21 Layer Crepe Cake!
So there we are watching Diner’s Drive-In’s and Dives on the Food Network channel and on the screen appears a Crepe special based in a wonderful little American diner. Guy Fieri is there chatting away to the chef (heavily tattooed and alternative 
)when they exclaim their special is a 21 Layer Crepe Pie! Grant and I were fixed to the TV and made a mental note of the process…our own little twist can be seen with instructions below!
We were kindly invited over to our lovely friends house for an evening of American beer tasting…a perfect opportunity to give the Crepe cake a whirl!
This cake provided a a great chance for Grant and I to bond over baking on a cold Friday night Delegation was the key and whilst Grant spent over an hour and a half flipping pancakes I made the sauce and layered the cake up! Team work is the key to a successful Crepe Cake it would seem unless you intend to spend over 3hrs in the kitchen!
Ingredients
Pancakes
- 300g Plain Flour
- 3 pinches of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 750ml semi-skimmed milk
- 3tbsp melted buter
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3/4 soft brown sugar
- 1/2 cup extra thick double cream
- 1 pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 50g butter
- 300g icing sugar
- 125g cream cheese
Method
- Make your pancake batter! We swear by The Dairy Book of Home Cookery…BUY IT! It has every staple recipe you could ever need for a house of home cooking…
The Dairy Book of Home Cookery
- We suggest making this in 3 separate batches to avoid a lumpy mixture.
- I also suggest getting your partner or someone else to do this as 21 pancakes takes a fair while!
Pancake…number 1!
Flipping Mad!
- Whilst your soux chef is flipping like crazy you can start to make the caramel sauce (Mmmmmmm!!!)
- Melt the butter on the hob in a saucepan and then add the sugar, stirring until it has all dissolved and combined with the butter.
- Now remove from the hob and add the extra thick cream, stirring until it’s mixed thoroughly with the butter-sugar mixture.
Add the thick cream and stir until combined
- Now return to the hob and bring to the boil, ensure you are stirring constantly to avoid a gloopy or lumpy mix.
- Keep this stirring up for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat off. As the caramel sauce cools it will thicken sufficiently…feel free to ‘sample’ some at this stage to check its not ‘poisonous’ (our excuse for eating anything we’ve made)
A deliciously smooth caramel sauce
- Beware though, it is DELICIOUS and incredibly tempting to gulp down!
- Now you should have a stash of pancakes to start layering up. The idea is that you pile them in 3’s and then swirl the caramel sauce on top of each 3 layer stack – this sauce does need to last for 7 lots…so divide equally.
3 layers there…caramel sauce to top!
- Keep going…
6 layers..
- and going…
15 layers…we’re nearly there!
- Now when you get to pancake number 20 add another layer of sauce and place your final pancake on top
21…finally!
- Ideally leave in the fridge overnight so tat it ‘glues’ together properly
- Now trim the cake.
Use a plate to get a neat circle
Time to trim..and eat the leftover edges :)
- Now make a batch of the cream cheese frosting.
Cream cheese at the ready!
- Apply to the cake using a spatula and/or palette knife to get an even smoothness.
Apply cream cheese frosting liberally
- Refrigerate until ready to serve
Ta da!!!! It may look simple…but it hides 21 layers of deliciousness!
Give it a go and when people ask “Why 21 pancakes?!” reply with “Why not?!”
Layer on layer on layer!