Pillowy soft French crepes, coated in a blood orange infused rich, buttery, citrusy caramelized syrup and served with extra blood orange segments, raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream. Why is chocolate tied so intimately with Valentine’s day recipes? Why not cabbage or coconut? Or honey or maple syrup, if we are talking sweet? So you may as well skip the chocolate desserts since it’s nothing but a marketing gimmick. Right? Nah! I’m just kidding! 😀 That’s just pure heresy. However, this Blood Orange Crepes Suzette recipe is going to show you that you don’t really need chocolate to make Valentine’s day or any date night-worthy, simple yet spectacular dessert, that’s sure to impress your loved ones!
You’ll love this classic French dessert
This classic French dessert is well known for its rich buttery citrusy decadence as well the theatrics of flambéing it. Soft, delicate, tender crepes soaked in a sweet, buttery, citrusy syrup, and then doused in some Grand Marnier and flambéd for that deliciously perfect experience.
Blood orange crepes suzette
This blood orange crepes suzette came to be because of my obsession with blood oranges these days (this vanilla blood orange syrup, gin and blood orange mimosa and this blood orange creamsicle soda float have all happened in my kitchen in the last couple of weeks!). Not only do they look so vivid and stunning, but with that tropical, floral fragrance, they are just calling out to be used in scrumptious ways. So this blood orange crepes suzette was a no-brainer. Crepes are a favorite in our household. Mr K can’t get enough of them, and so far this year about 90% of our weekend brunches have featured crepes in one form or another (either as classic French crepes, chocolate crepes, or this uniquely Sri Lankan treat – sweet coconut stuffed crepes (pani pol)). Crepes are so easy to make, but now they are even easier thanks to my Vitamix! All I’ve got to do is add all the ingredients into the blender (and you can double or triple the batch if you like), and the blender will mix all the ingredients in less than 2 minutes. I don’t have to whisk them by hand anymore, or worry about lumps either. I made some classic French crepes (which taste amazing on their own), and made this delicious blood orange crepes suzette for two, perfect for any special occasion for you and your partner. OR you can simply double or triple the batch for a whole family. I did take a couple of liberties with the classic recipe. While I do love me some Grand Marnier, I didn’t have any at home, but I did have some Cognac. So I used that instead, with some blood orange zest mixed in). Alternatively, you can make this decadent chocolate crepe cake or a vegan crepe cake for another delicious crepe dessert. So imagine pillowy soft crepes, coated in a blood orange infused rich, buttery sauce, served with extra blood orange and raspberries? That’s my idea of Valentine’s day celebrations this year! 🙂 The part where you have to dip each crepe in the buttery syrup and then fold it into quarters felt like too much work to me – so to make it easier, I simply started with already folded-in-half crepes, then dipped both sides in the warm orange sauce and then folded one more time. That’s just skipping one step, but saves quite a bit of hassle. I did this with half the number of crepes in this recipe (so as not to overcrowd the pan), and this was enough for a dessert for 2 (3 crepes each). If you feel like seconds, the second batch can also be made in a pinch (in 10 minutes, really). Alternatively, you can keep the first batch in the oven while the second batch is cooking – in case you are serving more than 2 people at a time and want to serve everything warm.
