Mille Crepes

[SweetSide]

Last night I made Mille Crepe for dessert. No photos though, but it was quite a pretty sight.

I had posted under Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme thread and the What are you eating for Dessert thread, but I'll repeat myself here to start this new.

I decided to do a chocolate version.

For the crepes, I used the Pierre Herme chocolate crepes recipe. As the only beer I had on hand was a stronger Sam Adams Brown Ale, my crepes came out nutty tasting.

For the filling I used the Pierre Herme chocolate pastry cream recipe but added about 2T of Frangelico. The pastry cream was then lighted with 1 1/2 cups of cream whipped with 2T of Frangelico.

Came out beautiful and delicious. One issue I had with the cake though, was how it ended up being eaten. Slicing servings with the knife was easy -- nice clean cuts. However, we ended up eating the cake by layers since a fork squished a lot of the filling out before cutting through the crepes. I'd like to see the filling less squish prone, but not rubbery. Some tinkering needed.

[Megan Blocker]

I, too, made a mille crepes last night!

My friends Hall and Miles came over to re-create the Lady M Mille Crepes cake. We had such a blast...

The cake-making actually kicked off last night, as Amanda Hesser's adaptation called for the crepe batter and the pastry cream to be made a day ahead.

When Miles and Hall arrived this afternoon, we went ahead and started out making the 20 (not a thousand) crepes...Miles manned the pan, and Hall and I made sure they cooled well. The batter was remarkably light yet elastic, and the browned butter in the batter gave the crepes a wonderfully nutty taste.

Once we got near finishing on the crepes front, I started pushing the pastry cream through the sieve one last time, and then whipped up some heavy cream with a little sugar and some Grand Marnier (rather than the recommended Kirsch).

We folded the whipped cream into the pastry cream, while Miles, um, licked the whipped cream mixing bowl...

Finally, time for assembly. We selected the heartiest crepe (for the bottom) and the prettiest (for the top) and got to work with an off-set spatula.

Finally, it was done and ready to go into the fridge to set up for a few hours.

After a round of Trivial Pursuit and dinner out at Paola's, an Italian place around the corner, we came home and got down to the business of eating. But first, we had to brulee some sugar on the top crepe.

Finally, the cake was ready...

...for slicing...

...and eating.

We didn't find Hesser's recipe to be terribly user-friendly; for instance, you should probably chill the cake again after bruleeing the top, as the first layer of cream became oozy and gooey, which you don't want. But overall, oh my goodness. SO GOOD. And really close to the real thing.

Here's a link to my version of Hesser's recipe: click!

[Megan Blocker]

One issue I had with the cake though, was how it ended up being eaten.  Slicing servings with the knife was easy -- nice clean cuts.  However, we ended up eating the cake by layers since a fork squished a lot of the filling out before cutting through the crepes.  I'd like to see the filling less squish prone, but not rubbery.  Some tinkering needed.

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Did you chill the cake at all before serving? That seemed to help us...

[racheld]

LOVED all the instructions and especially your step-by-step, Megan. Looks and sounds delicious.

I'd love that kitchen camaraderie and the making and the communicating (with a break for Trivial Pursuit! ). My main memories of stack cakes, as great and as wonderful as they are, is of countless pans in and out of the oven, turning out half-inch layers to set to cool on increasingly-decreasing counter space. We'd have the little rounds on the dining table, on the end tables, anywhere they'd fit and not slide off. (One dedicated cook would set up her big screen-door thing that she used for drying fruit, across two sawhorses on the patio, and lay on the golden circles til it looked like a giant GO board. I was once tempted to turn a couple over, but restraint, restraint).

And my caramel WOULD NOT stay on top...it slid off into a moat on the cakeplate. Unless it just wouldn't spread at all, and had to be spooned on top in glops which hardened into delectable candy--the one redeeming virtue.

All in all, that's one of the best demos I've ever seen...but I think my favorite pic is the bowl-licking...reminiscent of our dog Petey with a yogurt container. Did you have to pry it off his nose?

What a fun afternoon. Sure beats washing the same three pans nine times.

[SweetSide]

One issue I had with the cake though, was how it ended up being eaten.  Slicing servings with the knife was easy -- nice clean cuts.  However, we ended up eating the cake by layers since a fork squished a lot of the filling out before cutting through the crepes.  I'd like to see the filling less squish prone, but not rubbery.  Some tinkering needed.

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Did you chill the cake at all before serving? That seemed to help us...

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Yes, I did, and it was definitely firmer than when it was originally put together. No parts of mine were "oozy and goozy". I think part of it has to do with the shape of the slice itself.

Today, the cake is a more uniform texture and the pastry cream has lost some of its moisture to the crepes. And fork cutting from the whole cake (who needs slices) is easier still.

Looking at your pictures -- beautiful, by the way -- I can tell that my cream is probably firmer than yours as I didn't get the little "gooshies" on the sides of the freshly cut slice.

And, IMO (as I have no photo), the chocolate looks better than the white due to the richer color.

I'm wondering about chocolate and white -- I love looking at the many thin layers...

