Making Mille crêpe with Strawberries

Mille crêpe means layers of crepe, which is essentially what this is. From the outside it looks like a divine strawbies covered cake, when what it really is is just another shortcut for those who hate to bake.

Crepes are so versatile that I was going to make a savoury crepe dish too. But I ran out of time, so that’s for next week. (maybe!)

So the principle behind this “crepe cake” is to make a massive amount of crepe batter and then essentially make an obscene amount of crepes. I was working with two pans at the same time to make this cake. The French said that you get to make a wish while flipping a crepe, so just think about how many wishes you’ll get to make while making this. At the very least it will help you get through the odious task of making 20+ crepes :)

Crepe Batter:

*recipe from allrecipes

[625g all-purpose flour + 10 eggs + 600ml water + 600ml milk + 10g salt + 150g butter (melted)]

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the salt and whisk lightly

Add in the flour

Whisk the flour into the egg

Add in the milk and water while continuously whisking

Melt the butter

Add into the batter and whisk until mixed well

Use a ladle to measure 1 to 1 1/2 ladle per crepe

Pour 1 to 1 1/2 ladle of batter onto a non stick frying pan

Spread the batter thinly by moving the pan around

When it turns opaque, flip the crepe

Keep doing this until you end up with a batch of 20+ crepes. Set aside to cool

Now while you wait for the crepes to cool, you can start making the filling/icing. Here I’m using Swiss Meringue Buttercream, a recipe I picked up from Martha Stewart’s website. This was quite a challenge for me to make since I used a manual whisk. It turned out allright in the end (thank goodness!), but I recommend using an electric whisk for those who are faint at heart.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

[10 large eggwhites (300ml) + 480g granulated white sugar + 918g butter or shortening + 2 tsp vanilla extract]

Firstly, you need to set up a double boiler. So take a metal bowl and set it over some simmering-boiling water.

Add in the sugar and eggwhites to the bowl. Whisk lightly straightaway.

Keep whisking until all the sugar has dissolved and the eggwhites feel warm-hot to the touch. Take it off the heat

Now you can either put the mixture into a whisking bowl and turn on your electric mixer to high and whisk it into fluffly heaven, or transfer to a larger bowl and start to whisk it manually. Whisk like you’ve never whisked before, because if you don’t, then the recipe won’t work. And that’s a lot of eggwhites down the drain.

Whisk until the eggwhites become stiff and glossy, like this.

Then slowly add the butter or shortening (room temperature) while continuously whisking. Add in the butter a piece at a time, and wait until it has been fully incorporated before adding another piece. By the time you’re done, the buttercream would look like this. This might not look too good, but with continous whisking it will become smooth again. Set aside and refrigerate

Assembling the cake:

Take some fresh strawberries, take off the stem and slice (pretty) thinly.

Get your stack of crepes

Spread the buttercream on top of one, and put another on top. Then spread the buttercream on top of that one, and put another one on top. You get the point. Do this until you’ve used up all your crepes, or you’ve got the height of cake you want

Then cover the entire cake with the buttercream. You’ll do a better job than I did, I’m sure.

Then lay on the strawbies! Arrange it as you please until it covers the entire sides of the cake. Then place some whole strawberries on top and finish off with a dusting of icing sugar. Put it in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up.