French Crêpe Cake

Crêpes are now one of the most famous French desserts, and can be filled with anything. This dessert is crêpes stacked one on top of the other and homemade chocolate sauce in between each layer. It is a classic French dessert and originated in the 1800s, in Brittany, France. Many people look at it as a really thin pancake or a galette, which is really similar to a crêpe. There are many different forms of crêpes as well, such as the crêpes sucrées (sweet crêpes), the Mille crêpe (thousand layer crêpe cake), and the crêpes salées (savory galette).

The crêpe I have chosen to make and research it a homemade chocolate Mille crêpe. To make the crêpes for the cake, I began with one and one half cups of flour, three fourths teaspoon of salt, on third cup of granulated sugar (I used the Splenda), six eggs, two cups of whole milk, five tablespoons of melted butter, and one tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar (Splenda). First thing I did was I combined the flour, salt and granulated sugar (Splenda) in a bowl. I then whisked the eggs into the combination of flour, granulated sugar (Splenda), and salt for about three minutes. Then I slowly added the milk and butter to it, still whisking. I whisked until the batter was smooth and then I let the batter sit for twenty minutes. While my batter was sitting, I heated a nonstick skilled to medium-high heat. Once the batter had sat for twenty minutes, I added three tablespoons of batter to the now heated skillet and cooked until the edges and bottom were golden brown, which was about thirty seconds-one minute.

Then I flipped the crêpe and cooked the other side until it, too, was golden brown, which took approximately twenty seconds. Once the crêpe was golden brown on both sides, I put it on a plate and covered it with wax paper. I continued to cook the crêpes the exact same way for all seven crêpes. Then, I made a homemade chocolate sauce with one half cup of two percent milk, one half cup of dark chocolate chips, and one tablespoon of butter. I mixed the milk and chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl, then put them in the microwave for one minute. Then I took them out and whisked them until they were well combined and smooth. I then added the butter and stirred it in until the butter had melted and the sauce was smooth again. Once the chocolate sauce was finished, I transferred one crêpe to my serving plate and then spread chocolate sauce very thinly on top of the crêpe. I repeated this until I had gotten to the last crêpe to stack on top. I did not add any sauce to the top of this final crêpe, but sprinkled confectioners’ sugar on top.

The nutritional information for my Mille crêpe cake is approximately three hundred calories, ninety grams of fat, one hundred fifty grams of sodium, one hundred thirty-six grams of carbohydrates, twenty-three grams of protein, and 200 grams of sugar. This is not a relatively healthy dessert to eat, but it was a delicious dessert to eat. I absolutely loved this dessert, as did my dad and grandma. It did not cost me very much to make this dessert, as most of the items used are common items that people keep on a daily basis, such as eggs and milk, and in the end cost me about fifteen dollars . But for someone to buy all of the ingredients, it would cost approximately thirty-five to forty dollars. I do not believe that it is worth the money to make this dish, as it turned out entirely too sweet, very messy, and looks horrible. Only one piece cut looked good, and that was the very first piece cut. The rest of it looked horrible, and needless to say, it looked nothing like the picture.

The history of crêpes is a very interesting history. They were derived from Brittany, France, and are used to celebrate 2 février (2 February), which is La Chandeleur, and celebrates the return of light (spring) form their darkened, winter days. They were originated and generally eaten in southern Brittany, France, with cane sugar or with fruit inside of them. They were very thin and large in diameter. As more and more people began to visit southern Brittany, the idea of crêpes began to expand. They eventually died down, but hit a revival here lately, and demands have sky-rocketed. Many cultures have adapted crêpes into their own society, creating their own version of the French crêpes, such as in America, there is the “Bodybuilder crêpe”, in Mexico, there are “filloas”, and in Italy, they are called “crepsella”. Also, it has more than French influence, as it can be filled with anything, including American chocolate.

There is also a dish called the “galette” which is prepared much differently from a crêpe, as originated from two different locations, though many people confuse the galette with the crêpe. The galette was originated and served in Northern Brittany, France, whereas the crêpe was originated and served in Southern Brittany. The difference between galettes and crêpes are that galettes are only cooked on one side and are normally cut into thin slices; whereas crêpes are cooked on both sides until they are browned and slightly crispy.

It could also be looked at like a taco. Crêpes can be filled with anything, such as bacon bits, ham, sausage, and even fruits, and can be rolled up like a taco. It is just that the crêpe can have anything in it, not just lettuce, cheese, and hamburger meat, which is the normal things inside of a taco.