Bake a Dark Chocolate Mille Crepe cake!

Hi people!!! This is the long awaited post no?
People have been asking me for the recipe after they saw the picture I posted on my facebook :

Dark Chocolate Mille Crepe Cake. I'm a big fan of Mille Crepe !

Yes! This one! Looks yummy right, taste even better. This is called the Dark Chocolate Crepe Cake and I'm proud to say .. No we did not buy it from the store but WE MADE IT by ourselves ! Yes WE ; MelissaYang, MynnLee(RedFm), Wan Ting(SnowXwhite), and I had lots of fun although tiring. Hard work pays off ;)

Thanks to MyCoupon for bringing the Malaysia's Hottest Bloggers to this baking session. Who is the awesome teacher who taught us to bake this? You'll know in the end!

Alright so let's get down to business ! Here I'm gonna show you step by step with pictures to assist your understanding. :) Put your aprons on now!
xx

This is the RECIPE of Darkest Chocolate Crêpe Cake (serves 14-16, you can make it for birthdays or even Chinese New Year which is approaching ;) ) Just think simple, CREPE + FILLING = MILLE CREPE.
So basically you don't need to use oven ! You just need to make the crepe, then the filling !

xx

For the Crêpes , (makes about 30-40 crepes)
You'll need :

• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk at room temperature
• 6 extra large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Get into action !

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring the water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Add the butter one piece at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until completely smooth, set aside. (pictures above! Basically it's just melting the butter slowly :) )

2. In another medium bowl(for DRY ingredients), whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and espresso powder. In a separate bowl(for WET ingredients), whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk mixture(mix both wet and dry ingredients), whisking until smooth.

Remember the chocolate mixture you mixed at the first step? Now gradually add in the chocolate mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour and press through a fine-mesh sieve; discard any lumps. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

You can refrigerate it for at least one hour (if you're in a hurry) 

Alright ! Now that you've refrigerate your mixture overnight, you can take it out to cool and move to the next step, cooking the crepe! *excited

The overnight batter and the utensils needed. (picture credit to Melissa!)

1. Lightly coat an 8-inch crepe pan or 10-inch non-stick skillet with melted butter and heat over medium heat; wipe out excess(only coat with butter ONCE - at the starting). Pour about 3 tablespoons of the overnight batter into the pan(equivalent to one icecream scoop if you have one), swirling to coat bottom. 

2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the crêpe. Flipping once until edges are golden and center is set, about 30-45 seconds per side(Don't worry about flipping, the crepe won't stick together! Just flip it using the utensils !). Transfer crepe to a sheet of waxed paper. Continue with remaining batter. Crêpes can be made and refrigerated for up to one week.

You know, like how the uncle in pasar malam make the crepes. . Hehe. And don't worry if your crepe break a little and have holes during flipping(like the picture above), because nobody will realize after you put the cream on. Haha!

I think Melissa did a very nice attempt for you guys to understand. So here it is! 

Swirl the batter like how Melissa did here!
I know... maybe its hard at the first few try, but practice makes perfect! Over here you need to make 30-40 crepes!
Hahahaha good luck with that!

Me and our crepes. I look so exhausted wtf. Making the crepe part is the most time consuming.
I think around 2 hours and more? Just don't give up!


So you just leave the crepes to cool down at the waxed paper and once its cold you can overlap them together to save space already. :)
xx

PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Remember I said CREPE + FILLINGS = MILLE CREPE? You've done the crepe part so now this is the last part !

xx

FOR THE FILLING (makes about 8 cups)
You'll need ..

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 6 extra large EGG WHITES 
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces and softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup Nutella
• Pinch of kosher salt

In a medium bowl using a wire whisk or a hand held mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

picture credits to Mynn!

Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water until egg white mixture is hot to touch or a candy thermometer reads (60°C). Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip with a wire whip until double in volume on MEDIUM-HIGH speed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl.

picture credit to Mynn !

Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.) On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer's speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a MEDIUM-HIGH speed.

Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to LOW. Add flavoring and continue to beat on LOW speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on MEDIUM-HIGH speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the refrigerated whipped cream; use immediately.

Leftover butter cream can be placed in plastic containers with lids and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost completely (several hours) and rewhip before using.

You can store the icing in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months! 

PHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Now you have the crepes and filling(cream) to really MAKE THE CAKE! This is the easiest part. :)
Let's just say we're just spreading the creams in between the crepes, just like how you spread butter on breads!

Place an 8-inch round of parchment paper over a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet . Place a crêpe on top of the parchment. Evenly spread about 3 tablespoons of filling on top of the crêpe. Top with another crêpe. Continue layering with filling and crepes, using about 32 crêpes and ending with a crêpe on top. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.

Tada! This is how your crepe cake should look like just before you cover it with the icing. 

Wanna make your crepe cake look like this? Just top it with chocolate coating/icing !

You'll need..

• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Spoon 1/2 cup of the glaze on top of the cake, spreading to edges with off-set spatula. Spread remaining glaze around the sides of the cake, coating completely. Refrigerate until glaze is firm and set, about 30 minutes.

Cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Finally !

Do you love us now? Look at our yummy Dark Chocolate Mille Crepe Cake !

We went there with completely zero knowledge of baking a cake..... but hey, practice makes perfect right!
Now we know how to make a cake in 3 hours! Hahaha.

Oh right! Who's our very patient teacher?

She's Nazz of Homemade from Scratch Baking! Visit her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/HomemadefromScratchBaking.

I'll be so lost if I just get the recipe online and try to bake a cake myself without any of Nazz's guidance.
So people, if you want to learn how to make a Dark Chocolate Mille Crepe cake just like us, here's an awesome deal for you to attend this baking class by Homemade from Scratch Baking at mycoupon.com.my .

Look out for [41% OFF] RM 88 for 3 hours demo + Baking class for Mille Crepe cake instead of RM 150.

Have fun baking and tell me about it! :)