Gâteau de Crêpes
- Total Time
- 3 hours 30 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:Serves 10
- 6tablespoons butter
- 3cups milk
- 6eggs
- 1½cups flour
- 7tablespoons sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2cups milk
- 1vanilla bean, halved and scraped
- 6egg yolks
- ½cup sugar
- ⅓cup cornstarch, sifted
- 3½tablespoons butter
- Corn oil
- 2cups heavy cream
- 1tablespoon sugar or more
- 3tablespoons Kirsch
- Confectioners' sugar
For the Crepe Batter
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
For the Assembly
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
616 calories; 41 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 31 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 128 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
The day before, make the crepe batter and the pastry cream. Batter: In a small pan, cook the butter until brown like hazelnuts. Set aside. In another small pan, heat the milk until steaming; allow to cool for 10 minutes. In a mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt. Slowly add the hot milk and browned butter. Pour into a container with a spout, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Step 2
Pastry cream: Bring the milk with the vanilla bean (and scrapings) to a boil, then set aside for 10 minutes; remove bean. Fill a large bowl with ice and set aside a small bowl that can hold the finished pastry cream and be placed in this ice bath.
- Step 3
In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then place pan over high heat and bring to a boil, whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Press the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the small bowl. Set the bowl in the ice bath and stir until the temperature reaches 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Stir in the butter. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate.
- Step 4
Assemble the cake the next day: Bring the batter to room temperature. Place a nonstick or seasoned 9-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with the oil, then add about 3 tablespoons batter and swirl to cover the surface. Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, about 1 minute, then carefully lift an edge and flip the crepe with your fingers. Cook on the other side for no longer than 5 seconds. Flip the crepe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat until you have 20 perfect crepes.
- Step 5
Pass the pastry cream through a sieve once more. Whip the heavy cream with the tablespoon sugar and the Kirsch. It won't hold peaks. Fold it into the pastry cream.
- Step 6
Lay 1 crepe on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of pastry cream (about ¼ cup). Cover with a crepe and repeat to make a stack of 20, with the best-looking crepe on top. Chill for at least 2 hours. Set out for 30 minutes before serving. If you have a blowtorch for crème brûlée, sprinkle the top crepe with 2 tablespoons sugar and caramelize with the torch; otherwise, dust with confectioners' sugar. Slice like a cake. Batter adapted from ''Joy of Cooking.'' Pastry cream adapted from ''Desserts,'' by Pierre Hermé and Dorie Greenspan.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Robin
Absolutely worth the effort. My tips: - Don't skimp on letting the batter sit overnight - it allows the flour to absorb the liquid - I cooked each crepe in a slick of butter, and the pan was hot enough to brown it, infusing even more brown butter flavour - Cook the crepes the day before you make the cake, and sit them in the fridge overnight. This gives them more strength - PUT A PIECE OF PARCHMENT IN BETWEEN EACH CREPE as you are cooking them and stacking them, otherwise they will stick
Cory
Lovely!!! I added ~2-3 T homemade orange marmalade to the pastry cream after it had cooled. Substituted Cointreau for the kirsch in the whipped cream, added this after cream was whipped. I also added orange zest (1 orange) to the crepe batter.
Janet H.
This is a show-stopper, DEFINITELY worth the work, just TRY it, and do not be intimidated. To explain how ultimately easy and forgiving this recipie is, I wanted to make this so bad for my Norwegian friends that I made the crêpes without a crêpe pan, using just two large nonstick saute pans. I doubled the crepe batter recipie, assuming that if I were to pull it off at all, many of my crêpes would not be usable. I had some bad looking crêpes, but you really need only a "pretty" crêpe on top.
MFK
This is a truly incredible cake. I break it up over the course of a few days to make it manageable. Once I covered the entire thing with chocolate ganache; it was such a treat to slice into and reveal the layers to the guests. It keeps well and pleases people that claim to not like desserts. I rarely have Kirsch on hand so I have always omitted that. This is an excellent pastry cream recipe and I use it when other desserts call for pastry cream. Just divine!
Robert Welton
I agree that the pastry cream recipe is great and covering it with a chocolate ganache sounds like something I will try next time I make this- thanks for the idea. But I agree that using the salami approach here is best, i.e., slicing this preparation up into a few days makes this a more enjoyable project.
Julia Child has a recipe for a savory version with different layers of ham and cooked vegetables each held together with a thick cheese sauce-excellent crowd pleaser (& many variations too)).