[SweetSide]

Just went back and read the NY Times article on the Mille Crepes, and think I found part of my fork cutting problem.

In the article is says "The crepes have to be baked thin enoug so that when you cut through with a fork, it can't be an impediment."

Back to the crepe pan for me... Mine aren't bad, they just aren't perfect...

[Megan Blocker]

Yes, I did, and it was definitely firmer than when it was originally put together.  No parts of mine were "oozy and goozy".  I think part of it has to do with the shape of the slice itself. 

Today, the cake is a more uniform texture and the pastry cream has lost some of its moisture to the crepes.  And fork cutting from the whole cake (who needs slices) is easier still.

Looking at your pictures -- beautiful, by the way -- I can tell that my cream is probably firmer than yours as I didn't get the little "gooshies" on the sides of the freshly cut slice.

And, IMO (as I have no photo), the chocolate looks better than the white due to the richer color.

I'm wondering about chocolate and white -- I love looking at the many thin layers...

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And I love mine, because cream is one of my favorite colors...though, so is chocolate brown... I bet alternating colors would be cool...I've been thinking about making a coffee- or mocha-flavored one, with plain crepes and flavored cream.

Yes, the crepes have to be really thin...most of ours were almost transparent when held up to the light, and that seemed to work well.

ETA: I had a slice for breakfast this morning (I'm so ashamed ), and it was very firm. To be fair, the slices last night were also firm - the only issue was that the top layer or so of cream got oozy when we used the torch. The rest of the slice was solid (it had chilled for about three, three and a half hours at that point).

Edited March 26, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Megan Blocker]

LOVED all the instructions and especially your step-by-step, Megan.  Looks and sounds delicious.

I'd love that kitchen camaraderie and the making and the communicating (with a break for Trivial Pursuit! ).  My main memories of stack cakes, as great and as wonderful as they are, is of countless pans in and out of the oven, turning out half-inch layers to set to cool on increasingly-decreasing counter space...

...I think my favorite pic is the bowl-licking...reminiscent of our dog Petey with a yogurt container.  Did you have to pry it off his nose?

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Thanks, Rachel!

The only other stacked cake I've ever made was an old Southern family recipe given to me by my friend Louisa and her mom, Jan. Jan is originally from Texas, I think, and has lived in Lynchburg, Virginia for almost thirty years now. The cake is so good...sponge (six layers, I think) layered with a creamy lemon curd, iced with a lemon-cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Yes, it was difficult to pull Miles away from the whipped cream...it was good and boozy from the Grand Marnier, and since it was Saturday at 4:00, cocktail hour had begun!

[Abra]

Beautiful, Megan! I've never eaten that cake, but now I really want to. So, forgive me for asking, being as how I've never seen one before, but is the uneven ruffly outer edge a characteristic of this cake, or do bakeries round off the outside somehow to make it a more uniform shape?

[Megan Blocker]

Beautiful, Megan!  I've never eaten that cake, but now I really want to.  So, forgive me for asking, being as how I've never seen one before, but is the uneven ruffly outer edge a characteristic of this cake, or do bakeries round off the outside somehow to make it a more uniform shape?

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Thanks, Abra! The cake at Lady M has the ruffly edges, though I don't know if others trim theirs somehow...

[Ling]

That's so beautiful! Mmmm!

[sanrensho]

So, forgive me for asking, being as how I've never seen one before, but is the uneven ruffly outer edge a characteristic of this cake, or do bakeries round off the outside somehow to make it a more uniform shape?

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I don't know if this is helpful, but here's a link to a Google image search using "Mille Crepes" in Japanese. You should be able to identify the pro examples fairly easily. Incidentally, the search turns up 2,900 hits (vs. 21 in English), which gives you an idea of how popular this dessert is in Japan.

http://images.google.ca/images?q=%E3%83%9F...100&sa=N&tab=wi

Megan, your photos look great. I'm tempted to make a version with strawberry pastry cream as the season draws closer...

Edited March 27, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[Megan Blocker]

So, forgive me for asking, being as how I've never seen one before, but is the uneven ruffly outer edge a characteristic of this cake, or do bakeries round off the outside somehow to make it a more uniform shape?

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I don't know if this is helpful, but here's a link to a Google image search using "Mille Crepes" in Japanese. You should be able to identify the pro examples fairly easily. Incidentally, the search turns up 2,900 hits (vs. 21 in English), which gives you an idea of how popular this dessert is in Japan.

http://images.google.ca/images?q=%E3%83%9F...100&sa=N&tab=wi

Megan, your photos look great. I'm tempted to make a version with strawberry pastry cream as the season draws closer...

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Ooooh...and I love the one that makes it into a sort of strawberry shortcake. I love strawberry shortcake, and with crepes? SOLD!

[Sugarella]

Stupid Question: Seeing as this is so popular in Japan, does anyone know what this pastry is actually called in Japanese?

[Chufi]

That looks so good! How long does it keep? I'm thinking this would be great for my birthday dessert-table.. but I would have to be able to make it a couple days in advance..

