Next time you’re looking for a dessert that makes quite an impression, look no further than this crepe cake recipe.
Have you ever made a mille-crepes cake? A direct translation states “thousand crepes” referring to the stack of crepes sandwiched by filling. While a mille-crepes cake might look complicated, it’s not. What you will need is time to cook the crepe cake recipe and then time to chill and set.
The crepes use buckwheat flour, making the cake naturally gluten-free. If you don’t have time to make the milles crepes cake, you can still make individual buckwheat crepes and spread on fig hazelnut chocolate ganache.
Our Mission Dried Figs meet their match with toasted hazelnuts and semisweet chocolate in the filling. Mixing together the fig hazelnut ganache starts with silky chocolate stirred with hot cream. The hazelnuts and dried mission figs are pulverized until paste-like and then stirred into the smooth chocolate.
If you’ve never tried hazelnuts and dried figs before, you’re missing out. You can use golden dried figs but we think mission dried figs are the right choice here. You know that hazelnuts and chocolate are a power couple, but figs add a sparkle of seeds to the mix.
To assemble the mille-crepes cake, you spread fig hazelnut ganache on top of each buckwheat cocoa crepe before topping with another crepe and repeating the process. Then, if you have extra ganache, spread it over the crepe on top and garnish with whole dried figs.
Chill for several hours or until set. Then pipe rosettes of whipped cream on top before cutting, or add a dollop onto cut slices.
The fig hazelnut ganache shouldn’t be missed! Make it on its own and then chill it in a bowl until set. You can make truffles next—using a tablespoon to scoop out small balls that can be rolled in cocoa.
Chocolate Fig Mille-Crepes Cake
Ingredients
Cocoa Buckwheat Crepes
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups buckwheat flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup water
Fig Hazelnut Ganache
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces stemmed and quartered Orchard Choice Figs 1 cup
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate bars chopped (or feves)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts plus more for garnish if desired
Instructions
Make the Mille-Crepes Cake
- Heat the milk, whisking in cocoa powder, vanilla, and sugar until combined over medium low heat for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally until combined and warm. Cool for 5 minutes.
- Using a whisk or fork and bowl, or blender, combine the buckwheat flour, salt, butter, eggs, and warm cocoa milk together until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and chill the batter for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
- When ready to make the crepes, whisk 1/2 cup water into the batter. Place a large dinner plate or sheet pan on the stovetop next to where you will be cooking.
- Set an 8-inch nonstick skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Drop a small knob of unsalted butter into the pan, swiping around the sides with a paper towel to coat the bottom. Turn the heat down to medium low. Taking the pan off the heat, pour and swirl 2 tablespoons into the pan, tilt and swirl off the heat spreading the batter over itself in the middle until the batter stops moving. Place the pan back on the stovetop and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds or when the top looks more dry and the edges have begun to release from the sides of the pan. Nudge a flexible spatula underneath and flip, cooking on the other side for 1 minute. Place the crepes in a stack on the plate or sheet pan. Repeat until you’ve cooked all the batter.
Make the Fig Hazelnut Ganache
- Place the cream and California Mission Figs in a small saucepan set over medium low heat, for about 5 minutes. Tumble the chopped chocolate or chocolate feves into a medium sized bowl. Place a strainer on top of the bowl and pour the cream through the strainer onto the chocolate below. Ignore the cream and chocolate for 3 minutes. Transfer the figs from the strainer to a food processor along with the salt and hazelnuts. Stir together the cream and chocolate until smooth. Then, transfer to the food processor. Process until smooth.
Assemble the Mille-Crepes Cake
- Place a crepe on a cake stand or whatever surface you plan on presenting it. Select your 20 best crepes. Using an offset spatula, spread about 2 tablespoons evenly across the crepe. Top with another crepe. Continue the crepe and ganache layers until you’ve used up all the crepes. Dollop and spread the rest of the ganache on top of the cake. You can scatter chopped toasted hazelnuts on top or slices of dried mission figs. Chill for 2 hours before serving.