One of the easiest and quickest desserts to make is crepes. Once you have a good recipe and understand the procedure, they are really a breeze to make. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them, and then when you want to serve them, just prepare whatever delicious filling you’d like to add and voila! You’ve got an instant dessert that looks like you slaved away in the kitchen all day.
I’ve made savory crepes before that I filled with sautéed mushrooms, but today I wanted to make something sweet and a little fancier using this very versatile product. I’m a huge fan of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, and recently they visited a restaurant in Boulder, CO called Foolish Craigs, where many of the items on the menu include variations of their famous filled crepes. One of the other hot sellers on the menu is a crepe cake filled with a buttered rum caramel and covered with cream cheese frosting…Oh my, that’s enough to send any drool-o-meter into overtime…
Well, I had some crème anglais sauce that I had to use, and since this is the base I use for my Bavarian mousse, I decided to make a delicious chocolate orange filling for my version of crepe cake heaven.
This recipe makes perfectly light, tender crepes because there is not a lot of fat in it from eggs or milk. I created this less eggy version of my original recipe, and I used skim milk for a lighter result. You can use 2% milk if that is all you have on hand, but it will make the crepes a little denser. Make sure to have the crepes made ahead of time before you put the mousse together, since the gelatin will start to set the mousse fairly quickly. Once both components are made, the dessert itself comes together in minutes. Allow it to set for at least 30 minutes, and your delicious, easy and very unique dessert is served.
Layered Crepe Cake (makes 8-8″ crepes)
1 recipe versatile crepe
Oil for pan
Chocolate Bavarian
8 oz crème anglais
4 oz semisweet chocolate
¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
5 drops orange oil
4 gelatin sheets, bloom strength 125
12 oz whipped cream, slightly sweetened with ¼ cup powdered sugar**
Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Add all of the wet ingredients in another bowl and whisk together well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry, and whisk everything together until you have a uniform batter with no lumps. Cover and allow the batter to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to overnight. This step is important, because by allowing the batter to rest, it relaxes the gluten and creates a tender product. Take a small piece of paper towel and dip it in a little vegetable oil and coat the entire inside of the crepe pan or shallow skillet you will be using. Add just enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan and swirl the batter around to form the crepe. These will cook quickly, so keep an eye on them. Once they are cooked, use a small spatula to loosen the edges of the crepe and with your fingers, grab an edge and flip it over. Be careful, they will be hot. Repeat this procedure until all of the batter is used, then cover and set the crepes aside until you prepare the mousse.
Measure out the amount of crème anglais for the chocolate orange Bavarian and put into a small pot, then add the semisweet chocolate and cocoa powder. Fill a large bowl with very cold water and add in the gelatin sheets to soften. Make sure the water is very cold or the sheets will melt in the water. Once softened, squeeze the gelatin sheets well in your hand to remove all of the excess water and add them to the other ingredients in the pot. Over very low heat, gently combine all of the ingredients until everything has melted. Put this chocolate mixture into a medium sized bowl and whisk in half of the sweetened whipped cream until the chocolate mixture has lightened and all the cream is incorporated. Make sure to fold in the other half of the whipped cream since this will give the light and fluffy texture to your mousse. For more information, check out my link on how to make Bavarian mousse.
To assemble, I used a 10” rim, but this is not necessary. When you are ready to assemble the cake, you can either do this on a paper lined sheet pan or you can set it up directly on the platter on which you plan to serve the cake…that way you do not have to move it. Add one crepe and then top this with 1 cup of the mousse. Make sure to spread it thinly all over the crepe with an offset spatula and repeat this procedure until you have used up all of the crepes and the mousse.
Chill this for at least 30 minutes. If using a rim, you will need a torch to remove the rim. Do this by gently heating the rim all the way around, and then lift up for easy removal. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
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