Decadent Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake filled with luxurious hazelnut pastry creme and finished off with a thick chocolate sauce!!
This Post has been updated with new pictures on June 11th 2020.
This Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake! Yumm!!
This is one of the best cakes I have made in a long time or should I say this is the best crepe cake I have made ever. It is so flipping good that I already made it twice in a week and still heart desires more. This cake recipe comes from the amazing Deb from Smitten Kitchen’s first cookbook. I have never met her or anything but I believe if someone can make a cake as delicious as this, that person gotta be super sweet themselves! I have been a big fan of Deb’s work for quite sometime now and recently when I purchased a discounted copy of her cookbook at anthropologie (I absolutely love the sale section at anthro for that matter!), my happiness knew no bounds. Since then I have bookmarked like tons of recipes which I have been wanting to try but something or else kept on hindering my plans.
Now finally I was able to make my first recipe from her cookbook and I must say that she is a great cook and a great instructor too. Her cookbook comes with super easy instructions. If you have never baked a cake or if you are not really into cooking that much for that matter, she will make you feel at home by her simple writing and simple steps.
Soft crepes layered with delicious rich hazelnut cream and then topped off with a silky chocolate sauce and chopped hazelnuts make something so grand and sinful that all you want to is eat this cake instead of main meals. Last night my mind was so much into eating this cake that I just couldn’t finish my dinner properly and had to get myself a big slice in the middle! Now that’s the power of a good cake!
I took photographs for almost an hour as I realized it’s freaking hard to shoot a cake!! After taking almost 100 shots of this cake, I ended up with few good ones and I just couldn’t resist adding them all here for you to see. Food photography is an art and I am still getting a hang of it. There is so much to learn and always it excites me to think of things I can do after I develop this skill. What do you think when it comes to food photography? Do you think it’s sensible to spend hours getting the right shot or you think its not worth all the extra hard work? I would love to know your views on this!
Apart from that, its almost weekend and I suggest you start planning on making this cake this weekend! So darn delicious!
Cake slice for breakfast with black coffee, anyone?!
- Crepes
- 4.5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup plus 2.5 tbsp whole milk (can use different fat levels too)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2+1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- Olive oil or butter for brushing skillet
- Hazelnut pastry creme
- 1/2 cup + 2.5 tbsp hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 tsp hazelnut liqueur (optional. I couldn’t find any so I left this)
- Pinch of salt
- 1.5 cups + 2.5 Tbsp whole milk
- 3.5 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2.5 large egg yolks
- 2.5 tbsp cornstarch
- Chocolate Draping
- 3 ounces about 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
- 3 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (optional)
- In a small pot, heat butter on medium-low heat. Once all melted, let it continue to cook until all the foam dies, it turns clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Keep a very close eye as during this stage it takes a matter of seconds to make it burn.Keep stirring it at this point. Once done take it off heat and let it cool.
- In a blender jar, add milk,eggs,flour,salt,sugar and 3 tbsp of that cooled melted browned butter. Blend it all until smooth. Cover using a plastic wrap and chill it in refrigerator for good 1 hour or upto 2 days.
- In a skillet, add the hazelnuts and toast them on medium-high flame. Keep stirring them in between. Toast until they achieve slight colour but make sure they do not burn.Once done, let them cool. Once bearable to touch, roll them few at a time between your palms and take out as much skin as possible. It’s fine if some skin is left on hazelnuts.
- In a food processor, add 1/2 cup of these toasted hazelnuts, sugar, liqueur and salt. Keep the machine running until you achieve a powder like look which starts to come together in damp looking crumbs which combine in small clumps. Stop at that stage. If you keep running the food processor more, it will start to turn into hazelnut butter which we DON’T want.
- In a medium size pot, add this hazelnut paste,milk and sugar and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat. Keep stirring it in between so it doesn’t scorch. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Take that hazelnut milk off the stove.Add few 3-4 tbsps of this milk mix one tbsp at a time into yolk mix and keep stirring it continously so eggs dont cook. This will help in making the egg mix slighlty warmer. Now transfer this egg mix into the pot of hot milk mix but keep whisking it continously until combined. Transfer it to the stove and cook it for another 2-4 mins whisking all the time until it reaches a slightly thick pudding like consistency.Add the remaining browned butter and whisk until evenly mixed. Transfer into a bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap touching the top of this custard to prevent skin formation and chill until cold.
- ***** NOW GRAB A GLASS OF WINE because you will need it while making TONS of crepes!
- Preheat a medium (9″) or small (4″) skillet. I used 9″ skillet the first time and second time to get a taller looking cake, I used a small skillet.
- Once heated, brush the skillet with little oil or butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter (for 9″ skillet size) or 3/4 of 1/4 cup for 4″ size skillet. As soon as your pour the batter, swirl the batter around to let it coat the skillet evenly. Cook on medium-high for 1-2 minutes until sides start to turn darker in colour and pull away. At this point, you can either use your fingers or wide spatula. Pull the crepe from ons side and flip. If it feels too hot, take the skillet away from the stove and sometimes I like to wet my fingers so I feel not to hot while flipping the crepe. Flip and let it cook on medium-low heat for 5-10 seconds. Transfer on a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat and keep piling up the crepes. Keep them covered. Don’t worry as first 1-2 crepes might not turn out good or you might not be able to flip them. It’s totally normal. Just throw those 1-2 initial crepes and continue. By 3rd or 4th crepe, you will get the hang of it!
