Friday, February 21, 2014

French Fridays with Dorie - Butter and Rum Crêpes


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Butter and Rum Crêpes”.




Crêpes originated in Brittany, France and were thought to have evolved because the land could not grow enough wheat to make bread. The word "crêpe" comes from the Latin “crispa”, meaning “curled”.




Crêpes are made by pouring the well-rested batter onto a frying pan or hot circular plate. The batter is spread by tilting the pan or using a spatula. The batter needs to be turned, or flipped, at least once to ensure it is cooked on both sides. You can fill crêpes with sweet or savory fillings. Popular savory fillings include cheese, ham, spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus.

Popular sweet fillings include chocolate spread, lemon and sugar, maple syrup, fruit, nuts and ice cream. The best-known ones are Crêpes Suzette, which are crêpes served with a sauce made from fresh orange juice, orange zest, sugar, butter and Grand Marnier that is flamed at the table before serving.




Dorie´s recipe also calls for the preparation of a sauce using honey, orange as well as lemon juice, and cold butter. As there are still the wonderfully fragrant blood oranges from Italy available, I used the juice and zest of these for the sauce and added some orange segments for the garnish. Blood oranges have a distinctive dark-red rind and flesh and their unique flavor is ideal for serving them with these sweet crêpes.

Fragrant with the spicy tartness of blood oranges and fresh lemon flavors, these buttery citrus crêpes make a beautiful dessert.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Butter and Rum Crêpes” on pages 411-413.



62 comments:

  1. So gorgeous with the blood oranges, Andrea!!! We enjoyed them, too!

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    1. Liz, blood oranges are so special - as they are only available for a short period of time - so I try to use them in whatever dishes I can - thank you for the kind words!

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  2. Happy Friday, Andrea!
    Love the quote and these crepes! Been craving crepe suzette lately, actually.
    Going to ask Dad to make them as he's the expert in our family.
    Wishing you & your family a very lazy w/end. xo

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    1. Dear Colette, thank you very much - asking Dad to make some crêpes sounds divine...crêpes suzette are quite the treat, I agree and what a better way to start off the weekend than by enjoying some lovely dessert such as this!

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  3. Beautiful presentation! Happy Friday!

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  4. Lovely, as always. And I really need to try this with blood oranges when we get them in season locally- they just look (and I imagine, taste) phenomenal. I hope to be making more crepes in the future as we enjoyed this week's recipe so very much. And as you stated- there are so many savory as well as sweet options. Inspiration indeed.

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    1. Dear Tricia, if you enjoyed these crêpes, you will enjoy them even more with blood orange butter sauce. The delightful tartness of the blood oranges is just wonderful and they are absolutely perfect alongside sweet crêpes. Thank you for the lovely comment!

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  5. Gorgeous presentation, Andrea! Your crepes make my mouth water…absolutely lovely! Happy Weekend!!

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    1. Kathy, glad that you enjoy this short post - sure these lovelies were a huge hit at your house as well!

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  6. Wonderful pictures and great looking crepes, love the blood orange (which we seldom get over in the East) - envy!

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    1. Emily, I always treasure the all too short blood orange season - try to buy as many as I can when they are available. We love them in many dishes but I like to eat them "plain" just as much.

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  7. Hi my dear Andrea! How are you? I hope you are well and getting stronger. I absolutely adore crepes and these ones look so good with the blood oranges. We've been getting some great oranges here too and I've been using them quite a lot. In fact, I'm about to post one tomorrow. Take care, Andrea.

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    1. Nazneen, thank you for asking - still getting better - took a very long walk today but I am still working on being somewhat more inspired...these crêpes were nice, the kids loved them, I enjoyed making them and I loved using blood oranges too.

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  8. Gorgeous, delicious, lush presentation.
    Now, can I have one, please?!! xx

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    1. Kim, you certainly can - I would love to share some sweet crêpes with a buttery blood orange sauce with you any time!

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  9. Your crepes look delicious, and love your photos. Beautiful colors.
    Mine were a fail, but my vanilla citrus sauce was good, made the whole "mess" I made kind of yummy.

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    1. Candy, I do own a handy-dandy non-stick pan that seems to make crêpe making a cinch - I guess being so well-worn helps too. A Vanilla Citrus Sauce sounds utterly delicious too!

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  10. I never knew that so many great French foods come from the Brittany region. We have made quite a few from that area. Lovely create glad you liked them.

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    1. Diane, Brittany seems to be quite the foodie place, n`est-ce pas?! Loved these crêpes as well as the buttery blood orange sauce with this!

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  11. Damn, the photograph is pretty good...
    looks delicious!!!

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    1. Dedy, thank you - how nice to hear that you enjoy the photography!

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  12. Lovely! Thanks for the history of the crepe also. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

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    1. Gracie, so nice that we all could agree on this lovely French dessert recipe!

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  13. Wie verlockend wirken die warmen Farbtöne in diesen Superaufnahmen!!! Und was wäre eine Küche ohne die klassischen Rezepte aus Frankreich... Danke, Andrea :-)

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    1. Liebe Wally, ich war ein wenig langsam diese Woche mit meinen Poats, aber die French Fridays with Dorie Crêpes wollte ich nicht ausfallen lassen - jetzt geht es an das Gebäck zu Karneval - am Donnerstag feiern wir im Rheinland ja Weiberfastnacht und als gebürtige Kölnerin, backe ich dann ja gerne etwas zu Karneval!
      Ganz liebe Grüße aus dem frühligshaften Bonn!
      Andrea

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  14. Gorgeous, and it sounds delicious. Funny, but just this morning I was looking at a similar recipe! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  15. The crepes look so amazing with blood oranges! We all love crepes in our family :) its so interesting to know the origin of the dishes and so many delightful dishes from Brittany...

