Sky Crepe Cake
Sky Crepe Cake, naturally blue via butterfly blue pea flowers. I’ve always been fascinated by crepes and a crepe cake takes this culinary wonder to the next level. Crepes have origins in 13th-century Brittany, France that traditionally use buckwheat flour. Here I just used all purpose flour infused with butterfly blue pea powder, naturally coloring the batter and the cream light blue. Not too sweet, light n airy with a cute sky design.
Recipe
MAKES: one 9-inch cake which can feed up to 20 people
INGREDIENTS: makes about 35 crepes
9 Tablespoons (129g) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan (about 50g) more
3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
1.5 tablespoon butterfly blue pea powder
3 tablespoon (37g) granulated sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
2.25 cups (540ml) whole milk, at room temperature
1.5 cup (360ml) water, at room temperature
6 large eggs, at room temperature
4.5 tablespoons (58g) vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
Melt butter in a 9" non-stick skillet. Let cool. on the stove. Cool for about 5 minutes before using in the next step. The remaining butter is for the skillet.
Combine the cooled melted butter, flour, butterfly pea powder, sugar, salt, milk, water, eggs, and vanilla in a larger bowl or blender. Using an immersion hand blender, blend batter until it is silky-smooth and the texture of cream. If you don’t have a blender or food processor, use a large mixing bowl and whisk by hand until everything is combined. Cover the bowl or blender and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 1 day.
Cook the crepes: Use the remaining butter for greasing the pan between each crepe. Place a 9-inch skillet over medium heat and generously grease it with some of the reserved butter. Once the skillet is hot, quickly pour 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Tilt/twirl the pan so the batter stretches to cover the pan completely, you are aiming for as thin of a crepe as possible. Cook for 1–2 minutes, then flip as soon as the bottom is set. Cook the other side for 30 seconds until set. Transfer the cooked crepe to a large plate and repeat with the remaining batter, making sure to butter the pan between every couple of crepes. Repeat with the remaining batter, until you have about 30-35 crepes. Be prepared- this could take hours!
Let the crepes cool and make your whipped cream.
For the whipped cream filling:
- 8 cups (1,920g) heavy cream (2 containers)
- 3/4-1 (175g-200g) cup granulated sugar
-1 tablespoon butterfly pea powder
-4 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a large kitchen aid mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and butterfly pea powder until soft peaks form.
Assemble the cake: Swipe the serving plate with a bit of whipped cream then place a crepe on top to secure the cake to the plate. Spread a layer of whipped cream on top. Repeat this process, alternating between crepes and whipped cream layers, until you reach the desired height.
Tips:
Resting the batter in the fridge is crucial for the right texture and makes it easier to cook the crepes. The starch in the flour will absorb the liquid to make a more viscous batter.
Use a NONSTICK skillet. There's no need to grease in between batches and it makes flipping the crepes so much easier.
I found best results pouring the crepe batter with a 1/3 measuring cup directly into the center of the pan and then quickly swirling the pan around so the batter covers the entire surface of the pan.
Spread the whipped filling all the way to the edges to seal the crepes together.
This recipe is not too sweet. If you like desserts very sweet, then I suggest adding more granulated sugar to the whipped cream.
You can use more or less butterfly pea powder in the whipped cream so it's a darker or lighter color, I suggest adding 1 teaspoon at a time while mixing.
I made little whipped cream clouds on the surface of my cake. Just make a 1/4 cup portion of the whipped cream without butterfly pea powder and use an offset spatula to paint the little white clouds.
Decorate the cake with edible flowers- here I used edible feverfew from the farmers market.
