Ooh la la. This cake has got to be my favorite! You can pretty much have it for breakfast and not feel guilty at all. We went to Russia for the holidays and at the New Year's party my sister served an amazing Crepe Cake. I returned to the US with an obsession and a fixed idea to recreate the divine dessert. It turned out to be fairly easy to make, but get ready to make a lot of crepes! My most favorite thing about it is the fact that it's not so sweet and not too buttery. I reduced the amount of sugar and butter in this recipe by 50%.
I used a small 7-inch skillet to make about 25 crepes. The cake turns out to be 2.5 inches tall. Each crepe is about 6.5-7 inches in diameter. It serves about 8 people. It tastes the best after sitting in the fridge for at least 4 hours. This will allow the layers to become saturated with custard. I strongly recommend to not skip this step, but if you're pressed for time, it will work out without it too.
Custard Creme
- 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar and it turned out wonderfully delicate. My sweet-tooth husband likes it a bit sweeter)
- 3 egg yokes
- 4 tbsp flour
- 3/4 cup cold milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot milk
- 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
In a small bowl whisk together sugar and yokes until the mixture is even. Gradually add flour while continuing to gently whisk the mixture. Add 3/4 cup of cold milk and vanilla. Stir to combine.
In a small sauce pan bring 1/2 cup milk to a boil while constantly stirring and taking care not to burn it. Reduce the heat to medium low. Gradually pour in the egg mixture into the hot milk mixture while continuing to stir. Continue cooking and stirring to the point of the mixture becoming thick and custard forming. The stirring might take about 10 minutes for the custard to become thick.
Cool the custard completely. Gradually add softened butter to the custard while gently stirring it. Quickly beat the custard with an electric mixer until smooth and even. Make sure you don't beat the custard too long otherwise it may separate. Just a few seconds will be enough for it to become smooth.
Crepes and Topping
- 2 1/2 cups milk, barely warm
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 chocolate bar, grated or shaved for the topping
In a medium bowl beat milk, eggs, salt, and sugar. Gradually beat in the flour. Beat until there are no clumps in the batter. Add vegetable oil and beat a few more seconds.
Heat a small skillet on medium. Grease with butter or vegetable oil if needed. Using a ladle, pour about 1/4 a cup of batter unto the batter, making a circular motion to allow the batter to cover the entire bottom of the skillet. Cook until the bottom of the crepe becomes light brown, about a minute. Flip the crepe and cook on the other side for another 30-60 seconds. (Your first crepe may come out weird and you may get frustrated. We have a Russian saying that I always repeat to myself when making crepes, called blini in Russian. It says, "The first crepe always comes out as a lump." Once your skillet is well heated, you will have no problem making beautiful crepes. I usually try to oil or grease the skillet after every 4-5 crepes to help the flipping). Repeat until you run out of batter. You don't need to butter each crepe, but if you would like to- more power to you. I wanted to use as little fat as possible.
Assembling the Cake
Before assembling the cake, please make sure that the crepes are completely chilled. If your crepes are warm, the custard may start melting and you will be dealing with a big mess.
Place one crepe on a cake plate. Smear it with about 1- 1/2 tbsp of custard. Place another crepe on top of the first one. Repeat about 25 times. Pace yourself to make sure you have enough custard to go until the very last layer. (To prevent the cake from becoming lop-sided, I suggest to do half of the layers first and then putting the cake in the fridge for about 20 minutes to set. After the custard becomes more firm, you can continue with the rest of the layers. The cake in the picture turned out a bit lop sided because I skipped this step.)
Sprinkle shredded or grated chocolate on top of the cake. Place in the fridge and chill for at least 4 hours. Enjoy!!
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