There is no denying it: the French really do seem to have the best recipes for the perfect desserts. After heading off to Spoon by Alain Ducasse to learn how to make the perfect soufflé, this week we went to Hugo’s at the Hyatt Regency in Tsim Sha Tsui to get some tips on preparing the crêpe Suzette.

Crêpe Suzette is a famous traditional French dessert that is made up of a crêpe with beurre Suzette – a caramelised sauce of sugar, butter, orange or tangerine juice with zest and liqueur (usually Grand Marnier or orange Curaçao), and set alight.  Lighting the alcohol not only always draws gasps and "wows" from guests, as the crêpe is usually prepared table-side, but also makes the liqueur evaporate, resulting in a thicker sauce with richer flavours and texture.

At Hugo’s, the crêpes are served in historic Christofle silver trolleys and in the video above, executive sous chef Richard Sawyer walks us through the steps of preparing the dessert and gives us tips on how to prepare the perfect crêpe dough.

Ingredients:

Crêpe dough

30g strong flour                       
30g cake flour                       
22g sugar                                  
22g melted butter                      
82g eggs                                  
80ml milk                                  
A few drops of vanilla essence           

Beurre Suzette

60ml orange juice                                              
20g butter                                                          
15g icing sugar                                              
Fresh lemon juice (use 1/3 of the juice from a whole lemon)                                            
Zest from a whole orange                                             
30ml Grand Marnier                                  
30ml brandy                                              
5 pieces orange segments                                  
60g vanilla bean ice cream