This stunning, yet simple to make crepe cake is made up of paper-thin, yet strong and sturdy vanilla flavored crepes, with a light whipped cream frosting in between each layer. Its refreshing, tender and has a melt-in-your-mouth texture that will leave you craving a second (or even third) slice!
What is a Crepe Cake?
A crepe cake, also known as “Mille Crêpes,” or “Gâteau de Crêpes” is a French-inspired dessert that consists of multiple layers of thin crepes stacked together with a filling between each layer. The word “mille” means “a thousand” in French, hinting at the many (extravagant looking) layers that make up this cake.
Crepes are essentially very thin pancakes and are typically made from a simple batter of flour, eggs, milk, and butter. For sweet crepes, I like to add additional sugar and a bit of vanilla for extra delicious crepes!
The filling is usually light, like whipped cream (which is what I’ve used for this recipe), pastry cream or a fruit jam. When sliced, you are left with a stunning multi-layered cake that looks like it took forever to make (but is actually quite simple – but no one needs to know that!). An impressive dessert to say the least – great for special occasions!
Why You’ll Love This Crepe Cake
When developing this recipe, it took me quite a while to master the perfect crepes that were paper-thin, yet strong and sturdy AND not too eggy. I am particularly sensitive to that eggy taste/smell you can get from foods that have a lot of eggs (like crepes or sponge cakes), but I can assure you the crepes in this recipe do not taste eggy at all! 🙂
Alongside the crepes, this recipe uses a lightly flavored and sweetened whipped cream frosting, that is stabilized using both mascarpone and cream cheese. It’s the same recipe I use in my chantilly cake recipe, with some slight adjustments in the quantities of certain ingredients.
This chantilly whipped cream frosting is literally the best frosting ever! It has great flavor, without being overpowering and works wonderfully in this crepe cake.
Lastly, its a cake that doesn’t require any baking! So if you’re not particularly keen on baking, this cake may be perfect for you!
How to make Crepe Cake
Crepes
In a large bowl add in all purpose flour, salt and white sugar (I use 3 tablespoons in this recipe, though you could add an extra tablespoon if you like sweeter crepes). Mix with a whisk until well combined. Add in eggs, vanilla extract/essence and melted butter (make sure the butter isn’t too hot), and mix with a whisk until well combined and smooth with no lumps.
Stream in milk while continously whisking. Once all the milk is added in, whisk for a few more seconds until everything is well combined and smooth.
Refrigerate the batter for 1 hour before making the crepes.
Once ready, place an 8 inch crepe pan or regular nonstick skillet/pan over a medium heat and once heated, brush with a little butter.
Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop out just under a 1/3 cup of the crepe batter (give the batter a little stir with the measuring cup in between every crepe as the flour can settle to the bottom). Lift up the heated pan and pour the batter into the centre of the pan, while swirling the pan to help the batter get to the edges of the pan. Keep swirling the pan until the batter sets/stops moving.
Allow to cook for about 30-45 seconds (every stove is different so timing may vary) or until you can see the edges begin to get dry and slightly golden brown. Don’t let it brown too much (see note 3). Use a thin spatula to lift up the edge of the crepe, and then use your hands to lift the crepe about half way and carefully slide the spatula underneath. Then lift up the crepe with the spatula and flip it over. Do not drag the spatula under the crepe when trying to lift it up from the pan as this will cause them to break (see video for visual demonstration).
Allow to cook for another 15-20 seconds, or until you see some slight browning on the bottom. Once ready use the same technique as above to lift up the crepe and place it onto a wire rack to cool. The crepes will still be delicate while hot, so be careful when handling them.
Repeat the above steps until all the crepes are done. You should end up with about 13 crepes.
Whipped Cream Frosting
Before beginning, ensure the mascarpone, cream cheese and whipped cream are cold.
In a large bowl, combine mascarpone, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer), mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined and smooth. If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
Add in heavy cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don’t want to overwhip the cream.
Assembly
Place a crepe down onto a serving plate or cake stand, and evenly spread out about 1/4 cup of the whipped cream frosting on top. The layer of frosting should be thin, but not thin enough that you can see the crepe underneath.
Place another crepe on top and repeat the process until all the crepes are finished. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top of the cake.
Decorate with fresh berries. I used raspberries and blackberries, but any berry like strawberries or blueberries works well. Chocolate sauce/chocolate ganache works wonderfully with this cake too!
When serving, use a serrated knife to cut the cake, wiping the knife in between every slice. If refrigerating the cake, cover with cling wrap or place into an airtight container otherwise it may dry out.
How to Store Crepe Cake
Due to the whipped cream frosting, the crepe cake will need to be kept refrigerated. When placing in the fridge, either cover with cling wrap, or place in an airtight containter as the fridge can dry out the cake.
Crepe Cake Recipe
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Crepes
- 1 cup (120 g) flour - plain, all purpose
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp (38 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ tsps vanilla essence/extract
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter - melted
- 2 cups (480 g) whole milk
Whipped Cream Frosting
- ¾ cup (170 g) mascarpone - cold
- ½ cup (113 g) cream cheese - cold, use a firm cream cheese
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 3 cups (690 g) heavy whipping cream - cold
Extra
- 1-2 tbsp butter - for greasing pan when making crepes.
