Crepe Cake

With 40 individual layers, this Crepe Cake looks impressive and intricate, but is actually simple to make. I use a whipped cream cheese filling and top it all off with silky ganache. Recipe includes a how-to video!

Fancy, Yet Easy Crepe Cake

Looking for a unique cake? This crepe cake is a super fun and impressive (but not too difficult!) dessert. It’s equally suited for birthdays as it is brunches, and it’s always fun to hear “oohs” and “ahhs” as you cut the first slice and reveal all the pretty layers!

In case you haven’t guessed already, this cake is made with paper-thin, lightly sweetened vanilla crepe layers (made from my crepe recipe). Between the crepes, we’ll spread a silky whipped cream/cream cheese filling that is just as wonderfully light as the crepe layers themselves.

I like to top my crepe cake off with a silky chocolate ganache. When paired with the thin crepes and light filling, the texture and taste is pure heaven. Adding some sliced strawberries (or macerated strawberries!) on top is highly recommended too!

What You Need

This crepe cake uses just 12 ingredients, most of which are likely already in your kitchen. Here are a few worth noting before we dig in:

• Unsalted butter. Make sure your butter is melted, but not hot when you add it. I use unsalted butter, but if you only have salted butter on hand, you can reduce the salt in the batter to a heaping ¼ teaspoon.
• Vanilla. If you have some homemade vanilla extract leftover from the holidays (it should be ready right about now!), feel free to use it here.
• Heavy cream. Double cream or whipping cream will also work. We will use this in the whipped cream filling and the ganache.
• Cream cheese. Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese. Anything else could make your filling too runny.
• Semisweet chocolate. You can either chop up a baking bar or use couverture chocolate chips. I don’t recommend regular chocolate chips. For a darker chocolate, simply substitute dark chocolate instead.

SAM’S TIP: You will end up with a few extra crepes from this batter, and that’s okay! Sometimes the first few crepes tear or just aren’t as pretty, so you can just set those aside for snacking.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make a Crepe Cake

Crepe Layers 

1. Blend all of the crepe ingredients until incorporated, then cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Remove the batter from the fridge, stir it, and lightly grease a pan over medium heat.
3. Pour a scant ⅓ cup of batter into your prepared pan and cook until the crepe looks dry and the edges are set.
4. Flip and cook on the other side until lightly golden, then remove to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Combine the cream and half the sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Whip until the cream reaches stiff peaks, then set aside.
3. Beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
4. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorprorated.

SAM’S TIP: I whip my cream first so I can just use the same beaters when beating the cream cheese. If you are nervous about whipping your cream to stiff peaks, check out my homemade whipped cream post for lots of tips!

Assembly

1. Spread about 3 tablespoons of filling onto your first crepe and smooth into one thin, even layer.
2. Add another crepe on top, then repeat until you’ve used all of your filling.
3. Prepare the ganache by pouring hot cream over the chocolate, covering with foil, and letting sit for 5 minutes. Whisk the ganache until smooth and let cool until slightly thickened.
4. Spread or pour the ganache over the cake and place in the fridge until set.

SAM’S TIP: If you’d like to expedite the process, you can always make the crepes in advance. Simply store them in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to assemble (but no longer than 2 days). The crepe batter itself can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

I can’t wait to see how pretty your cakes turn out!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

Crepe Cake

With 20 individual layers, this crepe cake looks impressive, but is actually simple to make. I use a whipped cream cheese filling and top it all off with silky ganache.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

5 from 9 votes

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Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: French

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 291kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

Crepe Layers

• ▢ 2 cups (473 ml) whole milk
• ▢ ½ cup (118 ml) water
• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter melted but not hot
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ Cooking oil or melted butter for cooking

Filling

• ▢ 1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) heavy cream
• ▢ ¾ cups (93 g) powdered sugar divided
• ▢ 8 oz (226 g) full-fat cream cheese softened
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt

Ganache

• ▢ 3 oz (85 g) chocolate use a chopped semisweet baking bar or couverture chocolate chips (½ cup)
• ▢ 6 Tablespoons (88 ml) heavy cream
• ▢ Strawberries for garnish optional

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Blender (see note)
• ▢
  8” nonstick skillet
• ▢
  Mixing bowl
• ▢
  Electric mixer

Instructions

Crepe Layers

• Pour all crepe ingredients (excluding cooking oil) into blender. Blend for 10 seconds. Scrape sides of blender with spatula to ensure ingredients are well incorporated, then blend again for 5 seconds.
  2 cups (473 ml) whole milk, ½ cup (118 ml) water, 4 large eggs, ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt
• Carefully remove blade, cover blender, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight before preparing crepes.
• When ready to cook, remove crepe batter from fridge and briefly stir.
• Brush an 8” skillet lightly with cooking oil or melted butter. Heat over medium heat until you can feel the heat radiating from the pan if you hover your hand several inches above the skillet.
  Cooking oil or melted butter
• Pour a bit less than ⅓ cup of batter into the pan, tilting and swirling the pan so the batter forms an 8” circle. Cook until edges appear set and crepe begins to appear dry, flip (cooked side should be beginning to turn lightly gold) and cook until lightly golden. Remove to a cooling rack to cool and repeat until you have used all of your crepe batter. Note: You only need 20 crepes to make this crepe cake, you will have a few extras with this recipe, which is nice insurance since sometimes they tear and the first crepe or so may come out a bit wonky.
• Allow crepes to cool before stacking and assembling cake.

Crepe cake Filling

• Combine heavy cream and about half of the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat to stiff, fluffy peaks.
  1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) heavy cream, ¾ cups (93 g) powdered sugar
• In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, remaining powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and stir until smooth and creamy.
  8 oz (226 g) full-fat cream cheese, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon salt
• Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and use a spatula to gently fold together until uniform. Set aside.

Assembly

• Note that you only need 20 crepes to assemble your crepe cake. Place one crepe on a serving platter then portion a large spoonful (about 3 Tablespoons) of filling over the crepe. Use an offset spatula to spread evenly over the crepe.
• Top with your next crepe, then repeat until you have used 20 crepes and all your filling (if you have any filling left over, feel free to use your extra crepes and make your cake taller!

Ganache

• Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.
  3 oz (85 g) chocolate
• Place cream in a small saucepan and heat until steaming.
  6 Tablespoons (88 ml) heavy cream
• Pour cream evenly over chocolate, cover with foil, and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Remove foil and whisk until smooth.
• Let chocolate cool until slightly thickened, then remove crepe cake from fridge and pour/spread evenly over crepe cake. Return to fridge and let chocolate set before cutting and serving If desired, top with fresh strawberries.
  Strawberries for garnish
• Keep cake refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Notes

How to make without a food processor

To make crepe batter without a blender, sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Create a well in the center and add eggs, half of the milk, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Add remaining milk, water, and melted butter and whisk until well-combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to prevent tearing while cooking.

Storing

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, note that cake tastes best when enjoyed within 24 hours of preparation. You may make the crepes up to 2 days in advance of assembly, just allow to cool then stack and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 652IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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