Virgin Crêpes Suzette

 Unlike in the movies, there are no music montages that kick in to help someone overcome a tragedy in the span of a pop song. There are good days, when you think you just might be yourself again someday, and then there are the other kind of days. It was on one of those bad days that I rediscovered the comfort that comes with the ritual of breakfast. There is a lyrical routine to a good morning, and once I had the breakthrough I mentioned in the introduction , I found my rhythm again in the book Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom.

 It began with Julia Child’s crêpes suzette. It was one of those Sundays when I didn’t have any plans but chores, and something told me that making flaming dessert crêpes for breakfast was going to save the day from just being whiled away doing laundry. Plus, we had a dusty bottle of orange liqueur that we’d brought back from a trip to Rome, and I had been trying to figure out what to do with it for ages. The morning ended up being kind of frightening—literally filled with fireballs^* and fighting smoke alarms with broomsticks—but the crêpes were pretty delicious, and it was the first time I can remember laughing again. We’ve reworked this recipe since then, so you don’t need to buy a ticket to Italy to pick up some booze or burn down your house to enjoy this classic French treat for breakfast

Ingredients for Virgin Crêpes Suzette recipe

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 2 firm sweet oranges
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegan margarine, plus more for cooking
• ½ cup orange juice with pulp
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups soy milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• Powdered sugar, for topping (optional)

How to make Virgin Crêpes Suzette ?

Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Lightly coat an oven-safe lasagna dish with olive oil cooking spray and place it in the oven to warm.

Using a Microplane or a box grater, zest the peel of one orange. Peel the other orange and cut it in half. Slice one half of the orange into thin slices. Make sure you have one slice of orange per crêpe. Toss the remaining orange half in a food processor with the orange zest, agave nectar, brown sugar, ½ cup of the vegan margarine, and the orange juice. Blend until creamy. Set the orange mixture aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and soy milk and blend with an electric handheld mixer until smooth. We suggest using a whisk attachment to get the best batter. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons vegan margarine, the vanilla, and the applesauce and blend for 2 to 3 minutes with the bowl tilted so the mixture gets smooth and creamy.

Heat your deepest cast-iron skillet over medium heat and lightly coat it with vegan margarine. (You’ll have to coat the skillet between each crêpe, so keep the margarine out.) Once the margarine begins to bubble, you’re ready to make crêpes.

To make each crêpe, pour ⅓ cup of the batter into the skillet. Immediately rotate the skillet by rolling your wrist while holding the handle until a thin layer of batter covers the bottom. If your skillet is heavy, use a potholder to hold the other side of the skillet and use both hands to rotate the skillet. Cook until the edges of the crêpe begin to turn light brown. Run a wide spatula along the edge to loosen the crêpe, then flip and cook the other side until light brown. Transfer the finished crêpe to a plate, top it with a piece of waxed paper, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Repeat until you have used all the crêpe batter.

Pour the orange mixture into the hot skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until it begins to bubble and become syrupy.

Working with one crêpe at a time, carefully drop them into the orange mixture. Flip them once to lightly coat both sides of each crêpe. Remove the crêpe from the orange mixture and fold it in half once, then in half again to make a wedge shape using tongs or a rubber tipped spatula so you don’t burn your fingers. Place folded crêpe in the warm lasagna dish in the oven with an orange slice on top. Repeat with the remaining crêpes making a single layer that barely overlaps until all have been coated, folded, and transferred to the lasagna pan.

Pour 1 to 2 tablespoons of the orange mixture over the top of the folded crêpes. Bake for 5 minutes or until all of the orange mixture has melted and the orange slices topping the crêpes are lightly baked.

Serve hot, dusted with some powdered sugar if you have a sweet tooth.