Crepe cakes have to be the most humble showstopping dessert out there. Thin crepes sandwich creamy frosting, with more than a dozen layers. It may look simple from the outside, but cutting reveals the full beauty inside It is the dessert to impress, both in taste and uniqueness. We start with rich, bittersweet chocolate crepes. They’re thin and delicious and begging to be doused in something sweet. Spread between each crepe is a layer of silky vegan cream, whipped to soft peaks. It took 5 crepe cakes and 2 years to bring you this recipe. But I promise it was well worth the wait! Each crepe cake I made was better than the last, before finally making the cake of my dreams! The trickiest part about this recipe was figuring out what to use for the filling. I tried an aquafaba meringue like filling, whipped coconut cream, and even a cream cheese filling before settling on this version. The whipped filling is creamy, light tasting, not overly sweet with a hint of whiskey. The crepes are also only lightly sweetened, and made with stout (beer can be substituted and whiskey left out if you don’t use alcohol) for extra depth of chocolatey flavor.
How to make the chocolate beer crepes:
Crepes are quite easy to make. Simply put, you blend all the ingredients in a blender, then stick the batter in the fridge for at least an hour before making the crepes. For the liquids in the batter we have your choice of plant milk (I’m a soy or oat milk gal myself) plus a dark beer like a stout (substitute sparkling water or more non-dairy milk). For the flour use a combination of all purpose and chickpea flour. Then we add cocoa powder for the chocolate, a bit of sugar to sweeten, salt to balance, and tapioca starch to bind (you can substitute a different starch). If you’re curious about the ingredient choices or want to learn more about making crepes, read my Easy Vegan Crepes post, as I go into a bit of depth about the why and how of vegan crepes!
T0 make the crepes spread a thin layer on a non stick pan, you can either do this by rotating the pan or by using a crepe spreader (more about the equipment I use to follow). Cook the crepe over low heat, and once it starts to dry all over and the lacy edges peel upwards, loosen and release the edges with a thin spatula before sliding it under and flipping. Flipping crepes can take a bit of practice. You need the crepe to be cooked enough to flip without tearing, but if it starts to tear don’t stress. Just put it back, let it cook a little bit longer if needed, or just try flipping from another angle. If you have a crepe paddle then you can slide it under one edge of the crepe and then rotate it to lift the crepe off the pan section by section. If you do end up with tears they get covered by the filling. And other things, practice makes perfect so just keep going! Chocolate crepes are more difficult to tell the readiness to flip as you can’t watch for a golden color. I like to use a low heat and cook them slowly so that it does cook and not burn. Making the 16-ish crepes is not speedy, so put a podcast on or some good tunes, relax and enjoy yourself! It is well worth the effort.
Choosing the whipped cream filling:
For the filling we needed a light and stable cream. I wanted something that anyone with a blender could make, and didn’t want to fuss with finicky fillings. Because trust me, when you spend an hour making crepes you don’t want to question the cream to fill them with. I tried an aquafaba meringue and coconut cream filling, which was delicious and a little marshmallow-y in flavor, but finicky to make and had the downside that aquafaba meringue is not stable on its own for long periods of time. Plain whipped coconut cream could work but I needed multiple cans of the cream to make enough filling and run into the issue that it’s still rather wet and the crepe cake layers wanted to slide around. But when I came across this whipped cream recipe on Gretchen’s Vegan Bakery I knew I had found my answer and method. Generally speaking, we emulsify plant milk with refined coconut oil to make a thick cream, then whip it to very soft peaks.
