Candlemas at the Villa René Lalique

For food lovers, there is always a good reason to sublimate French gastronomy and local products. And on 2 February, it's the turn of Chandeleur and its crêpes to take place at our tables. Celebrated 40 days after Christmas, it was originally a pagan festival, which later became the presentation of Christ in the Temple. The tradition was to use the previous year's flour to make pancakes, a symbol of prosperity for the coming year.

And the tradition is still respected even in the Alsatian village of Wingen-sur-Moder where Nicolas Multon, head pastry chef at the Villa René Lalique, is now revisiting the famous crêpes Suzette. So before you can discover the region again and stay at the Villa René Lalique, we offer you a little taste of the cuisine of the double starred restaurant of this Relais & Châteaux. So, shall we go into the kitchen?

Recipe steps (for 10 people) :

Pancake mix :

• 250 g milk
• 30 g double cream
• 50 g of liquid cream
• 2 eggs
• 2 g salt
• 50 g sugar
• 110 g flour
• 3 g mandarin peel
• 40 g butter

Melt the butter. Blanch the eggs and sugar in a separate bowl. Add flour, cream, zest, salt and mix before adding the melted butter. Set aside overnight in the fridge, then bake.
Jus Suzette :

• 70 g sugar
• 250 g orange juice
• 120 g lemon juice
• 50 g Grand Marnier
• 30 g of Cognac

Caramelise the sugar, add the juices and reduce by ¾. Add the spirits, then set aside.
Mandarin cream:

• 200 g mandarin juice
• 25 g of cream
• 10 g sugar
• 15 g cornflour
• 15 g gelatine mass
• 10 g Napoleon mandarin
• 17 g cocoa butter
• 4 g mandarin peel

Place the juice, cream, sugar, cornflour and zest in a saucepan. Bring to the boil while whisking. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the alcohol, butter, gelatine mass and cocoa butter. the cocoa butter. Mix before cooling. Line tubes with 1 cm guitar paper and freeze.
Mandarin sorbet :

• 250 g unfiltered mandarin juice
• 50 g sugar
• 15 g glucose powder
• 1.5 g sorbet stabiliser
• 70 g water
• 5 g zest
• 10 g trimoline

Mix the powders together, add the water and trimoline and bring to the boil. Pour over the juice and zest and leave overnight in the fridge. Blend and whirl.

Assembly of the pancakes :

• 250 g clementine cream (Confiserie St Sylvestre)
• 40 g mandarin cream

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside for the assembly.
Tuile :

• 100 g fondant
• 100 g glucose
• 20 g dried crêpe chips

Cook the fondant and glucose in a pan at 160°C before adding the crêpe chips. Remove from the pan onto baking paper, leave to cool and then blend to a powder. Sprinkle onto a silpat and cook at 160°C. Cut out the tiles.
Puffed green biscuit :

• 1 egg
• 20 g sugar
• 30 g flour
• 1 g baking powder
• 15 g oil
• 30 g egg white
• 3 drops of green colouring

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a siphon. Cook in a tray in the microwave for 1 minute. Set aside for serving.
Assembly:

• 30 clementine or mandarin orange segments
• Candied clementine peel (St Sylvestre confectionery)
• Whole cottage cheese

Lay out 3 crêpes side by side, spread the assembly mix thinly over them. Add a tube of mandarin cream. Roll up, then wrap in cling film and roll tightly. Freeze everything before cutting into 2.5 cm pieces and leave to thaw. Spread a little of the assembly mixture on the bottom of the plate, place 3 pancake rolls on top and then a tile. Add the pieces of green biscuit, then the supremes and the dots of fromage blanc and finish with the quenelle of sorbet. Pour in the juice at the last moment.

Enjoy your meal!

Learn more : - Preparing your stay in the Vosges mountains - Villa René Lalique - Read also: The Christmas recipe of the Villa René Lalique and It's blowing in the crystal factories of the Vosges massif