Delicate, elegant, and layered to impressed! Gâteau de Crêpes or crepe cake is one show-stopping dessert. Each thin crepe is stacked with pastry cream resulting in a bite that’s both light and indulgent.
Crepes are uniquely versatile. They’re great for any meal. Make a savory bacon, egg, and cheddar filled crepe for breakfast. Then, a sun dried tomato with feta and arugula crepe for lunch. Follow it all up with a grilled chicken fajita crepe for dinner.
And in between all those savory crepes I can have plenty of sweet dessert crepes!
Sliced strawberries with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a dollop of whipped cream, maybe a banana foster crepe with caramelized bananas and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Or I can make crepes into a cake! Oui, un gâteau de crêpe. In France, this cake is called a mille crêpe. Mille, meaning a thousand, refers to the many layers of this beautiful cake. This cake recipe makes about 30 layers.
Where is Crepe cake popular?
I had my first crepe cake in Japan a few years ago and immediately fell in love. I’m still searching for bakeries and pastry shops in Los Angeles that serve this decadent treat.
Thankfully, the crepe cake is now finding fame here in the United States.
While snooping around online bakeries, I came across a beautiful mille crepe from the famous Lady M Cake Boutique located in the Upper East Side of New York City. Mille Crepes is their signature cake.
A 6 inch will cost you $40 and a 9 inch runs you $75. And if you don’t happen to live in NYC, they have recently opened locations all over Southern California.
Ingredients
There are two components to this dessert: crepe and pastry cream.
This is a simple recipe with a fairly inexpensive list of ingredients. For the crepe batter, you need:
- Butter
- Milk
- Eggs
- All-Purpose Flour
- Sugar and Salt
These are all staple ingredients you probably already have at home! Either salted or unsalted butter works. Whole milk or reduced fat (2%) milk is best.
Pastry cream, also known as crème pâtissière, is a classic silky cooked custard. Lusciously smooth and rich with vanilla, pastry cream is the ultimate filing for tarts, élcairs, and cream puffs.
It’s made with milk, egg yolks, sugar, butter, vanilla, and cornstarch. If possible, use vanilla beans to achieve the best flavor. Otherwise, easily swap in vanilla paste or high quality vanilla extract.
Recipe Variation
Orange Cinnamon Spiced Crepe Cake amps up the flavors with a spiced tea infused pastry cream!
Assembly
You’ll need a crepe pan or a similar sized nonstick pan. I personally use this steel crepe pan.
Once you get the technique of swirling the batter in the crepe pan, making this cake is a breeze. It is also a lot easier and faster if you have more than one crepe pan cooking at a time.
Make Ahead Option
Unless you have multiple crepe pans, it can take upwards of 45 minutes to cook all the crepe layers. Instead of building the crepe cake from start to finish in one day, spread the task over three days!
- DAY 1: Make crepe batter.
- DAY 2: Cook all the crepe layers. Cool and cover. Keep in the fridge overnight.
- DAY 3: Make the pastry cream and assemble the crepe cake.
Serving Suggestions
For best flavor, let assembled crepe cake chill in the fridge for at least two hours before serving. This helps the layers set. Keep cake in an airtight covered container or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.
Crepe cake is best enjoyed chilled or slightly cool. Use a sharp knife to slice cake. Be sure to wipe blade clean after each slice.
Leftover crepe cake may be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Overtime, the pastry cream will weep and separate.
Once you’ve made pastry cream, you’ll want it in all sorts of desserts. Here are a few of my favorite recipes with pastry cream: banana cream tarts, chocolate glazed eclairs, and speculoos banana cream parfait.
More Crepe Recipes
Gâteau de Crêpe (Crepe Cake)
Ingredients
Crepe Batter
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cups whole milk
- 6 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 7 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped , (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch, sifted
- 3 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
Assembly
- vegetable oil
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoon Kirsch, optional
- 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar, optional for brûlée
Instructions
Crepe Batter
- Brown the butter. In a small pan, cook the butter until it is fragrant and the milk solids have turn brown. Set aside.
- In another pan, boil the milk. Turn off heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Beat together eggs, flour, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Slowly add the hot milk and browned butter. Mix until smooth and combined. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerator overnight (or at least 2 hours).
Pastry Cream
- In a saucepan, bring milk and vanilla bean (along with scrapings) to a boil. Set aside and let vanilla steep for 10 minutes, then remove the bean. Prepare an ice bath, buy filling a large bowl with ice. Have a smaller bowl ready (bowl large enough to hold the finished pastry pastry).
- In another pot, whisk together yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Temper in hot milk by gradually whisking it in. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a bowl, whisking vigorously for a minute or two.
- Press the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the small bowl and place over the ice bath. Stir the pastry cream until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F. Stir in the butter. When the pastry cream is cool, cover and refrigerate.
Assembly
- Bring the crepe batter to room temperature. Place crepe pan over medium heat. Lightly grease the surface with oil and add about 3 Tbsp of batter (if using a 9 inch pan) and tilt pan in a circular motion to cover the surface of the pan.
- Cook until the bottom just begins to brown and then flip the crepe with your fingers. An offset spatula is helpful if your fingers cannot withstand the heat. Cook on the other side for no more than 5 seconds. Flip the crepe into a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have used all the batter or have at least 20 prefect crepes.
- Whip the heavy cream with the tablespoon of sugar and Kirsch. Whip to soft peaks. Fold into the pastry cream in three stages.
- Lay 1 crepe on a cake plate. Spread a thin later of pastry cream over the crepe. Cover with another crepe and repeat to make a stack. Remember to save your best looking crepe to place on top.
- Chill cake for at least 2 hours. Let cake sit at room temperature 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Optional: Before serving, sprinkle the top with 2 tablespoons of sugar and caramelize with torch.
Notes
- Gâteau de Crêpe, from NEW YORK TIMES food article (MAY 15, 2005)
- Crepe batter, adapted from JOY OF COOKING
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Can i use low fat milk for this recipe where it calls for whole milk?
Hi Rita, I would not recommend using low fat (1%) milk. The recipe needs the fat to help bind the crepe batter. Whole milk is 3% fat. If you must, you can use reduced fat (2%) milk.
Yippiee! Lady M is opening a shop in Los Angeles… fingers crossed it opens by summer 2013. They have a location on 3rd street picked out… right next to the Beverly Center.
Love this recipe, I usually make traditional crepes for Bastille day and this year I decided to try this …..loved it and it is so easy to change it…a little chocolate, jam…you name it ..be creative
@Minerva- Thanks! Yes, please get married in LA. I’d love to make your desserts!