Cooking

Mille Feuille Crepe Cake

I first tried mille feuille (thousand sheet) crepe cakes from Lady M, who makes a killer matcha green tea cake. However, they go for about $10 per slice and $90 per cake. This week, I learned why.

They are quite a bit work. 20+ crepes. Even working two or three pans that just takes a while. I lightly burned my fingertips a lot. Recipe based off here with other pieces and ratios gathered from many other sources.

(Vanilla/Matcha/Chocolate) Crepe Cake

Pastry Cream Filling

  • Beat 1 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 egg.
  • Bring 1 cup milk to boil, then whisk in very slowly (avoiding scrambled eggs). Return everything to saucepan, and gently heat for 5 minutes while constantly stirring, until thickened custard forms.
  • Add 1 tsp vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap directly onto surface. Refrigerate overnight.

Sweet Crepe Batter

  • Lightly brown 6 tbsp butter. Let cool.
  • Warm 2.5 cups whole milk until steaming. Let cool slightly.
  • Mix 6 eggs, 1.5 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt. Slowly add butter and milk, stirring constantly, until thin batter forms. Refrigerate overnight.

Crepe Cake

  • Bring crepe batter to room temp.
  • In a lightly buttered nonstick pan on med-low heat, spread ~3 tbsp batter by swirling around pan. Cook 2-3 minutes, until solid and bubbling a little. Flip by grasping one edge, then cook other side for 10 seconds. Re-butter every fourth crepe or so. Repeat for 20 crepes. Cool crepes.
  • Whip 2 cups cream plus 1 tbsp sugar. Fold into chilled cream filling.
  • Stack crepes layered with thin layers of pastry cream, about 1/5-1/4 cup per layer, taking care to spread all the way to the edge. Repeat until the 20th crepe on top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  • Serve in slices.
this one I made only half a cake as a test

Matcha Version

Add 2 tbsp matcha to the crepe batter. Add 2 tsp matcha to the whipped cream.

pre-ganache

Chocolate version

Add 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg to crepe batter. Will have ~7 extra crepes.

Chocolate ganache: boil 2/3 cup milk, then pour over 4 oz chocolate, 1 tbsp butter, 1/4 tsp salt. Let cool until a good consistency to spread completely over cake.