Birthday Cake #1 - Mille Crepe Cake with Chocolate Ganache

This Mille Cake was a birthday cake I made for my nephew who turned 11-year old on 20th September. It is a cake formed with layers of thin crepes, filled with milo-buttercream and covered with chocolate ganache.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell from the photo below, cake decoration is clearly not my forte. I was so embarrassed to bring out the cake from the box that evening and actually blaming myself inside me for  volunteering to bake him the birthday cake.

 

 

 

 

But fortunately, appearence aside, the cake was delicious. All the children and adults at home enjoyed the un-usual cake very much. This is the first time they have seen and eaten a mille crepe cake. Mum said it is like eating the layered nonya kuih (九层糕) and my girl said it is like kuih lapis. My little 4-year old nephew gave me 300% for it. LOL. Most importantly, the Birthday Boy enjoyed the cake very much and even asked for second helping which is unusual for him to do so as he was never a cake lover. I felt comforted from their comments as well as their requests for second serving. They had made my hours spent flipping and turning the pan to  make the individual thin tissue-like crepes late into the night all worthwhile.

 

 

Mille Crepe Cake with Chocolate Ganache

 

A) The Crepes

(adapted from this crepes cake recipe):

 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cake flour (75g)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (about 85g)
• 2 cups warm milk

 

Methods:

1. Sift flour and sugar together into a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk eggs together. Gently stir in flour mixture until smooth. Stir in butter. Slowly stir in milk until just blended with the consistency of light cream – do not over mix.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest for at least 1 hour.
4. Rub bottom of an 8-inch nonstick pan with canola oil and wipe out excess with a paper towel.
5. Place over medium heat. Ladle in about 4 tablespoons of batter into the center of the pan.
6. Gently swirl the pan immediately to let the batter spread out evenly to cover the surface of the pan.
7. Cook until browned, about 20 seconds.  Flip the crepe over to cook the other side (either lift the crepe with a spatula or throw the crepe into the air to turn it over - this is fun but be prepared for mishap!)
8. Cook the other side for about 10 seconds and slide the cooked crepe onto a plate.
9. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.
10. I used paper towels to absorb the excess oil from each pieces of the crepe and stack them up together neatly. Wrapped up in plastic film and refrigerated until ready to assemble (I kept them over night).

 

Makes about 20 - 25 crepes.

 
 

B) Milo-Buttermilk

(Adapted from a cake recipe that I chanced upon, author unknown)

 

Ingredients:

• 100g unsalted butter
• 100g sweet condensed milk
• 1 packet 3-in-1 instant milo powder

 

Methods:

Cream butter until pale and fluffy. Add in condensed and milo, mixed well. Keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

  

 

C) Chocolate Ganache, adapted from joyofbaking

 

Ingredients:

• 113g semisweet chocolate chips
• 90 ml whipping cream
• 14g unsalted butter

 

Methods:

1. Place the chocolate chips in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil.
3. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
4. Whisk gently until chocolate melted and turned into a smooth ganache.
5. Leave it to cool down slightly before pouring over the cake.

 

Finally, assembling the cake:

1. Place first crepe on a plate. Spread a thin layer of buttercream evenly over the top.
2. Lay second crepe on top. Repeat the spreading and stacking steps until all crepes are used up.
3. Wrap the crepecake with plastic film and place it in the fridge to let the frosting set. About 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the chocolate ganache.
4. Put a iron rack in a shallow baking tray lined with aluminium foil (to catch the dripping ganache). Place the crepe cake on the iron rack.
5. Pour the cooled ganache onto the center of the cake. Spread the ganache with a large metal spatula to push the ganache over the sides of the cake for a smooth and even coating.
6. Serve the cake immediately. If you are not serving it immediately, chill it in the fridge. Let the cake sit out at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.