Hi…I’m Carmen. Welcome to my blog, Baking is my Zen.
Have you ever tried Crepes Suzette? If you tell me ‘no’, then I want to share with you one thing…it’s so delicious, you’ll thank me many times over for bringing it up.
It’s our twelfth Pastry Techniques Class, (12/18/10), at The French Culinary Institute, and we are now playing with FIRE! Well…not really. We made Crepes Suzette. These are crepes flamed with Grand Marnier.
1- thin crepes
2- orange butter
3- grand marnier
4- garniture: candied julienned orange rind
“Crêpe Suzette is a French dessert consisting of a crêpe with beurre Suzette, a sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine or orange juice, zest, and Grand Marnier or orange Curaçao liqueur on top, served flambé.
The most common way to make Crêpe Suzette is to pour liqueur (usually Grand Marnier) over a freshly cooked crêpe with sugar and light it. This will make the alcohol in the liqueur evaporate, resulting in a fairly thick, caramelised sauce. In a restaurant, a Crêpe Suzette is often prepared in a chafing dish in full view of the guests.”
Miguel Pena is an FCI pastry arts student and is shown here making Crepes Suzette.
Miguel pours the Grand Marnier in the pan.
Voila! Crepes flamed with Grand Marnier.
On each FCI post I write, I include a STUDENT SPOTLIGHT.
Namely, it’s a profile of the student…a glimpse into what the student is about outside of the classroom.
FCI STUDENT SPOTLIGHT ~ Miguel Pena
Miguel Peña’s motto~
With hard work, dedication and perseverance, anything can be achieved.
With hard work, dedication and perseverance, anything can be achieved.
He thinks life is a never ending learning opportunity and loves to do it all!
About Miguel:
• Born in Puerto Rico, grew up mostly in Jersey.
• Holds a B.A degree in production / communications from Rutgers University.
• Has a M.A in Spanish from the University of Granada in Spain.
• Currently is a Spanish teacher.
• Working on his next venture to open a bake shop in the future.
• Work experience includes retail, retail management, wedding video production and editing, construction, real estate, and teaching.
• Wishes to travel the world some day.
• Loves adventurous activities such as skydiving, scuba diving, skiing, and above all flying Cessna airplanes.
• Likes to spend time with friends and family, catch a good movie, and enjoys a good meal with a nice bottle of wine.
• Family oriented, cares about the people close to his heart.
• Describes himself as genuine and honest.
• Miguel is very conscientious about staying fit.
• Has always enjoyed baking even as a young child.
• He has a big sweet tooth.
• Loves to enjoy and share desserts with his family.
• Currently pursuing a career in baking.
PASTRY STUDENTS listen as Instructor/Chef Rebecca Kaiser demonstrates how to make Crepes Suzette. Chef Claudia Silva assists Chef Rebecca in the preparation of the dessert components.
The Crepes Suzettes were flambéed, then plated. The students were invited for a taste test. It’s a wonderful dessert! I dare say, WOW! The candied julienned orange rinds bring a dimension to this dessert that makes it memorable.
FCI pastry arts students in action…
FCI students that appear in this blog:
Angel Han
Caitlin Jensen
Carmen Ortiz
Carrie Cullen
Jose Toro
Lloyd Gould
Miguel Pena
Shahul Hameed
Soo Hyun Kang
Tomoko Kubo
Xiaoran Zheng
Here’s a recipe for Crepes Suzette and Candied Orange Rind I found online if you’re interested in making this dessert. It’s similar to the one we made in pastry class.
Peace in Baking,
Carmen
Baking is my Zen…sweet nibbles for the soul
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