Crepe Cake with Whipped Cream and Berries
No summer gathering is complete without a dessert, and this layered crepe cake is sure to wow your guests, especially on the Fourth of July. It’s decked out in red, white and blue thanks to crushed freeze-dried strawberries, whipped cream and fresh blueberries and blackberries. Best of all, you can do everything in advance: The crepes can be cooked up to 3 days ahead of time, and the assembled cake needs to be refrigerated for at least 3 hours or up to overnight, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare the rest of the meal—or just relax before the party begins. This will yield about 42 crepes, although feel free to cut the crepe recipe in half.
Ingredients:
For the crepes:
- 12 eggs
- 13 1/4 oz. (420 g) Williams Sonoma Crepe Mix
- 3 Tbs. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 4 cups plus 5 Tbs. (34 1/2 fl. oz./1020 ml) water
- Unsalted butter or nonstick cooking spray
For the whipped cream:
- 4 1/4 cups (36 fl. oz./1.1 l) cold heavy cream
- 2/3 cup (4 1/2 oz./132 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (2 oz./60 g) crème fraîche or mascarpone cheese
- 1 Tbs. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Crushed freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries for garnish- Fresh berries, such as blueberries and blackberries, for garnish
Directions:
To make the crepes, in a blender, combine the eggs, crepe mix, vanilla paste and water. Blend on high speed until thoroughly mixed. Let the batter rest at room temperature for 20 minutes or cover and refrigerate up to overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat an 8- or 10-inch (20- or 25-cm) crepe pan over medium heat and lightly coat the pan with butter. When the butter sizzles, ladle 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz./60 ml) of the batter into the center of the pan. Swirl the pan around until the batter coats the bottom of the pan evenly. Cook the crepe until set and lightly golden, about 45 seconds, then using a spatula, flip the crepe and cook on the other side for about 30 seconds. Transfer the crepe to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more butter to the pan as needed. As the crepes are cooked, you can stack them on top of each other on the baking sheet. You should have about 42 crepes.
Let the crepes cool to room temperature. If desired, cover the stack of crepes with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
While the crepes are cooling, make the whipped cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream on medium speed for 1 minute. Give it a stir with a large rubber spatula, then add the sugar, crème fraîche and vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Spread about 1 tsp. of the whipped cream in the center of a cake stand or cake serving plate. Place a crepe on top. Spread about 2 Tbs. of the whipped cream evenly over the top of the crepe. Repeat the layering with the remaining crepes and whipped cream, finishing with the final crepe on top; don’t spread the remaining whipped cream over the crepe but reserve it for finishing the cake just before serving. As you create the layers, you can adjust the amount of whipped cream to your liking, making a thicker layer of cream if desired (this will result in fewer crepes being used).
Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight to allow the filling to set.
To serve, spread the remaining whipped cream over the top of the cake and garnish with crushed freeze-dried and fresh berries. Serves 6 to 8.
Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen
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