How to make the whiskey whipped cream:
How this works is you blend warmed plant milk and melted refined coconut oil together. The transformation takes about 30 seconds on high speed, if your blender is not so powerful this could take longer. But you’ll watch it thicken and turn into cream, a bit like mayonnaise (as that is essentially what mayo is, an oil emulsion), but of course it doesn’t taste anything like mayo. I’m a big fan of using soy or oat milk but any creamy milk will work! Just avoid watery plant milks like rice milk. For the coconut oil I recommend using refined or expeller pressed coconut oil as it has a neutral flavor. If you want it to taste coconutty go ahead and use the unrefined stuff. While you’re blending the milk and oil, add some sugar, xanthan gum (which helps thicken and stabilize the cream), vanilla extract and whiskey. If you want it booze free then skip the whiskey. No need to substitute it or add more liquid. The cream is absolutely delicious at this point, it’s silky and lush in texture and lightly sweetened. I could eat it by the spoonful, but instead, stick it in the fridge overnight to chill. You can speed this up by putting it in the freezer, and stirring occasionally. Once it’s cold, you’ll have a thickened cream, though it’s still a bit liquidly. Whip the cream for several minutes until you get soft peaks. While you’ll see it does increase in volume, as written you won’t be able to turn the cream into thick whipped cream texture. But it’s fine, it’s perfect for the application we need to use it for! What you can expect is that the streaks left in the cream from whipping don’t instantly flood back into place, instead slowly doing so. Once your cream is whipped it’s ready to use! You can use immediately or stick it back in the fridge.
Assembling your vegan dark chocolate crepe cake:
You’ll want cold crepes and cold whipped cream to assemble. Start by putting one crepe down on a plate or large cardboard cake round. Then spread a thin layer of cream until it reaches close to the edge. It won’t look like a lot, but it all adds up between the layers! Layer a crepe on top of that and repeat until you use up your last crepe. Spread some cream on top, I like to leave a bit more space around the edge on this one, then sprinkle with shaved chocolate. If you want pretty large chocolate curls, follow these instructions or you can use a vegetable peeler on a bar of chocolate for fine curls. Warm the bar slightly to get slightly bigger curls. You can slice into the cake immediately, but for the cleanest cuts and easiest eating let it chill for a few hours. The cream firms and a little bit of it soaks into the crepes.
Equipment you’ll ideally want for making a crepe cake:
First you need a blender. Any blender should do the trick, I have an ancient Vitamix. I use a 10.5″ pan, and I wouldn’t recommend larger, but if you use a smaller pan you may need to use a bit less batter for each crepe and therefore make more crepes. You can spread the batter by rotating the pan in a circular motion to let the batter run around to the edges. I did this for a long time. But then I invested a little (like, under $20) in a crepe spreader and paddle and it really does make the job easier! If you don’t have a paddle you’ll want to use a offset spatula or maybe a butterknife. The full sized spatula is tricky to maneuver with crepes. And if you’re using a nonstick pan be careful about/don’t use metal! For whipping the cream, a handheld mixer works, or use a stand mixer and balloon attachment. Spread it with an offset spatula.
A helpful timeline for making the crepe cake:
And that’s it! I gave a lot of information that will hopefully help you tackle this cake! It might not be speedy but it’s easy and so worth the time! Who would have guessed that this vegan dark chocolate crepe cake would be so insanely good! I mean, I did, it’s chocolate and whipped cream and all the yummy things! You’ll find yourself going in for a snack, pre-dinner dessert, or second breakfast. I love that it’s not overly sweet, it makes it that much more satisfying! If you make this beautiful vegan dark chocolate crepe cake, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea. I love seeing your recreations! Make the cream: Assemble the cake: Recipe makes 16 crepes. Adapted from my Easy Vegan Crepes. Whipped Cream is adapted from Gretchen’s Vegan Bakery.
Lodge 10.5 Inch Cast Iron Griddle. Pre-seasoned Round Cast Iron Pan Perfect for Pancakes, Pizzas, and Quesadillas. ORIGINAL Crepe Spreader and Spatula Kit - 2 Piece Set (6” Spreader and 14” Spatula) Convenient Size to Fit Large Crepe Pan Maker | All Natural Beechwood Construction NOW real Food Xanthan Gum Powder, 6-Ounce Bobs Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour, 16 Ounce (Pack of 4) 365 Everyday Value, Organic Coconut Oil, 14 fl oz OXO Good Grips Offset Icing Spatula OXO Good Grips Offset Icing Spatula
