Unique Strawberry Crepe Cake Recipe
This strawberry crepe cake recipe layers paper-thin crepes with lightly sweetened cream and fresh juicy strawberries for a soft, delicate dessert. What makes this strawberry mille crepe cake especially unique is its naturally pink-red crepes, colored with beet water instead of artificial food coloring.
With about 20 beautiful layers, fresh strawberry flavor and no oven needed, it makes an impressive spring or summer dessert that’s easier to assemble than it looks. The recipe also includes gluten-free and dairy-free options, so you can adapt it to suit your needs.
It’s a beautiful summer dessert for warm-weather gatherings, berry season, birthdays, or any occasion when you want something light, fresh, and visually impressive.
This strawberry crepe cake is a French-inspired layered dessert with a fresh, healthier twist. It starts with naturally pink-red crepes layered with a creamy strawberry filling, with gluten-free and dairy-free options included.
If you like layered fruit desserts, you may also enjoy my apple and caramel crepe cake or this gluten-free banana cake.
Ingredients Needed
For the Crepes:
- Flour – use regular all purpose flour. For a gluten-free version, substitute an equal amount of flour with my gluten free flour mix. Or use this gluten free crepe recipe. Also you could make grain free crepes with almond flour, as a low carb version.
- Eggs – They help with binding and trapping the air bubbles created by liquid expanding as the batter is heated.
- Milk – helps the crepe batter spread out thinly in the pan. If there’s too much fat in the milk, it’s best to dissolve it with water. This is what makes a crepe batter so much thinner and runnier. Use any plant based milk if you want a dairy free version (no added water is needed here).
- Butter – The more fat there is in the batter, the more tender the finished crepe will be. Also you could use oil.
- Sugar – is added for a subtle sweetness.
- Beet juice (optional) – for coloring the crepes. I used some red water resulted from boiling some beets. It’s natural in beautiful. Don’t worry, it will not taste like beets. Another options is some food coloring.
- Vanilla – for flavor and smell.
For the cream filling:
- whipped cream (or dairy free whipping cream) + sugar; Or coconut whipping cream + vegan butter + sugar – will help create a similar texture like regular whipped cream but a little denser. Or use regular whipped cream (if you can handle dairy).
- Fresh strawberries – are used between layers and as decoration.
- Freeze dried strawberries – ground into powder for dusting the top (but it’s totally optional);
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below.
How To Make The Strawberry Crepe Cake
Step 1. Prepare the ingredients and make the crepe batter:
- Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth.
- To make the batter pink/red I boiled a beet in 1 cup of water, and then I added 1/2 cup of that red beet water to the crepe batter. Or you can use food coloring if you want.
- Chill the batter for an hour, before making the crepes. Resting will help the crepes cook through more fully and evenly, providing a finer texture. Give it another mix just before using, add more liquid if it looks too thick.
Step 2. Cook the crepes
- Pour about 1/4 cup or less of batter into the heated pan. I’m using a 10″ceramic no-stick pan. As you pour, quickly tilt the pan in all directions to spread a thin layer of batter across the bottom. Cook about one to two minutes on each side.
- It’s all about heating the pan to the right temperature (stove knob between 3 and 4). If your skillet is too hot, the crepes will cook too quickly and become more crispy and less bendy.
- Cover with a lid or towel to help crepes moisten while you cook the rest.
- To reduce the work load you can stop here, and continue the assembling of the strawberry crepe cake the day you plan to serve it.
Step 3. Assemble the strawberry crepe cake:
- Make the cream frosting and cut the strawberries into thin circles.
- To make the cream frosting use regular heavy whipping cream or dairy free whipping cream and sugar; mix with a hand mixer until fluffy and medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
- To assemble the strawberry crepe cake: spread 1 teaspoons of whipped cream on the center of your cake serving plate. This helps adhere the cake to the plate. Place a crepe on top. Spread about 2 heaping tablespoons of cream evenly on top in a very thin layer. Spread cream all the way to edges of crepe to prevent the sides from wrinkling up.
- I added a layer of sliced strawberries every five crepes. But you could add more or less if you like. Just make sure to add a thin layer of cream on the crepe before you add the strawberries and after. This will ensure they get “sandwiched” in cream and provide moisture to the crepes.
- Repeat layering crepes, whipped cream and strawberries until you finish your crepe stack.
- I used 17 crepes out of 20, because I needed some of the remaining whipped cream for the top and edges. If you intend to use all crepes, you’ll need a little bit more than 1 box (16oz) of whipping cream.
Step 4. Finish and decorate the crepe cake:
- If you have extra whipped cream, feel free to spread all around the sides of the crepe cake too.
- Dust the top with some ground freeze dried strawberries for a nice vibrant red color. But I recommend doing that up to an hour before serving. The longer it sits, the strawberry powder will soak the moisture and get damp. Purely esthetically it looks better when the powder is dryer.
- Decorate the top of the mille crepe cake with fresh strawberries.
- Refrigerate the strawberry crepe cake for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours before serving. Chilling the cake in the refrigerator is important because otherwise the crepes will slip and slide as you cut. If chilling longer than 4 hours, I recommend covering the crepe cake.
Whipped Cream Suggestions
- Another filling variation is to mix whipped cream with sour cream (60% / 40%), it makes a delicious tangy cream.
- If you don’t like whipped cream, you can use a pastry cream filling, which I used in my banana pudding recipe (it’s also dairy free).
Dairy Free Version: as I mentioned above, you can use a dairy free whipping cream or coconut whipping cream in a can (which has healthier ingredients). Once you have chosen the right one, you add your choice of sweetener and vanilla extract.
