Crêpe Cake
This glorious stack of featherlight crêpes is cleverly tucked in using a dishtowel. Sliced, it reveals it’s secret — crêpes all the way down. You will need one very large crêpe or saute pan, 15 inches or so, and five small ones, about 6 inches in diameter. At Troisgros the small crêpes are made assembly-line style in five 6-inch crêpe pans so that everything is ready at about the same time. Working at home, you will probably only have one or at most two 6-inch crêpe pans; keep the crêpes warm by stacking them on a plate and covering it with an inverted bowl. Note how few ingredients this Troisgros specialty uses: just milk, vanilla, butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.
Ingredients
- Milk - 1 1/2 cup
- Vanilla Beans - 2
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick)
- Eggs - 12, separated
- Sugar - 3/4 cup
- Cake Flour - 3-1/4 cups sifted
- Clarified Butter - 1-1/2 cups, for brushing
- Confectioner’s sugar - For dusting
- Vanilla custard (pastry) cream - 2 cups
Instructions
Put the milk in a medium saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the milk, add the pods, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from the heat, add the butter, and set aside. Lift out the vanilla pods.
Put the egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer and turn the machine on low speed. When the egg whites are foamy, sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the sugar and let it blend into the whites. Turn the machine on high and let the whites beat until the peaks begin to change from soft to firm. Stop beating and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a very large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Add the flour. Add the milk and whisk briskly to combine into a batter. Fold a large spoonful of egg whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining egg whites in 3 additions, taking care to preserve the volume of the egg whites. The batter will be very light but thick.
Brush a 6-inch ovenproof non-stick crêpe or saute pan with clarified butter. Fill the bottom of the pan about 1/2-inch deep with batter, smoothing with a spatula. Place over medium-high heat and cook until the sides have firmed and the bottom is pale golden, about 2 minutes. Place in the oven and finish baking, 2 to 3 minutes, until the pancake is firm throughout and the top has set. The top will still be soft. Remove from the oven and flip the pancake over; put back over medium heat until the other side is lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Remove and set aside on a plate; keep warm under an inverted bowl. Make 5 small crêpes.
Brush a 12- or 14-inch ovenproof non-stick crêpe or saute pan with clarified butter. Fill the bottom of the pan about 1/2- to 3/4-inch deep with batter, smoothing with a spatula. Place over medium-high heat and cook until the sides have firmed and the bottom is pale golden, about 2 minutes. Place in the oven and finish baking, about 3 minutes, until the pancake is firm throughout and the top has set. Remove from the oven and flip the pancake over; put back over medium heat until the other side is lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Remove and set aside on a plate; keep warm under an inverted bowl or foil tent.
When all of the crêpes are finished, stack the five small crêpes on a flat plate. Center the large crêpe over the stack and let it drape down over the sides to cover. Place a clean dishtowel over the top. With both hands, reach over and around the large crêpe, using the towel to tuck it under the stack so that the end result is a smooth crêpe dome. Remove the towel. When the crêpe cake has cooled, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
To serve: Serve whole; cut into wedges at the table. Serve with vanilla custard cream.
