Crepe Cake

My little girl is turning 10 years old, and this will be her birthday cake. Nothing better to remind our French roots than crepes, right?

But crepe cake is much more beautiful, decadent, and perfect for celebrations.

So let me share with you this all-time favorite french cake made from the easiest ingredients.

What’s A Crepe Cake?

A crepe cake is a French dessert inspired by two popular french dessert recipes: French crepes and Millefeuilles, translated as thousand layers.

Millefeuilles are vanilla slices made from packed puff pastry sheets filled with pastry cream.

A crepe cake, also called Gâteau de Crêpes in French, is made from layers of French crepes filled with the same cream used in the French millefeuille dessert.

The mille-crepe cake has also become very famous in Japan and everywhere worldwide; now, you can see many versions.

The most popular version is the matcha crepe cake, where the crepe batter is flavored with matcha powder.

Or tiramisu crepe cake, filled with mascarpone cream and decorated with dust of unsweetened cocoa powder.

This is my favorite mille-crepe cake recipe made from 16 crepes filled with a sweet vanilla mascarpone cream and served with berries.

How To Make Crepe Cake

This crepe cake can be intimidating because of its complicated look. However, it’s very easy and very quick to put together.

Ingredients

For this cake recipe, you need to prepare a French cake batter first, using the same ingredients as my crepe recipe but in a different ratio.

• All-Purpose Flour – Don’t use self-rising flour.
• Sugar – You can use classic table sugar or coconut sugar for a healthier alternative.
• Eggs – I like large free-range eggs.
• Milk – You can use whole milk or skim milk for lighter crepes. The recipe also works with dairy-free alternatives.
• Melted Butter – Use unsalted grass-fed butter.
• Salt

Then, for the filling you need:

• Mascarpone – Mascarpone is a soft Italian cream cheese with a sweet taste.
• Vanilla Extract – To add a perfect taste.
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Powdered Sugar – or confectioner’s sugar.

Making The Crepe Batter

Crepes are not overly complicated, it’s all about whisking all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

There’s no need to break all of the lumps of flour. Do your best, but even if you have a few in your crepes, they will always come out great.

In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine. Then, add the milk, beaten eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, and, optionally, the dark rum.

Whisk to beat the eggs and milk into the dry ingredients and form a light, thin batter. Again, it’s okay if there are a few lumps.

Cooking The Crepes

Now, warm a crepe pan over medium-high heat, and lightly rub butter on the pan using a piece of absorbent paper.

You can also use an olive oil spray to lightly oil the surface.

When the pan is warm, pour the crepe batter – about 1/2 cup per crepe – tilt and rotate the pan to spread it evenly.

As the pan is warm, it sets easily and spreads all over the surface as you tilt the pan.

Place the pan over medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes until the sides of the crepes get brown and golden and dry and crispy. Lift the side of the crepe and slide a long spatula under the crepe to flip it to the other side.

Bake for an extra 1-2 minutes until little brown spots form on the other side of the crepe.

Remove from heat, and slide onto a plate to cool down.

Re-grease the pan and repeat the step above until all the batter has been turned into crepes.

You should end up with 15-16 crepes for this cake crepe.

Stack the cooked crepes on top of each other and keep them at room temperature to cool down

Cooling

Let the crepes cool completely before assembling the cake. As a general rule, one hour at room temperature and chill for one hour in the fridge to provide enough cooling.

You can also cook the crepes the day before making the mille-crepe cake. the plate with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate overnight.

Mascarpone Cream

When the crepes are cold, prepare the mascarpone vanilla cream. This cream recipe is similar to the one you use for a tiramisu recipe.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add mascarpone, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.

Beat the ingredients into a fluffy mixture using an electric beater or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer.

It takes 2 to 3 minutes. Stop beating as soon as the cream and mascarpone firm up, or the frosting will split.

Assembling Crepe Cake

Place the first crepe on a cake stand or plate.

Then, spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream all other the crepe until up to the edges. You don’t want a thick layer of cream filling because you will need enough for the 14 to 16 layers.

It should be thin and light to keep the balance of texture and flavor in each slice of cake perfect.

Place the second crepe on top of the first one covered with cream and repeat the application of the frosting.

Keep processing until all the crepes have layered into a cake.

Refrigerating

Now, place the cake in the fridge for a few hours until the cream is firm and cold.

Serving

You can serve this cake topped with different ingredients like:

• Extra mascarpone cream on top.
• Fresh berries like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.
• Dust of powdered sugar
• Dust of unsweetened cocoa powder
• Shredded dark chocolate pieces
• Shredded coconut
• Dust of matcha powder

Storage Instructions

You can store leftover crepe cake in an airtight cake box in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. After that, the cream will start turning, and the crepes will dry out on the outside.

You can also freeze cake leftovers in slices or whole and thaw them in the refrigerator the day before. It lasts one month in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are my answers to your most common questions about this lovely crepe cake recipe.