Tips For Perfect Thin Crepes
The trick to creating the best strawberry mille crepe cake is having paper thin crepes. For that you need the batter to be really smooth and to have the consistency of heavy cream — almost liquid.
For a perfectly thin crepe I find I need a little less than a ¼ cup for each crepe. And the best method for flipping crepes is using my hands and a spatula.
Variations and Add-ins
- Instead of fresh strawberries use freeze dried strawberries or a strawberry jam. Or you could infuse the whipped cream with freeze dried strawberry powder.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate for more flavor!
- Add crushed nuts for decoration.
Crepe Cake Storing
Storing leftovers: Refrigerate the strawberry crepe cake for up to 24 hours in an airtight container. Longer storage is not recommended as the strawberries tend to spoil fast when combined with the whipped cream
Freezing: I don’t recommend freezing the entire assembled crepe cake. Whipped cream doesn’t hold up well after being frozen – it tends to get weepy and liquidy. It’s best to freeze the individual crepes without any toppings or fillings after you cook them and assemble later.
Crepe Cake FAQs
It could be 2 reasons: one, the cake wasn’t left to rest for longer enough to absorb moisture. Two, the crepes themselves have a tough dry texture because they were cooked too slow.
This crepe cake has a soft delicate texture and the whipped cream makes it light and airy.
If the cake is already assembled with layers of fresh strawberry, then it’s good for up to 18 hours. Then the strawberries will release the juice and spoil fast.
Before You Go…
If you try this strawberry crepe cake, leave a comment below and a star ★★★★★ rating if you enjoyed it. Your feedback not only helps other readers, but also helps me continue testing and creating recipes
Strawberry Crepe Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Crepes
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups milk - or dairy free milk
- ½ cup red beet water - or regular water (or use more dairy free milk)
- 3 tbsp melted butter - or oil
- 2 cups all purpose flour - or gluten free flour
- 3 tbsp sugar - or maple sugar (healthier alternative)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Filling and decoration
- 16 oz heavy whipping cream or - or dairy free whipping cream
- 1 cup sugar - or maple sugar (healthier alternative)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ lb fresh strawberries
- 0.5 oz freeze dried strawberries - optional for dusting
Instructions
Step 1. Prepare the ingredients and make the crepe batter
- Add all ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth.
- To make the batter pink/red I boiled a beet in 1 cup of water, and then I added 1/2 cup of that red beet water to the crepe batter. Or you can use food coloring if you want.
- Chill the batter for an hour, before making the crepes. Resting will help the crepes cook through more fully and evenly, providing a finer texture. Give it another mix just before using, add more liquid if it looks too thick.
Step 2. Cook the crepes
- Pour about 1/4 cup or less of batter into the heated pan. I’m using a 10″ceramic no-stick pan. As you pour, quickly tilt the pan in all directions to spread a thin layer of batter across the bottom.
- Cook about one to two minutes on each side. It’s all about heating the pan to the right temperature (stove knob between 3 and 4). If your skillet is too hot, the crepes will cook too quickly and become more crispy and less bendy.
- Cover with a lid or towel to help crepes moisten while you cook the rest. To reduce the work load you can stop here, and continue the assembling of the strawberry crepe cake the day you plan to serve it.
Step 3. Assemble the strawberry crepe cake
- Make the cream frosting and cut the strawberries into thin circles.
- To make the cream frosting use regular heavy whipping cream or dairy free whipping cream and sugar; mix with a hand mixer until fluffy and medium peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
- To assemble the strawberry crepe cake: spread 1 teaspoons of whipped cream on the center of your cake serving plate. This helps adhere the cake to the plate. Place a crepe on top.
- Spread about 2 heaping tablespoons of cream evenly on top in a very thin layer. Spread cream all the way to edges of crepe to prevent the sides from wrinkling up.
- I added a layer of sliced strawberries every five crepes. But you could add more or less if you like. Just make sure to add a thin layer of cream on the crepe before you add the strawberries and after. This will ensure they get “sandwiched” in cream and provide moisture to the crepes.
- Repeat layering crepes, whipped cream and strawberries until you finish your crepe stack.
- I used 17 crepes out of 20, because I needed some of the remaining whipped cream for the top and edges. If you intend to use all crepes, you’ll need a little bit more than 1 box (16oz) of whipping cream.
Step 4. Finish and decorate the crepe cake
- If you have extra whipped cream, feel free to spread all around the sides of the crepe cake too.
- Dust the top with some ground freeze dried strawberries for a nice vibrant red color. But I recommend doing that up to an hour before serving. The longer it sits, the strawberry powder will soak the moisture and get damp. Purely esthetically it looks better when the powder is dryer.
- Decorate the top of the mille crepe cake with fresh strawberries.
- Refrigerate the strawberry crepe cake for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours before serving. Chilling the cake in the refrigerator is important because otherwise the crepes will slip and slide as you cut.If chilling longer than 4 hours, I recommend covering the crepe cake.
Notes
- Another filling variation is to mix whipped cream with sour cream (60% / 40%), it makes a delicious tangy cream.
- If you don’t like whipped cream, you can use a pastry cream filling, which I used in my banana pudding recipe (it’s also dairy free).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
More Strawberry Desserts To Try
- Strawberry Crumble/Crisp + GD/DF Option
- Healthy Strawberry Muffins (Gluten Free, DF)
- Strawberry Banana Milkshake + Video, DF Version
- Strawberry Bliss Balls (Nut Free, Paleo)
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