- 2 cups fresh berries of your choice - for decorating. I used raspberries and blackberries.
Instructions
Crepes
- In a large bowl add in flour, salt and white sugar. Mix with a whisk until well combined. Add in eggs, vanilla and melted butter (make sure the butter isn't too hot), and mix with a whisk until well combined and smooth with no lumps.
- Stream in milk while continously whisking. Once all the milk is added in, whisk for a few more seconds until everything is well combined and smooth.
- Refrigerate the batter for 1 hour before making the crepes (see note 1).
- Once ready, place an 8 inch crepe pan or regular non-stick pan over a medium heat and once heated, brush with a little butter (see note 2 if using a different sized pan).
- Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop out just under a 1/3 cup of the crepe batter (give the batter a little stir with the measuring cup in between every crepe as the flour can settle to the bottom). Lift up the heated pan and pour the batter into the centre of the pan, while swirling the pan to help the batter get to the edges of the pan. Keep swirling the pan until the batter sets/stops moving.
- Allow to cook for about 30-45 seconds (every stove is different so timing may vary) or until you can see the edges begin to get dry and slightly golden. Don't let it brown too much (see note 3). Use a thin spatula to lift up the edge of the crepe, and then use your hands to lift the crepe about half way and carefully slide the spatula underneath. Then lift up the crepe with the spatula and flip it over. Do not drag the spatula under the crepe when trying to lift it up from the pan as this will cause them to break (see video for visual demonstration).
- Allow to cook for another 15-20 seconds, or until you see some slight browning on the bottom. Once ready use the same technique as above to lift up the crepe and place it onto a wire rack to cool. The crepes will still be delicate while hot, so be careful when handling them.
- Repeat the above steps until all the crepes are done. You should end up with about 13 crepes.
Whipped Cream Frosting
- Before beginning, ensure the mascarpone, cream cheese and whipped cream are cold.
- In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined and smooth. If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
- Add in the whipping cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don't want to overwhip the cream.
Assembly
- Place a crepe down onto a serving plate or cake stand, and evenly spread out about 1/4 cup of the whipped cream frosting on top. The layer of frosting should be thin, but not thin enough that you can see the crepe underneath.
- Place another crepe on top and repeat the process until all the crepes are finished. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top of the cake.
- Decorate with fresh berries. Chocolate sauce/chocolate ganache works wonderfully with this cake too!
- When serving, use a serrated knife to cut the cake, wiping the knife in between every slice. If refrigerating the cake, cover with cling wrap or place into an airtight container otherwise it may dry out.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
12 Comments
Excellent recipe that turned out exactly as pictured. Taste was wonderful – using cream cheese and mascarpone gives the filling a more luxuriant mouth-feel. Thank you for the ecipe. If you ever come up with a chocolate crepe cake I would love to try that.
Thanks so much Joo! Ooohh a chocolate crepe cake sounds delicious, I’ll have to try that one day! 😀
My first time trying your recipe and my second attempt at a crepe cake. A resounding success! The crepe was light but tear-proof with perfect sweetness, the filling was slightly tangy thanks to the cream cheese. Much better than just whipped cream which I normally love anyway. Proportion of cream to crepe was also spot on. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Awesome! So glad the cake was a success Joo 😀
My first attempt to make this and it was a success! Made it for my family and they loved it. Instructions were so easy to follow. I used a 9.5 inch pan (slightly larger) , so I came up a crepe or two short. Any tips on how to increase the crepe amounts by a few crepes? First time baker here 🙂
So so happy to hear your family loved the recipe Paula! 😀
So when it comes to scaling recipes, it can be a bit difficult if you only need a little more batter. Usually you could scale up a recipe by 1/2 but that would give you more crepes than you need (not necessarily a bad thing though – you’d just need to make a bit more of the cream). You could scale it up by 1/4 (so you’d be making 1.25x the recipe), but any smaller than that may make it quite difficult to get the quantities for each ingredient right 🙂
If you use gram measurements (which is what I recommend for best results) it makes things a bit easier as numbers are easier to deal with than fractions (well for my anyway haha!)
Hope that helps and thanks so much again for the wonderful feedback 🙂
HI there! this is my third recipe from your website and I am in love with your cakes!!! This one came out exactly like how Lady M boutique sells it! I would love to see you recreate the Lady M crepe cake salted caramel version- the crepes are chocolate! Thank you again!
Aww yay! So so happy to hear you’re loving the recipes Martina 😀
Ooohh I’ve never tried a salted caramel crepe cake before! Sounds delicious, I’ll have to pop it on my to-do list 😀
Hi
Just to let you know, once again, this cake was amazing. It worked out perfectly, just like your pic
Definitely to be repeated soon
Maggie
Cape Town
Souh África
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback Maggie! So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Much love from NZ to SA!
This crepe cake was absolutely delicious! I made it to impress my boyfriend’s family and it definitely did not fail to impress! I decorated the cake with raspberries and strawberries, perfect summer cake- will definitely make again 🙂
Awesome! So so happy to hear everyone loved the recipe Monica 😀 sounds like you did an incredible job with it 🙂