A trio of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry crepes, with a sweet vanilla Mascarpone filling, and topped with strawberry sauce and chocolate syrup!
I had a brilliant (read: decent) idea. When I went on the crepe binge a few months ago (it hasn’t really stopped, btw, I just stopped talking about them to give you all a break), I was determined to make a crepe cake.
They are so fancy and elegant. Time consuming, yes, but on the surface, they seem worth the effort. Crepe cakes really impress. And in my limited experience, they’re also fantastic. How could they not be? You really can’t go wrong stacking up 30+ buttery, crispy, and carby crepes, then slathering frosting in between each layer. That’s just amazing.
The inventor of the crepe cake deserves a medal. Not just for the invention alone, but because crepe cakes are sooooooooooo hard. Labor-intensive, time-consuming, and also…. temperamental. Unless it’s just me, which is admittedly a good possibility.
I set out to make a crepe cake, but not just any crepe cake, this one was a Neapolitan crepe cake, made with a trio of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry crepes. Best idea EVER. Maybe not ever, but probably one of the better ideas I’ll personally have. Or was it?
I spent literally HOURS making crepes. Like, 6 hours. I used 4 billion eggs, a gallon or so of milk, and many cups of flour. But once they’re all made, well, the rest should be a piece of cake. Hehe. 😉
Um, NO. The only thing harder than making all the crepes for hours on end was the actual assembly. With my first attempt, I used cream cheese frosting. I had only stacked about 4 or 5 together when the cream cheese frosting turned watery and started to separate. I have no idea why this happened. I tried to complete the cake as fast as I could, but it still kept separating and the crepes were sliding all over the place. I threw it in the freezer overnight and stood vigil. This kinda worked to salvage it, but this recipe technically failed and I can’t give you a failure.
The second attempt (yes, during a window of pure insanity, I endeavored this project again!) failed in the same fashion. I tried a different kind of frosting this time around, I can’t even remember what because I probably blocked it out of my mind, but it went downhill the same way. So much wateriness and separation. I cannot understand it. So devastating. My current stance on crepe cakes: never again.
In the end, we can still combine the idea of Neapolitan and crepes though, so at least there’s that. You only need to mix up one large batch of vanilla crepe batter, and you’ll divide it up. To one portion, you simply add pureed strawberries. To a second portion, a little cocoa powder. To the third portion, nothing. It’s not too labor intensive!
The filling is a sweetened vanilla Mascarpone fluffed up and airy from the addition of whipped heavy cream. It’s rich and creamy, but not overly sweet. As if this were a legit sundae, I dressed it up with little dollops of the Mascarpone filling to resemble ice cream scoops, as well as a topping of fresh macerated strawberries, and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
No shortage of Neapolitan flavor here in these crepes. A delightful trio of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors, and… they’re pretty too.
Neapolitan Crepes
Ingredients
For sauce:
- 2 c. sliced strawberries
- 2-3 tbsp. sugar
For crepes:
- 4 eggs
- 11/2 c. milk
- 3/4 c. water
- 2 c. flour
- 6 tbsp. melted butter slightly cooled
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/3 c. pureed strawberries
- 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
For filling:
- 1 c. very cold heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. powdered sugar
- 6 oz. Mascarpone cheese at room temperature
- Optional garnish: chocolate sauce
Instructions
For sauce:
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In a medium bowl, combine strawberries and sugar. Allow to macerate for about 20-30 minutes.
For crepes:
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In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, water, flour, melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously until smooth.
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Divide the crepe batter evenly into 3 bowls. One of the bowls will be vanilla crepes and won't need additional ingredients. Set it aside.
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Add 1/3 c. pureed strawberries to one of the remaining bowls, and whisk til smooth.
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Add 2 tbsp. cocoa powder to the last remaining bowl, and whisk til smooth.
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You'll have a bowl for vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate crepes. Each will make about 4 crepes.
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In a large saucepan over medium heat, pour about 1/3-1/2 c. batter, covering the entire bottom of the pan in a thin layer.
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Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the top looks mostly cooked too, even before flipping. Carefully (it will be thin and delicate) flip the crepe over, and cook for about 30 seconds.
