Chocoalte Eclair Crepe Cake

When looking for a dessert recipe to make for our olympics party, I came across this chocolate eclair crepe cake I had pulled from my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. I have always wanted to make crepes but had always strayed away since you need to serve them hot most of the time and that is a lot of work when guests are over. Since you made this cake ahead of time this would be the perfect opportunity to try my hand at crepes. They were so much fun to make! And not near as hard as I thought they would be. This cake tasted great and it really did taste like an eclair! The pastry cream was absolutely divine! You could definitely just make this crepe recipe on it's own with other fillings, or use the pastry cream as a filling for something else, because they definitely taste great on their own.

I did learn a couple of things for the next time I make this cake: I will cook each crepe for a bit longer so it's crispier because I had a bit of trouble with my cake falling over (it fell over twice and I had to reassemble it-haha). Also, the original recipe says to spread 1/3 cup pastry cream on each layer but next time I will just use a 1/4 cup because I also think that played into it trying to fall over. I put skewers in the cake and it set with no problem after the fall and reassembly, though. Hope you enjoy!

Chocolate Eclair Crepe Cake

Source: Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

For Crepe Batter:

2 cups flour
2 cups milk
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

For Pastry Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/4 cups milk

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract

For Chocolate Topping:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3 tbsp. water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:

For Crepe Batter:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 2 cups flour, 2 cups milk, 4 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth; refrigerate.

For Pastry Cream:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, remaining 1 1/4 cups milk, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 pinch salt. Cook over medium heat until steaming, 2 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 eggs and 1/2 cup sugar, then whisk in the remaining 2/3 cup flour until smooth. Gradually whisk half of the hot cream mixture into the flour-egg mixture, then whisk into the remaining cream mixture. Cook, whisking, over medium heat until thick, about 2 minutes; stir in the rum and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla. Scrape the pastry cream into a bowl and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Making the Crepes:

In an 8-inch crêpe pan or nonstick skillet, spray with cookinging spray and place over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 cup chilled crêpe batter and swirl to coat the pan. Cook until set on the bottom, about 1 minute; flip and cook for about 30 seconds more. Turn out onto a rack to cool. Repeat with the spray and remaining batter to make 10 crêpes.

Assembling the cake:

Place a crêpe on a cake stand or flat plate; spread 1/4 cup pastry cream on top. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and pastry cream, ending with a crêpe. Refrigerate.

For Chocolate Topping:

In a medium saucepan, whisk the chocolate, 3 tablespoons water, the corn syrup and 2 teaspoons butter over medium-low heat until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes, then spread on top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days before slicing.