Got leftover crepes? Layer them with some dark chocolate pastry cream, whipped cream and strawberries and you have a wonderful Chocolate Strawberry Crepe Cake.

A few weeks ago I made some Grand Marnier crepes. They were delicious but there were a lot of them and only one of me so I looked around for something to do with the leftovers. I saw a recipe for a crepe cake that had vanilla pastry cream between the layers. It looked easy but it wasn’t chocolate and that had to change.

Layering crepes and pastry cream is simple enough but getting the crepe to cream ratio down was more difficult. I started with the original recipe amounts for the vanilla cake.

The cake was flat and was mostly crepe – not nearly enough chocolate for my tastes. The original recipe also called for coating the top with turbinado sugar and torching it (like a creme brulee). I don’t have a torch so I tried the old broiler method with not such stellar results.

I decided to double the amount of pastry cream and top with strawberries and whipped cream. So much easier than sticking the cake under a broiler and hoping for the best. Then I thought, why not have a layer of strawberries and whipped cream in the center? I love the contrast and the flavor is out of this world.

Santa Barbara Chocolate sent me some of their wonderful dark chocolate so this cake is not too sweet. You can also use dark chocolate chips or chop up a dark chocolate bar or semi-sweet chocolate chips.

If you want to save some time, you can substitute Cool Whip for the “stabilized whipped cream.” I also froze my cake before slicing it so the slices would come out easier but chilling over night also works. Chocolate Strawberry Crepe Cake freezes well so you can make it ahead for special occasions.

Chocolate Strawberry Crepe Cake

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Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 30 minutes

Additional Time 8 hours

Total Time 9 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 11 crepes (I used Grand Marnier crepes)
• 1 pound sliced strawberries

Chocolate Pastry Cream

• 8 egg yolks
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 6 tablespoons vanilla pudding mix or flour
• 2 ¾ cup dark chocolate chips (I used Santa Barbara Chocolate dark chocolate disks)
• 4 cups milk
• ¼ cup butter

Stabilized Whipped Cream

• 1 cup whipping cream
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 2 tablespoons hot water, 1 tablespoon cold water

Instructions

Chocolate Pastry cream

1. In a medium bowl beat egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow.
2. Add the cocoa and pudding mix. transfer to a large saucepan and gradually stir in the milk.
3. Heat on medium high until scalding and add the chocolate chips and butter. Stir until completely mixed. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. The pastry cream should coat a spoon thickly.
4. Let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap sits directly on the pastry cream and refrigerate several hours until cool.

Stabilized whipped cream

1. Dissolve gelatin in hot water. Add cold water and vanilla to bring the temperature down.
2. Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in gelatin mixture until thoroughly mixed.

Assemble the cake

1. Place a crepe in the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan.
2. Top with a layer of chocolate pastry cream. Then top with another crepe.
3. Repeat 4 times and then make a strawberry whipped cream layer. Spread half the stabilized whipped cream on top of the 5th crepe then top with a layer of sliced strawberries.
4. Top with another crepe. Then continue alternating layers of chocolate pastry cream and crepes until you get to your last crepe.
5. Top with the final crepe. Spread the rest of the stabilized whipped cream on top and then top with sliced strawberries.
6. Refrigerate overnight.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 421Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 169mgSodium: 159mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 3gSugar: 20gProtein: 9g

Nutrition information is provided as a guide only. Please consult a dietician for specific dietary needs.