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Remove crepe from pan, and continue making crepes with remaining batters.
For filling:
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In a large mixing bowl, beat heavy cream and powdered sugar until it forms soft peaks, about 3-5 minutes.
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Fold the Mascarpone into the heavy cream mixture.
To assemble:
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Spread a small amount of Mascarpone filling on each crepe. Fold the crepes into quarters.
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Arrange one vanilla, one strawberry, and one chocolate crepe onto each plate.
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Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop a tablespoonful of Mascarpone on top of each crepe.
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Serve with fresh strawberry sauce and a drizzle of chocolate sauce, if desired.
Best of all, they didn’t fail miserably. Yay!
Manali @ CookWithManali says
May 19, 2015 at 7:48 pmoh man that sounds like a lot of effort indeed! wow can’t believe you tried it twice, but I can understand, sometimes I also get into this zone that I keep making the damn thing till I get it right lol..crepe cakes or not these neapolitan crepes look super delicious. Love the beautiful colored crepes 🙂
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 10:58 amYes, it was a terrible pain. Never again… until next time! Haha. No, seriously – never again. 🙂 Thanks, Manali!
Ashley | The Recipe Rebel says
May 19, 2015 at 9:59 pmI LOVE this idea! I haven’t tried a crepe cake yet either… too intimidating!
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 10:58 amDon’t do it!! Too time consuming, and it’s devastating if it fails! Haha! 🙂
Stacey @ Bake.Eat.Repeat. says
May 20, 2015 at 12:48 amI can’t believe you tried twice! Although I’d probably do the same thing! These crepes look amazing though so at least there’s that! 🙂
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 10:59 amYep, at least I was able to partly salvage the idea. Never making a crepe cake again!
Blair @ The Seasoned Mom says
May 20, 2015 at 6:15 amWow, I can’t believe that you were so ambitious to try that cake (twice!). I wouldn’t even dream of it! 🙂
These crepes look incredible…who needs a cake anyway?! Pinned!
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 10:59 amWell, I still have hopes that it will work out someday, but I just don’t know how many more times I can try it with it failing… ugh! Lol! But at least these worked out. 🙂
Jeff says
May 20, 2015 at 9:10 amThe photos in this post are absolutely fantastic. It looks amazing. I hope you used the homemade vanilla that someone gave you . . . 🙂
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 1:42 pmThey are? I hate all my photos, so that is encouraging to hear! I wish I had that homemade vanilla because I would just drink it from the bottle. I think it’s at Gramma’s. Can you mail me some?? 🙂
Jen says
May 20, 2015 at 10:51 amI applaud you for your efforts! Even though the cake didn’t work you, you still managed to produce gorgeously colored crepes. They look delicious and need to be on my plate for breakfast right now!
Sarah says
May 20, 2015 at 11:00 amI knew it would be time consuming, but I didn’t think it would be *hard* and would fail. But now I know, the hard way unfortunately! Haha! 🙂
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
May 20, 2015 at 2:00 pmLovely flavor combinations and love all the colors! Such a pretty breakfast 🙂
Rachelle says
May 20, 2015 at 4:01 pmWhoa! What a labor intensive endeavor! And a bummer it didn’t work out! The end result sure did turn out gorgeous though!
Shelby @ Go Eat and Repeat says
May 20, 2015 at 7:45 pmThese crepes sound absolutely amazing! They are so beautiful in all of those colors too!
Sarah says
May 30, 2015 at 12:45 pmThank you so much!
Kelly - Life Made Sweeter says
May 21, 2015 at 2:09 amThese crepes are gorgeous, Sarah!! Sorry your crepe cakes didn’t turn out, I love the Neapolitan flavors you had in mind! I had trouble with mine in the beginning too. I decided to let the crepes cool completely before filling them and made a thicker buttercream frosting. I think yours look super delicious still and the colors are so so pretty!
Sarah says
May 30, 2015 at 12:46 pmI had the crepes refrigerated, so I wonder if they formed condensation as they cooled? I don’t know, but your crepe cake was GORGEOUS!!!