This is to get everybody in the spirit of joining the Tumblr Monthly Food Challenge, to wish Andy a speedy post-op recovery and a shout out to Red + Black Apron for being a constant partner in crime when it comes to food challenge submissions (click to view her recipe for delicious Onion & Shrimp Fritters). I can’t really think of anything else to write so I’m just going to copy & paste what I wrote about crepes on a previous post of mine - Mille Crepe with Strawberries:

The principle behind this “crepe cake” is to make quite a large 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 say that you can make a wish while flipping a crepe, so just think about how many wishes you’ll get to make - the thought should help you get through the odious task of making 15 or so crepes, at the very least.

Shallot Crepes:

[ 2 large eggs + 3/4 cup milk + 1 small handful of shallots + 1/2 cup water + 1 cup flour + 3 tablespoons butter, melted + 1/2 teaspoon salt + Butter, for coating the pan ]

Peel and slice the shallots and sautee them in 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Set aside to cool.

In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, sauteed shallots, melted butter and water until smooth.

Whisk into the flour until there are no lumps. Season to taste.

Place the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, you can start prepping to make the filling.

Mushroom & Shallot Filling (Tweaked verison of Smitten Kitchen’s)

[ 1 cup shallots, sliced + 3 tablespoons butter + 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper + 1 teaspoon flour + 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup mozzarella (or provolone), shredded ] OPTIONAL: juice of 1/2 a lime + 1/2 cup cold water

**This is an optional step, feel free to ignore:

Put the sliced shallots in a bowl and squeeze in the lime juice. Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes before adding the cold water.

Rinse and drain, set aside.

(This step allows the shallot to retain its fuschia colour even after being sauteed, which I find really nice. Again, feel free to skip since this does not alter the flavour in any way).

Sautee the shallots in 1 tablespoon of butter, set aside to cool.

In a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoon of butter and then turn the heat to medium-high. Add all of the mushrooms.

Season with salt and pepper and sauté until mushrooms are soft. Stir in the flour, then drizzle in the milk while you stir.

Reduce the liquid in the pan by half. Add the provolone or mozzarella and let it melt. Immediately take filling off the heat. Set aside.

Back to the crepes:

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat.

Pour a couple tablespoons of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip to cook the other side.

Lay the crêpe flat on a large cutting board or plate to cool; continue cooking until all of the batter is gone.

Assembly:

Layer two crêpes on a buttered sheet pan (Alton Brown says that this allows you to still save your cake if the bottom one sticks).

Spread a thin layer of the mushroom filling onto the crêpe, then scatter with the sauteed shallots

Top with another crêpe and spread more filling. Repeat this process until you are out of filling. (You’ll likely run out of filling before crêpes.)

Top with a final crêpe and sprinkle on some cheese (Parmesan, mozarella etc) and broil in the oven until melted and golden brown.

Enjoy!

**Cook’s Note:

If you have some leftover mushroom filling, thin it out with some milk, season to taste and this can then be used as pasta sauce.

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.

Enjoy! :)