This strawberry crepe cake recipe features layered paper thin crepes (~20 layers of crepes), a sweet cream filling and juicy sweet strawberries in between. This strawberry crepe cake is perfect as a light summer dessert, as no baking is involved.
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 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
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.