The Crepe Cake

It was my papa’s 87th birthday, and I apparently only write blog posts if it’s someone’s birthday. Papa is a pretty important someone though! He’s the classic patriarch of a family. He’s very independent still, good at conversation, and kicks everyone out as soon as the meal is cleaned up (by everyone else.) I love him! And who better to test out a weird creative invention than a large group of family?

So. Here is my experience with crepe layer cakes.
I’ve been making crepes forever. In fact, I use my grama’s recipe… she taught me when I was about 11 I think. It’s a simple recipe, a ratio in fact.

The jam is new, it’s amazing!! I could give you instructions in one line: Cook 1 pound berries until soft and add sweetener until you like how it tastes, turn off heat and add 3-4Tbs Chia seeds, cool and refridgerate. You now can make jam in 15 mins max. I’ve made raspberry as well as mixed berry, I recommend food processing or mashing before adding chia seeds.

For the whip cream I used stabilized whip cream, which I’ve used before. I sweetened this one with a few drops of stevia (vanilla) and some coconut sugar. Sweeten it and taste it til it’s how you like it, I like things relatively unsweetened – but hey, it’s a cake!

After tasting and discussing with family who are great taste testers, we decided that you need thinner crepes (link : http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/crepes-recipe.html). I also thought about adding 1 more egg and half a cup more milk to my original recipe. I shall try this and update. Another thing to change would be the addition of a liqueur, juice or other liquid to absorb into the crepes. Also, make these at least one day in advance! (Two days after making it I had a slice for lunch and it was super good!

Gluten Free Crepes

210g flour of your choice (approx 1.5 cups)

3 eggs

1.5 cups milk (any kind, or water)

2 tbs oil of choice (I used melted coconut oil, butter is great too)

1tbs sweetener of choice (or 2-3 drops stevia, to taste) (can omit for savory crepes)

Mix all ingredients in blender, let sit 2 hours to overnight.
On med heat heat non stick frying pan pour about 1/2 cup batter into pan and swirl around to thinly coat whole pan (add more batter as necessary, I find just practice helps a lot!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGUWgaLP-XQ – at about 1 minute she demonstrates!
Cook until you can peel edges of batter from pan and flip, cook another 30 seconds to a minute. cool.

Chia Raspberry Jam

1 bag frozen raspberries/1lb berries (fresh or frozen)

sweetener of choice (i’ve used honey and stevia)

1/2 lemon juice and zest (zest optional, other citrus would work!)

3tbs Chia seeds – whole

On stove, over medium heat cook berries, lemon juice and zest and sweetener til warm and tasty!
Remove from heat, add chia seeds and stir. Cool. Store in fridge.

Stabilized whip cream:

2 cups whip cream

sweetener

1 tsp unflavoured gelatin

2 tbs water

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water, let stand 5 minutes.
Melt gelatin in microwave for 20 seconds at a time and stir until dissolved. Let cool to room temp.

Beat whip cream and sweetener to taste until soft peaks, slowly pour in cooled gelatin and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Will stiffen more when cooled.

Assembling the cake!

Make all your crepes (took a double recipe of mine, about 14-18 crepes). Make all of your desired fillings. Once everything is made and cooled, pick your favourite crepe for on top (unless you’re like me and you want to smother it with more whip) layer 1 crepe, filling, and gently stack another crepe. Repeat until done. Chill overnight. Serve! I think this cake would be ideal for a brunch.