Delia Smith's Crepes Suzette

Make the pancakes (crêpes), stacking them as described below. Ideally they should be thinner than those in the basic recipe, so use only 1" tablespoons of batter for each crêpe. This should give you at least 16.

When you have cooked and stacked the crêpes, mix together all the sauce ingredients (except the butter) in a bowl, and warm the plates on which the crêpes are to be served. Take a large frying pan - preferably 25.5cm (10in) - and melt the butter in it, add the sauce ingredients and allow them to heat very gently.

Place the first crêpe in the pan, give it time to warm through, then fold it in half, and half again, to make a triangle shape. Slide it to the very edge of the pan. Tilt the pan slightly so that the sauce runs back into the centre, then add the next crepe and continue until they are all reheated, folded and soaked with the sauce.

If you want to be dramatic, you might at this point heat a tablespoon by holding it over a gas flame or resting it on the edge of a hotplate. Then, away from the heat, pour a little liqueur or brandy into the spoon, return it to the heat to warm the spirit, then set light to it. Carry the tablespoon of flames to the table along with the pan, and pour the flames over the crêpes before serving.

Basic pancakes (batter)

(Makes 12-14) This basic batter is one I have arrived at after many experiments: I think it's light, it does not need to stand, and (dare I say it?) is pretty foolproof.

* 110g (4oz) plain flour
* A pinch of salt
* 2 large eggs
* 200ml (7fl oz) milk, mixed with 75ml
* (3fl oz) water
* 2 tablespoons melted butter

First sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, holding the sieve up high to give

the flour an airing. Then make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Now start to whisk the eggs (with an electric or any sort of whisk, or even a fork), beginning to incorporate bits of flour from around the edges as you do so. Then start to add small quantities of the milk-and-water mixture gradually - and ignore any lumps because they'll eventually disappear as the whisk gets to them. When all the milk-andwater has been added, slide a rubber spatula around the edge of the bowl to bring any elusive bits of flour into the centre of things. Then whisk once more till the batter is smooth and the consistency of thin cream.

When you're ready to cook the pancakes, add the 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the batter and stir it in. Melt about a teaspoon of butter in the pan, and swirl it all around to get the whole of the pan thoroughly lubricated. Now tip the excess butter on to a saucer (remember that the pan needs to be coated with butter but the pancakes should not be cooked in fat).

Next, get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to determine whether or not you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tablespoons about right.

As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook, you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. If the pancake is thin enough, there is not need to turn it over - it will be cooked through (and when it's rolled up with sugar and lemon or a stuffing, the paler-coloured inside will not be visible).

Just slide each pancake, when it is cooked, out of the pan on to a warm plate. Cover it with foil and put the plate over a pan of simmering water to keep the pancake warm while you cook the next.