of England, during a stay in Monaco.

It is undoubtedly the most famous of the crêpe recipes: Crêpe Suzette, a delicate balance of orange butter and Grand Marnier.

In this Candlemas, it should not fail to delight many gourmets, and yet its preparation is more delicate than it seems.

For Europe 1, chef Olivier Poels looks back on the origins of this famous recipe, and details the preparation of a delicious variant with mandarins.

A pancake that has nothing Breton

It is difficult to attribute the recipe with certainty to someone, and several cooks claim paternity, including the famous Auguste Escoffier who would have created it in 1896 in Monaco for the future King of England, Edward VII.

The prince was dining with actress Suzanne Reichenberg, and allegedly insisted that the dessert they were served be named after the young woman.

The reader will judge the plausibility of this anecdote.

In the early days, the pancake was not systematically flamed.

A variation on the origin of this recipe also claims that the waiter who served the dessert to the future king accidentally spilled Grand Marnier on the dish, making believe to hide his blunder that this step was part of the recipe.

The buckling became widespread with the great hours of room service. 

The recipe in four steps

The ingredients for 4 people

- 8 pancakes

- 50 grams of softened butter

- 50 grams of sugar

- 4 mandarins

- 9 tablespoons of curacao

1. Make the tangerine butter by whisking the melted butter and sugar until you get a smooth mixture.

2. Add the zest of the mandarins, the juice of half a mandarin and a tablespoon of curacao

3. Heat the pancakes in butter, then spread them with tangerine butter and fold them in four, add a dash of tangerine juice

4. Add a tablespoon of curaçao per pancake.

Serve very hot, and flambé as you wish!