[SweetSide]

Things with pastry cream I don't usually keep around very long. It is now 2 days after I made mine, the crepes are getting soft and the texture is melding together. I would still feel comfortable serving it today except for the top -- as the bruleed sugar has sat in the fridge, it has melted and turned into syrup. The top crepe is mushy.

You can make the crepes in advance and freeze. Then just make the pastry cream closer to the date. The crepes themselves are what take the most time. Filling and stacking took me but 10 minutes. Brulee a few minutes before serving.

[Megan Blocker]

Things with pastry cream I don't usually keep around very long.  It is now 2 days after I made mine, the crepes are getting soft and the texture is melding together.  I would still feel comfortable serving it today except for the top -- as the bruleed sugar has sat in the fridge, it has melted and turned into syrup.  The top crepe is mushy.

You can make the crepes in advance and freeze.  Then just make the pastry cream closer to the date.  The crepes themselves are what take the most time.  Filling and stacking took me but 10 minutes.  Brulee a few minutes before serving.

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Yup, this pretty much gibes with my experience, too...though there's none left of mine today.

ETA: To be fair, the boys took half home with them, so I'm not as piggish as it may seem...

Edited March 27, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[sanrensho]

Stupid Question:  Seeing as this is so popular in Japan, does anyone know what this pastry is actually called in Japanese?

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Same name, but the pronunciation in Japanese is Miiru Kureepu (from the French pronunciation).

Edited March 27, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[Sugarella]

Stupid Question:  Seeing as this is so popular in Japan, does anyone know what this pastry is actually called in Japanese?

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Same name, but the pronunciation in Japanese is Miiru Kureepu (from the French pronunciation).

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Ah, I see. Thanks.

I was just wondering if there was something else to call it considering Lady M refers to it as the Mille Crêpes™ with the trademark....... perhaps the rest of us should be calling it Vingt Crêpes. !!

[Megan Blocker]

I think ours had twenty-two...so it was really a Vingt-Deux Crêpes!

Edited March 27, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[sanrensho]

I was just wondering if there was something else to call it considering Lady M refers to it as the Mille Crêpes™ with the trademark....... perhaps the rest of us should be calling it Vingt Crêpes. !! 

Personally, I'm appalled that they decided to trademark the name, especially since they had nothing to do with its invention.

[Sugarella]

I think ours had twenty-two...so it was really a Vingt-Deux Crêpes!

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Have you actually had Lady M's, Megan? I'm wondering if there's anything missing from the crepe/pastry cream/kirsch combo as described from what Lady M is actually making.....

(Still planning that road trip to NYC... )

Personally, I'm appalled that they decided to trademark the name, especially since they had nothing to do with its invention.

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Well it wouldn't be the first time someone trademarked something they had nothing to do with creating.

But....that's how trademarks go, unfortunately. Personally, I'm torn on this one. I acknowledge the brilliant marketing ploy of the trademark (notice we're all calling it a Lady M Mille Crêpes and not a crêpes cake....) , but now what is every other pastry chef supposed to call it if we can't use its real name anymore?

[Tweety69bird]

I think ours had twenty-two...so it was really a Vingt-Deux Crêpes!

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Have you actually had Lady M's, Megan? I'm wondering if there's anything missing from the crepe/pastry cream/kirsch combo as described from what Lady M is actually making.....

(Still planning that road trip to NYC... )

Personally, I'm appalled that they decided to trademark the name, especially since they had nothing to do with its invention.

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Well it wouldn't be the first time someone trademarked something they had nothing to do with creating.

But....that's how trademarks go, unfortunately. Personally, I'm torn on this one. I acknowledge the brilliant marketing ploy of the trademark (notice we're all calling it a Lady M Mille Crêpes and not a crêpes cake....) , but now what is every other pastry chef supposed to call it if we can't use its real name anymore?

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I think you just answered that question... Crepe Cake.... or Gâteau aux Crêpes.

[Megan Blocker]

I think ours had twenty-two...so it was really a Vingt-Deux Crêpes!

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Have you actually had Lady M's, Megan? I'm wondering if there's anything missing from the crepe/pastry cream/kirsch combo as described from what Lady M is actually making.....

(Still planning that road trip to NYC... )

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Yes, I've had theirs several times...I'd have to do a side-by-side comparison to see what's different. Maybe next time I make this I'll buy a slice from Lady M the same day and see what I see.

Lady M's never seemed to have the vanilla bean running through it that mine did...though that might not be terribly telling. They could have gotten the flavor without the specks.

I think you just answered that question... Crepe Cake.... or Gâteau aux Crêpes.

That's what I called mine in RecipeGullet - Gâteau aux Crêpes!

Edited March 27, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[sanrensho]

That's what I called mine in RecipeGullet - Gâteau aux Crêpes!

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Unless it's for commercial purposes, I don't see any problem with using the name "mille crepes." It's a freaking common noun in Japan, for crying out loud! (Frustration directed at the company that filed the trademark, not Megan or anyone else.)

Edited March 27, 2006 by sanrensho (log)