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    1. Thank you kindly, blood oranges are just utterly amazing seasonal fruits that I love to use in desserts but also for savory dishes! These spicy, tart oranges were perfect alongside the slightly sweet crêpes.

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  16. I adore Dorie Greenspan recipes. These crepes look amazing.

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    1. Thank you very much, dear Cheri! Glad that you enjoy Dorie Greenspan´s recipes - they are wonderful indeed! These crêpes were quite nice and certainly worth making again!

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  17. Your crêpes look like fluffy clouds setting into the vibrant blood-orange sunset! I never knew the origin of the word crêpe before, but it makes perfect sense, once you think about it! I mentioned to one of the Doristas that my very first crêpe was one in Grenoble, France, and it was filled with crème de marron, and topped with crème Chantilly. I was hooked immediately! I hope you are enjoying a beautiful Sunday - and feeling stronger every day. ~ David

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    1. David, oh, I never ate my crêpes with anything but fruits, maple syrup or powdered sugar...crème de marrons sounds very decadent! What a treat that must have been. I am still a little on the tired/lazy trip but I am hoping to get going this week...who knows?!
      Thank you for the very lovely comment!
      Liebe Grüße aus Bonn mein Freund!

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  18. I have never made crepes, and I seldom order them when I go out. I don't know why that is, because looking at yours, I'm tempted to try making them. Beautiful photos - and I loved the quote about cuisine!

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    1. Beth, I never ordered crêpes in my life either - and I do not think I ever will - I think they are just simply better made at home but I also do not make them very often, maybe not often enough...Thanks so much for the comment!

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  19. Your crepes look so good - the blood orange would have been perfect to counteract the sweetness.

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    1. Gaye, the tartness of the blood pranges certainly nicely offset the slight sweetness of the crêpes. A nice treat of a dessert.

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  20. Wonderful crepes and pictures! I like blood oranges very much! Great idea to use them for the filling!

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    1. Maria, the juice of the blood oranges went in the sauce and the segments wer used for decoratio and to eat alongside - a nice little French dessert with a seasonal touch.

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  21. I bet your family loved these crepes and suspect from your Post that you didn't include rum. Melissa just arrived in Cambria to spend a week and she brought her crepe pan so I will make them along with the garbure while she is here. We still have blood oranges in our local stores so will snag a couple of them. Your crepes look beautiful, Andrea. Am wondering if your girls are as crazy about Nutella as my French friends' daughters seem to be. The perfect filling for an afterschool snack, I guess.

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    1. Mary, indeed, I have not met a kid yet, that does not go wild over crêpes and pancakes...mine enjoyed them plain, with maple syrup, and the buttery blood orange sauce - crêpes with Nutella are not on "my list", I think they never will be...so, no crêpes with Nutella for the family, I am afraid. They do not seem to suffer too much though as they are plenty of other lovely things to snack on.

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  22. Beautiful presentation. You always do a lovely job. These crepes were a hit at my house.

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    1. Geraldine, thank you - wasn´t this another wonderful recipe from the book?! And how nice to be making these for the whole family.

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  23. those gorgeous blood oranges were all over at my farmers market today - so lovely. Great job!

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    1. Thank you very much, bloodoranges are just wonderful - enjoy them while you can as their season will not last long!

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  24. That was really interesting about the origin of crepes - I didn't know they came about due to a wheat shortage. I had to make literally hundreds of crepes my first day on the job at the hotel - I just haven't been able to face making them again :)

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    1. Karen, I can understand that - once I participated in a cooking contest and was so nervous about the competition that I made the recipe so many times - that after the contest, I never made it again once, although I adored that recipe! Thank you for the lovely comment!

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  25. Andrea, this looks phenomenal! I think blood oranges are like fine artwork, so beautiful and your crepes look so tender and delicious. You've definitely got me in a crepe mood! :)

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    1. Chris, well, thank you, nothing wrong with being in a serious crêpe mood!

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  26. Your crepes are lovely, Andrea. The blood oranges add such bright color to your plate on a winter's day. Have a great week.

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    1. Betsy, thank you - we quite enjoyed the crêpe recipe this week.

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  27. Gorgeous! Blood oranges are so beautifully dramatic. Excellent choice to go with the elegant crêpes.

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    1. Teresa, they are quite dramatic, aren´t they?! What I like even more than their looks is the way blood oranges bring a certain spicy/tartness to so many dishes.

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  28. Gorgeous photos, as always. I enjoyed reading about the history of crepes. The blood oranges make the dish so much prettier.

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    1. Jora, a nice French dessert - elegant, yet simple to make and certainly very delicious with the added tartness/spiciness from the lovely blood oranges.

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  29. Great minds think alike :-) I really loved the effect of blood oranges with this dish (and I enjoyed the background information on crepes)

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    1. Cher, blood oranges have such a short season, unfortunately, so I try to add them to as many dishes as I possibly can these days - weren´t they delicious with the crêpes?!

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  30. I haven't visited your Blog for a few weeks and I had forgotten how gorgeous your pictures always are. With the beauitiful blood oranges your pictures are even more vibrant. These crepes were delicious, in my opinion, and rather simply made. Score one for Dorie.

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