- On a cake stand or plate, place one crepe and smear with hazelnut pastry cream using an offset spatula or butter knife works great too.Place second crepe on top and keep repeating the process until you are left with the last crepe which will act as the lid. Do not add cream on the top most crepe.
- Let it chill until you make chocolate sauce.
- Bring heavy cream and hazelnut liqueur to a boil. Add to the chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir until all the chocolate melts.
- Remove the chilled crepe cake from refrigerator. Pour the chocolate sauce on top and spread using your spatula. Garnish with the remaining leftover hazelnuts.
More Cake Recipes:
- CHOCOLATE OREO CAKE – Such a fun cake!
- NO BAKE ORANGE ECLAIR CAKE – Perfect cake for summer entertaining!!
- BEST SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE – Simple chocolate cake for anytime!
I love the idea of making a cake out of crepes. It looks beautiful!
Thanks Cindy!
I’ve never made crepes before, and I’m definitely going to have to now! Thanks!
Yes do it Christina!! You will love it.
That cake looks amazing! I love all those beautiful layers 🙂
Thanks Ashley!
Mmmmm … this is one of those recipes that has got my mouth watering at breakfast-time, Ami!
I think you’ve done really well with the photos. Food photography is much harder than anyone would think, isn’t it? My biggest challenge is always getting the right light, and I’m sure that’s going to be an even bigger challenge now that I’ve moved back to the UK where it’s super dark in winter. Anyway, I think you’re doing the right thing for sure. Practice makes perfect!
So true Helen, practice practice is the secret!! Wow UK must be fun!
This cake looks gorgeous! I’ve never made a cake with crepes before – love this idea 🙂
Do it Kelly! You will love it!
Well, this is my first view of a crepe cake and I love it! So delicious, just want to dig right in. However, it’s a no on the black coffee, hehe. Cream for me please. Or tea. Tea with the cake would be perfect for that afternoon slump we all get in!!
Laura even I am into milky coffee and tea these days!! Sounds heavenly!
This is so beautiful! Love all the amazing layers.
Thanks Angie!
These crepes look incredible, Ami! What a delicious flavor, too! Love that you made this into a cake!
Thanks Gayle!
Omg! They look amazing. I want to eat them all.
Thanks girl!
ohmygosh this cake is gorgeous! It looks so insanely delicious – I am dying over that chocolate sauce!!
Thanks Cate for your lovely comment!
Oh heavens, this cake look absolutely amazing! How beautiful. I would LOVE a slice right now. YUM!
Thanks Amy!! Come over!
I will be dreaming of this for days… Until I make it! Which should be soon, hopefully!
I hope you make this Olivia!! I am sure you will love it!
Looks super amazing! I love crepes and with hazelnut cream I can only imagine how delicious it would be!
Thanks Manali!
Chocolate-hazelnut is a great combination! Wonderful idea pairing it with crepes! Delicious!
Thanks Mira!
My little man loves crepes, but never thought to stack them into a cake. He would totally love this, especially given all that luscious chocolate glaze on top. Great idea!
Thanks Oana!
Breakfast food? I decided it most definitely is and has inspired this mornings breakfast! YUM!
Awww what kind you made?? Thanks for stopping by though!
The cake is stunning! Chocolate + hazelnuts = LOVE! Perfect combo.
I thinking working on food photography is one of the most important things to do as a blogger. Pinterest is the #1 referral source for food blogs, and there are so many beautiful photos on there, you have to work hard to compete! I spend my summer break (teacher) really working on my photography, and I’ve seen a huge growth in my recipes being pinned and repinned. Plus, I just love looking back and seeing how far I’ve come! I still take 100+ photos with each recipe because I just never trust they will be good enough! Practice makes perfect, right??
Totally agreed!! Everytime I take more than 100 photos and sadly I end up liking only 5-6!! It’s tough but fun!
What a wonderful idea! This crepe cake sounds wonderful 🙂
Thanks Ceara!
That cake looks completely wonderful. I never would have thought of hazelnut filling. Also, I am not a photographer myself so can’t comment on the time/effort aspect, but as a reader, I have REALLY been enjoying your posts in recent months with the extra photos. They are all beautiful and worth pausing over. In this instance I particularly liked the folded over crepe in the pan and the cross section showing all the layers. Thanks!
Erin thanks for this wonderful comment!!
Hi I am making this recipe and I am having a hard time understanding the instructions. At #2 you say add the sugar so my questions is which sugar??? #3 add the browned butter??! Which browned butter? I don’t see it in the ingredients ? Hopefully I am lucky and you will answer me pretty quick so I can finish making the recipe
FOR MAKING CREPE BATTER you will be using ingredients under CREPES since for crepes we will make crepe batter if that makes sense.
Ok so first brown butter..Hope you are following the recipe step by step..so as it shows first we are making crepe batter and there step 1 is making BROWN BUTTER.
Step 2 in making crepe batter is adding milk, eggs, flour,salt, sugar as mentioned under crepes (1/4 cup) and 3 TBSP OF THAT BROWN BUTTER WE JUST MADE!
Thanks again Amishi for your help. I did go to the 1st pat of the instructions and see that I am supposed to save some of the browned butter to add to the custard. Doing just the custard part today I missed that step so my bad. In the end I added 1tbs of butter to the custard so hopefully it will be ok.