The sun is shining today and summer feels like it just might finally be on its way. As I write this, I know I'm tempting fate and that a downpour will arrive at any moment! This has been a busy week of cake prepping and admin so we definitely need a mid-week treat to tempt the taste buds, but something that embraces the summer sunshine today.
I've seen a number of crêpe cakes on the internet, but most of them are filled with nutella and syrup and since those two toppings are at the top of our favourite list for our weekly pancakes (I say weekly but our youngest would campaign for them every day of the week given the choice), they've never tempted me. Then I saw a lovely, fresh alternative on Call Me Cupcake which seemed perfect for a summery day and a need for something sweet - Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake.
The crêpe batter is sprinkled with orange zest (lemon, if you prefer) and adds a touch of freshness to the cake (and a subtle but beautiful aroma of orange when you're cooking them). You need to get into a rhythm producing the crêpes. Now I don't claim to be an expert pancake maker (I leave that to my hubby) but after the production line needed for this cake, I definitely got better! I made 20 crêpes from the batter using a six inch pan (although one of these sadly met an untimely demise with maple syrup and my mouth during cooking). It's important to separate the crêpes after cooking (either spread out or using greaseproof paper between the layers) otherwise they'll stick together whilst they're cooling.
It doesn't take long for them to cool down - just the length of time it took to make the mascarpone filling (I chose this over the ricotta in the original recipe). To make sure I had enough filling for the alternate layers, I divided the pancakes in two and spread half of them with ricotta and half of them with dulce de leche. It works better to spread the fillings on them when they're separated as when they're stacked and you press down on them, the filling squeezes out. When they all had their toppings, I stacked them, topped them with fruit and then a light sprinkling of icing sugar. After it was made, the kitchen was quite warm and the dulce de leche started to ooze out, so I kept it refrigerated and that also made it easier to cut.
The resulting crêpe cake is delicious and light, although the ricotta is very creamy so it feels more indulgent, especially paired with the dulce de leche.
This cake is best eaten the day it's made so it's probably an afternoon tea or dinner treat. I know this sounds quite fiddly, but it's very straightforward to make and is a lovely alternative to a usual baked cake so it's definitely one to try.
It does only make a six inch cake though, so make sure you don't invite too many friends around to enjoy it with you :)
Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake (recipe from Call Me Cupcake)
Crêpe Ingredients
- 4 LARGE EGGS
- 1½ CUPS MILK (350 ML)
- 2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR (260G)
- 1/4 TSP SALT
- 1½ TBP SUGAR
- ZEST OF 1 ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
- 1 CUP WATER (235 ML)
- 75G BUTTER
Filling Ingredients
- ½ TIN DULCE DE LECHE
- 170G MASCARPONE
- 1 TBSP ICING SUGAR
- ZEST OF ½ ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
- EXTRA ICING SUGAR (FOR SPRINKLING ON TOP)
- MIXED FRUIT FOR TOP
Method
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt, sugar and orange zest until the batter is lump free
- Stir in the water and leave it to thicken at room temperature for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, melt the butter and stir into the batter
- Using a 6 inch frying pan, melt a little butter in the pan and cook the pancakes one by one trying to make them as thin as possible (I used around ½ ladle batter for each crêpe)
- Lay each crêpe to cool on greaseproof paper making sure that you separate them with more greaseproof paper if you plan to stack them for cooling
- Leave to cook completely
- Combine the ricotta, tablespoon of icing sugar and orange zest
- Spread half of the crêpes with the ricotta mix and the other half with dulce de leche
- Then stack the pancakes on top of each other
- Top with your choice of mixed fruit and dust with icing sugar just before you plan to eat them
- And enjoy the fruits of your crêpe production line!