Passion Fruit Mille Crêpes Cake

You’ll need patience, control and organization to make and stack 18 individual crêpes in this cake recipe. But the result, a gorgeous ombré effect on each slice, is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Sometimes called gâteau de crêpes, a mille crêpes cake can have a multitude of flavours incorporated into it. This version has a fresh, tropical vibe thanks to punches of passion fruit in the crème légère, which sits between every crêpe, and in the gelée that tops the beautiful — albeit challenging — dessert.

Passion Fruit Mille Crêpes Cake was the Technical Bake in the Season 7 finale of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Passion Fruit Mille Crêpes Cake

Special Equipment

• 9 to 10-inch crêpe pan
• 13 to 14-inch non-stick pan
• Adjustable cake ring
• 12-by-36-inch sheet of acetate

Ingredients

Crêpe Batter:

• 3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 cups 3.25% milk, room temperature
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
• Orange and yellow food colouring

Passion Fruit Gelée:

• 6 sheets gelatin
• 1 cup passion fruit pulp
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

Passion Fruit Crème Légère:

• 175 g white chocolate
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, divided
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1½ cups 3.25% milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 cup passion fruit pulp
• 1 tsp passion fruit powder
• ½ cup (56 g) cornstarch
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
• 1 cup 35% cream, cold

Coconut Shortbread:

• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1¾ cup (250 g) all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (13 g) unsweetened shredded coconut

Decorations:

• 2 cups white candy melts
• Lustre dust

Assembly:

• Icing sugar, for dusting
• Dried currants
• Micro lemon balm
• Edible flowers

Preparation

Crêpe Batter:

Sift all the dry ingredients together into a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and water. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until smooth. Strain the batter through a sieve, then whisk in the melted butter.

Divide the batter evenly between four bowls. Add drops of food colouring to each bowl, increasing the intensity of colour as you go (the batters should range from pale yellow to dark orange — this will create an ombré effect when you stack your crêpes). Whisk the food colouring into the batter until no streaks remain, cover the bowls with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use.

Passion Fruit Gelée:

Place the gelatin sheets in enough cold water to cover and soak for 5 minutes. Line a 9-inch pie plate with plastic wrap.

Combine the passion fruit pulp, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and melt it into the passion fruit mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the gelée into the prepared pie plate and set aside.

Passion Fruit Crème Légère:

Place the white chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl and set aside.

Combine ½ cup sugar, the salt and the milk in a large saucepan set over medium heat. While the mixture comes to a low simmer, whisk together the egg yolks, passion fruit pulp, passion fruit powder, cornstarch and remaining ½ cup of sugar in a large bowl. 

Slowly add the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly (this will keep the eggs from cooking), then return it all to the saucepan. The mixture may look curdled; that’s OK. Bring the mixture to a low boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it has bubbled for 1 minute. The mixture will be very thick. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the butter. 

Strain the pastry cream through a sieve onto the white chocolate and mix to combine. Scrape the pastry cream onto a quarter sheet pan, smooth it out and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream. Chill in the fridge.

Coconut Shortbread:

Heat the oven to 325 F. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy using a hand mixer. Slowly add the flour and coconut, mixing until just combined. Spread the dough into the prepared baking pan and press to even out. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Allow the shortbread to cool in the pan.

Crêpes:

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Heat the crêpe pan over medium heat. Spray the pan lightly with cooking spray. Pour ⅓ cup of the darkest-coloured crêpe batter into the pan, swirling the pan to coat it evenly. Cook until the bottom of the crêpe is spotted and golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the crêpe and cook for another 30 seconds (you want all the steam to escape from the crêpe before you remove it from the pan). Turn the crêpe out onto the prepared sheet pan to cool. Repeat the process to make four more dark crêpes, separating them with layers of parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Repeat the process with the second-darkest batter, but this time, make four crêpes. Continue with the second-lightest batter, again, making four crêpes. Finally, repeat the process using the lightest-coloured batter to make four crêpes. Be sure to reserve the remaining lightest-coloured batter for the next step (the other leftover batters can be discarded or used to make extra crêpes).

Heat the large non-stick pan over medium heat. Spray the pan lightly with cooking spray. Ladle in the reserved lightest-coloured batter to cover the entire bottom; you want a large, thin crêpe (it will get wrapped around the stack of smaller crêpes when the cake is assembled). When the crêpe is cooked on both sides, remove it from the pan and transfer it to parchment paper to cool. 

Passion Fruit Crème Légère:

Place the cold heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until medium peaks form, about 5 minutes. While the cream is whipping, scrape the chilled passion fruit pastry cream into a large bowl and whisk until smooth. 

When the whipped cream is ready, gently fold it into the passion fruit pastry cream using a large rubber spatula. Fill a large piping bag fitted with a medium round tip with about 1 cup of crème légère and chill until ready to use. Reserve and chill the remaining crème légère for later use. 

Assembly:

Place two large pieces of plastic wrap in a criss-cross formation on your work surface. Place the large crêpe on top and brush the surface with cornstarch.

Trim one of the small lightest-coloured crêpes into a 7-inch round. Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of the reserved crème légère (about 3 tablespoons) on top, spreading it all the way to the edges. Place it cream-side up in the centre of the large crêpe. Repeat the process with the remaining lightest crêpes, then with the four second-lightest crêpes, the four second-darkest crêpes, and finally, four of the darkest crêpes (you’ll have one dark crêpe left over). Top the stack with a final layer of crème légère. 

Trim your remaining dark crêpe into a 5½-inch round and place it on top of the crêpe stack; this will leave a border of crème légère exposed, which will act as a glue. Lift the edges of the largest crêpe up and around the stack, then press the edges down onto the exposed cream to seal. Wrap the cake in the plastic wrap to help it keep its shape. Place it seam-side up in a medium glass bowl and chill until ready to use. 

Decorations:

Lift the gelée out of the pie plate using the plastic wrap. Cut some gelée into small cubes and circles, and set aside (you will have gelée left over).

Remove the cake from the fridge, unwrap it and place a cake board on top (against the seam). Gently flip the cake over so that the seam is on the bottom. Brush the cake with cornstarch. 

Using an adjustable cake ring, measure a ring size that fits around the cake but leaves about ½ inch of space between the cake and the ring. Set the measured cake ring aside, loosely cover the cake in plastic wrap and return it to the fridge.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave according to the package instructions. Dip a paring knife in the candy melts and press it onto a piece of acetate to create small abstract leaves (reserve the leftover candy melts for later use). Once the leaves have set, remove them from the acetate, brush them with lustre dust and chill until ready to use.

Measure and cut a piece of acetate to fit inside your measured cake ring. Lay it flat on your work surface and apply strips of masking tape lengthwise across the acetate, leaving an approximate 2-inch-thick strip exposed. 

Spread the reserved candy melts onto the exposed acetate (reheating them in the microwave if they’ve started to set). Remove the tape to reveal a neat, straight edge and position the acetate along the inside of the measured cake ring. Chill until the cake collar is firm and set.

Final Assembly:

Take the cake out of the fridge, brush off the cornstarch and dust with a generous layer of icing sugar.

Once the cake collar is firm and set, place the cake ring around the cake. Carefully remove the cake ring and acetate. 

Pipe a few dollops of crème légère in a crescent formation on top of the cake. Crumble some of the coconut shortbread, then place it on top of the crème légère and around the cake collar in a decorative manner. Garnish with gelée cubes, candy melt leaves, currants, lemon balm and edible flowers, using the photo above as a guide if desired.

Makes one crêpe cake