Crepes souffle Grand Marnier recipe from the Financial Times

Hello everyone!

It's an end to another beautiful day outside and the week is moving right along. 

We had a Pastry Cream Practical this morning which the Chef will grade tomorrow before we put it into our fruit tart creations :).  Yummy, I love anything with fruit!  We then prepped and made a Pate Sucree. (wink) I like saying that. I may want to take French when I am done with Baking and Pastry school, just so I can say these lovely names correctly! Oh wait, never mind, I have a very dear friend who is slowly becoming a French Pro and Im absolutely sure she will help me with the pronunciation! :)

So yea, back to baking. :)  Where was I? Pastry Cream Practical, creation of the Pate Scuree.... oh and we also made Linzer Dough.  What is this you may ask? I dont know! :) Just kidding. Linzer dough as well as Pate Sucree are going to serve as our tart dough's.  If you make too much of it, you can them make them into cookies. Who doesnt like a cookie!  So no pictures today because I do not have a finished product for you. BUT, I do have a recipe for ya that my pops gave me from the Financial Times. They always post the most interesting facts about food and wine and all kinds of fun stuff. I must share it cuz it sounds divine.

In the Food & Drink section of the March 5, 2011 Financial Times Newspaper, Chef Rowley Leigh writes of the 'pancake' not being as accesible in restaurants as it once use to be. (He is from the UK) :) I can agree with him that in todays fast-paced world, most lose that special touch of having something prepped nice and fresh for you.  So if you find yourself on a lazy Saturday morning, as I used to with my sweetness, :) Take the time to make this puppy. The directions seem like its a long process but I think it will be worth it! 

They have a slideshow for you if you want to check it out:  www.ft.com/leigh to help you walk through it.

Crepes Soufflees Grand Marnier ( Exact Recipe as given in the Financial Times)

Basic Pancake Batter

• 200g Plain Flour
• 2 Whole Eggs + 2 egg yolk
• 300ml of Milk
• 100ml of Water
• 1 tsp sugar
• grated zest of a lemon
• 3 tbs cooled melted butter

For the Souffle and carmelised oranges:

• 3 oranges
• 200ml milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 150g caster sugar
• 30g plain flour
• 1 tsp fecule (potato starch) or cornflour
• 6 egg whites
• 2 tbs Grand Marnier

1. Sift the flour and pinch of salt into a bowl and beat in the eggs, milk, and water. Continue beating until it forms a smooth batter, then add the sugar and grated zest of the lemon and slowly stir in the melted butter.Leave to rest for half an hour.
2. Heat a frying pan and add a tiny film of oil -any excess should be poured out- or brush with a little softened butter.  Pour a small quantity of the batter into the pan and tilt from side to side until the batter covers the surface. If the batter is slow to spread, dillute it with a little more milk or water. Let the pancake cook for a minute, until it is a good spotted gold and brown color and then loosen it at the edges with a palette knife before turning or tossing in the pan. After another half a minute, slide the pancake out of the pan. Make seven more pancakes, stacking one on top of the other.
3. Finely grate the zest of one of the oranges and add to the milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk together the egg yolks and 50g of the sugar in a bowl and then add the flour and potato starch,sifted together.  Pour the mixture into the pan and bring back to the boil, whisking constantly. Continute to cook and whisk the mixture for a good couple of minutes more before pouring into a bowl.  Dust the surface with icing sugar and cover with a film of buttered paper or cling film and leave to cool.
4. Peel the zest of the two remaining oranges, trim away any pith and cut into very thin strips. Place in a small pan of cold water, bring to a boil, drain and refresh in cold water. Add another 50g of sugar to the pan with 100ml of cold water and bring to a simmer. Add the orange zest and poach gently until tender and candied in the liquor. Lift it out of the syrup to drain.
5. Remove the pith from the oranges to reveal the flesh and remove the segments from between the walls of the pith. Bring the syrup in which the zest was cooked to a rolling boil and reduce until it begins to carmelise. As it browns, drop in the orange segments and remove from the heat.
6. Put the egg whites into a large, preferabley metal bowl with a pinch of salt and whisk, slowly at first, building up momentum and adding half the remaining sugar in a slow stream until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.  Sitr in the rest of the sugar. In a separate large bowl, whisk togethe the thick souffle base and the Grand Marnier to make a smooth paste. Add about a fifth of the beaten egg whites and whisk vigorously. Add the remaining whites and very gently fold in to produce a light and airy mixture.
7. Place a large spoonful of the mixture on to a quadrant of each pancake.  Fold each in half, then fold again and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper on an oven tray. Bake theh crepes (the folded crepes will keep for up to an hour in the fridge before baking) in a meduim hot oven, 180 C, for 12-15 minutes until they are puffed up and feel reasonably firm in the middle. Dust with icing sugar and serve with orange segments in their caramel sauce, with a little candied zest as decoration.

Enjoy everyone! And i will see you back here tomorrow!

** Recipe from: the Food & Drink section of the March 5, 2011 Financial Times Newspaper**