likebyregina Spirtea in Richmond is recently selling Mille crepe cake from Lady M, and it is priced at $19.50 per slice. It is definitely a luxurious and unaffordable treat for me, so I decided to make my own version. I did some research on how to master the perfectly thin slice of crepe. After failing twice, I finally created my masterpiece, Lady R Mille Crepe Cake! Here I am sharing all tips I learned during the process.
First Trial: Purple Yam Mille Crepe Cake
Instead of the classic tea-flavoured mille crepe cake, I made a Purple Yam Mille Crepe Cake on my first trial. I used purple yam in every component of the cake, which gives it a faint purple colour naturally. The cake has 20 layers. The crepe is too thick to my liking, which I think is caused by the mashed purple yam added to the batter. Nonetheless, my friends and I all enjoyed the strong purple yam flavour, with the perfect proportion of cream.
Second Trial: Peach Black Tea Mille Crepe Cake
I made a Peach Black Tea Mille Crepe Cake to celebrate the peach season. I did some adjustments on flour and milk, which creates a runnier batter. The cake has 20 layers. The crepe was significantly thinner, but I added too much cream this time. I also noticed that peaches rust easily, which also affected the overall texture. The peach flavour is subtle, even with the use of 3 full peaches.
Third Trial: Peach Mille Crepe Cake
On my last trial, I made a Peach Mille Crepe Cake. I removed the tea component and focused on the peaches. I lower the flour amount, even more, to create a batter with a low viscosity. This cake is at least 2x thinner than my initial cake, with also 20 layers. The crepe is so thin that you can see through my fingers. I used peaches in every component of the cake as well, including the peach skin. This gives the peach jelly a natural pastel pink colour. I also put a thin coating of the syrup on the peach pieces to prevent rusting.
Tips & Notes for Making a Successful Mille Crepe Cake on the First Attempt:
- Prepare the following before making the crepe: 1 glove (the translucent one would be best), a silicone spatula, a flat, non-stick pan, a 1/4 measuring cup, a cold damp towel, and an oil brush (optional).
You will be touching the burning hot crepes a lot, so a glove, on one hand, will make the touching-the-crepe process less painful. I used a 24 cm in diameter flat, non-stick pan, so I used a 1/4 measuring cup to measure my batter amount. I recommend doing a trial run to see what size of measuring cup works best for your pan. The cold damp towel is to cool down your pan that you can place your pan on top of the towel every 3-5 crepes. Oil brush is optional, but it allows you to spread a thin layer of oil evenly. Excessive oil will make the crepe surface oily, and you would have to throw it away.
- Make sure to preheat your pan on low heat. A perfect batter would start to solidify the moment you pour into the pan. So keeping the pan at low heat will allow you to pour back the excessive batter into the bowl while cooking the crepe. This is one key tip to creating the thinnest crepe.
- I highly recommend preparing the crepe batter night before, so it has enough time to rest in the fridge. Otherwise, rest it for at least one hour. It helps to create a thicker consistency to the batter, which helps prevent the crepe from breaking.
Purple Yam Mille Crepe Cake
Equipment
- Cold Damp Towel
- Oil Brush
- Sieve
Ingredients
Crepe Batter
- 1 purple yam approx. 250g, mashed
- 4 large eggs
- 30 g sugar
- 55 g unsalted butter melted
- 190 g all-purpose flour
- 550 mL milk
- 2 g salt
Cream Filling
- 400 mL whipping cream
- 30 g sugar
- 50 g mashed purple yam
Instructions
To prepare the Crepe Batter:
- In a saucepan, heat milk until steam starts coming out. Remove from heat.
- Add mashed purple yam into the milk. Mix until combine. Set aside to cool.
- In a large metal bowl, add eggs and sugar. Whisk until the color turns white-ish, and it becomes frothy.
- Add melted butter into the egg mixture. Make sure the melted butter is at a lukewarm temperature, otherwise, it will cook the egg mixture when combining.
- Sift the all-purpose flour and salt into the mixture. Mix until just combine. Overmixing it would cause a rubbery texture.
- Add the milk mixture into the batter, 1/3 at a time. Mix until combine before pouring more.
- Prepare another metal bowl. Run the batter through a sieve to ensure a smooth batter.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour or best overnight.
To Cook the Crepe:
- Set a 10-inch non-stick frying pan on low heat. Once the pan is hot, brush the oil and remove the excess with a paper towel.
- Stir the batter right before scooping with a 1/4 measuring cup. Feel free to check out a quick tutorial below for steps 10-13.
- Lift the pan from the heat and pour the batter into the pan. Swirl your pan slowly, so the batter is just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Pour the excessive batter from the pan into the batter bowl.
- Cook for 2 minutes without touching. You can see the outside edge of the crepe gets crispy, and the crepe itself starts bubbling. Use a silicone spatula and your hand to flip the crepe.
- Cook the other side for 20 seconds and transfer to a working surface or large plate lined with plastic wrap.
- Repeat steps 10 to 13 until all the batter is used. After making every 3-4 crepes, you can place the hot frying pan onto a cold towel to cool down the pan a bit. With this batter, I can make about 20 crepes.
- Set the crepes aside to cool down.
To Prepare Cream Filling:
- Pour whipping cream and sugar into a large metal bowl. Whisk until soft peak.
- Add the mashed purple yam, 1/3 at the time. Continue to whisk until combine.
- Once all mashed purple yam is added, whisk the cream until medium-stiff.
To Assemble:
- Use a 6-inch round mold or bowl, place on the crepes to cut the edges, in which the crepe is perfectly the same size. This step, however, is optional.
- On a working surface or large plate lined with a large piece of plastic wrap (it needs to be big enough to wrap the cake fully), place the first slice of crepe. You may want to set aside the prettiest-looking crepe for the top.
- Put the purple yam cream in the middle and spread evenly. The cream should not be too thick – I would suggest the cream thickness is just perfectly covering the crepe, so you don’t see the crepe itself.
- Place another crepe on top and spread the cream evenly. Continue this process until the last crepe is placed on top.
- You can simply clean the excessive cream from the edges using a metal spatula.
- Wrap the mille crepe with the plastic wrap fully. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Trial three really looks elegant.
Thank you so much! ?
[…] making an Ombré Hojicha & Matcha Mille Crepe Cake. After all those unsuccessful attempts on my Purple Yam Mille Crepe Cake, I finally got the hang of it. This is a triple-layer mille crepe cake, which is comprised of […]
I bought a gadget to make crepes fast and easy and I harvested our purple sweet potatoes. Your purple yam mille crepe cake was my first attempt using the new gadget. I made 2 cakes at the same time. We had so much trimmings from 2 cakes so I put whip cream on top and we ate the trimmings first. They turned out light and fluffy and not too sweet. Absolutely delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’ll try your Ombré Hojicha & Matcha Mille Crepe Cake next.
Yay! I am so glad to hear this – so glad you guys like my recipe!
Could you replace the purple yam with ube extract or something? If so, how much?
I would not recommend replacing purple yam with extract, because the purple yam not only gives the beautiful purple color and flavor, but also that texture.