AGZ
This cake turned out so well, it was really worth the process involved. The only moment of panic stemmed from the cream—it barely made it through the first sieve, by the pre-folding sieve, it wouldn’t budge. I ended up adding several extra tablespoons of milk and rapidly mixing them in. For the perfectionist, I’d also caution that my cake ended up a bit domed, so for the next one, I’d consider making the cream layer a touch thinner in the center than the edges. But delicious, domed or flat!
KTP
Does anyone know if this adapts well to GF flour? I'm not intimidated with the steps and am thinking mango puree or marmalade as someone mentioned sounds delicious, I just have a GF husband to accommodate. I'm a much stronger cook than baker when doing GF.
Sam
Using 1.5 t honey instead of sugar
Hmmm
I felt that the pastry cream made the cake quite dense, having it between each layer. I will go with my friend’s suggestion next time and place whipped cream between the layers next time.
Michelle
I have been making crepes forever, so I’m good there. Having issues with the assembly and keeping the layers flat. Any tips?
alacarte
This reminds me of the Hungarian "rakott palacsinta"...stacked crepes with filling between each. Can be nutella, chocolate sauce, jam...or alternating all of them...endless possibilities if one doesn't want to make pastry cream.
Monika (Vail CO)
Most delicious cake. I agree with the marmelade suggestion. Also, you can make one extra large crepe and use that to "line" big round bowl, then press the other crepes inside, you get a beautiful domed gateau that way.
Nercon5
This is great and an absolute showstopper when sliced. The pastry cream recipe, however, is awful. On my first attempt, with high heat, it scrambled the yolks; thank god I didn’t use a vanilla bean! I cursed Dorie and then found another recipe online that cooked it over medium-low heat for a bit longer, which I’d advise using if you’re a novice pastry cream maker like I was two days ago! Otherwise, real fab, especially with ganache covering and spun sugar adorning.
QQ
The assembly was an all-afternoon effort but so worth it—absolutely lovely! I also substituted cointreau for kirsch in the whipped cream. As it's strawberry season, I cut them into thin slices and arranged them in alternate layers, goes very well with the light cointreau flavor. I recommend!
AGZ
This cake turned out so well, it was really worth the process involved. The only moment of panic stemmed from the cream—it barely made it through the first sieve, by the pre-folding sieve, it wouldn’t budge. I ended up adding several extra tablespoons of milk and rapidly mixing them in. For the perfectionist, I’d also caution that my cake ended up a bit domed, so for the next one, I’d consider making the cream layer a touch thinner in the center than the edges. But delicious, domed or flat!
Andrea
Outstanding! Pastry cream a bit tricky. Too thick too fast (think thick scrambled eggs) but easily rectified next day by slowly mixing in a few tablespoons of warm milk and blending with immersion blender. The whipped cream/kirsch/sugar mixture did peak and folded in beautifully. Also spread crepes on a few layers of parchment paper.
Vlad
When I put the crime back on high heat, immediately thickened and looked like dough. I ended up adding 3 more cups of milk to thinner it down. It something wrong with the vanilla crepe recipe?
rain
for the batter What ' s kind of flour (all purpose or Cake flour) Thank you.
Robin
Absolutely worth the effort. My tips: - Don't skimp on letting the batter sit overnight - it allows the flour to absorb the liquid - I cooked each crepe in a slick of butter, and the pan was hot enough to brown it, infusing even more brown butter flavour - Cook the crepes the day before you make the cake, and sit them in the fridge overnight. This gives them more strength - PUT A PIECE OF PARCHMENT IN BETWEEN EACH CREPE as you are cooking them and stacking them, otherwise they will stick
Janet H.
This is a show-stopper, DEFINITELY worth the work, just TRY it, and do not be intimidated. To explain how ultimately easy and forgiving this recipie is, I wanted to make this so bad for my Norwegian friends that I made the crêpes without a crêpe pan, using just two large nonstick saute pans. I doubled the crepe batter recipie, assuming that if I were to pull it off at all, many of my crêpes would not be usable. I had some bad looking crêpes, but you really need only a "pretty" crêpe on top.
Cory
Lovely!!! I added ~2-3 T homemade orange marmalade to the pastry cream after it had cooled. Substituted Cointreau for the kirsch in the whipped cream, added this after cream was whipped. I also added orange zest (1 orange) to the crepe batter.
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