A super festive candy cane chocolate crepe cake recipe made of crepes with a unique chewy soft texture and crunchy candy canes topped with a dark chocolate ganache.
Crepe cakes look spectacular. The best part is, if you're not a baker like me then this dessert will be right up your alley because there's no baking involved - but be warned, making 25 layers of crepes can also be quite tedious!
This chocolate crepe cake is quite versatile. You can pour the chocolate over the chocolate crepe cake at the very end like a frosting (like I did in the photos) or you can spread it onto each layer, along with the cream and candy cakes to give it a more rustic raw look as well. Keep in mind though, you will have extra chocolate sauce - I like to eat it with a spoon.
This chocolate crepe cake is also not limited to just candy canes and chocolate. Be creative with it! I have made a lemon sugar crepe with this exact recipe. I substituted lemon zest and sugar for the candy cakes and omitted the chocolate and it was delicious and light!
INGREDIENTS FOR CANDY CANE CHOCOLATE CREPE CAKE
There are 3 sections of ingredients for this cake: the crepe ingredients, the cream filling ingredients, and the frosting ingredients.
I made eggnog an optional ingredient for the frosting and for the crepe. You can substitute it heavy cream for the frosting or milk for the crepe. It actually doesn't alter the flavour and consistency at all.
MAKING THE CHOCOLATE CREPE
This is a standard crepe recipe that I like to use milk in but if I am feeling fancy I will use eggnog instead! Regardless of what you use, it will need to be mixed with a bit of water to water the battery down. If you use eggnog, it will need more water since it is thicker than milk.
To make the chocolate crepes, I used a small non-stick frying pan and swirled ¼ cup of batter around in a thin circle and let it cook for about 1-2 mins per side. The smaller the frying pan, the smaller the crepes - the taller the cake will be. You will know the crepe is done when the edges look like they are about to dry out and curl.
Making crepes will be the most tedious and longest part of the whole process of this cake - stick with it. It's worth it.
THE CANDY CANE WHIPPED CREAM AND SUGAR LAYERS
For the whipped cream filling, I kept it simple.
I used the candy canes as a sweetener and beat it for a few minutes until it forms firm peaks. Make sure the cream is whipped to be thick enough to form stiff peaks on the mixer attachment else it won't hold its shape in the cake and the cake filling will be runny
For the sugar filling layer, it's just plain ol' candy canes. 🙂 Unwrap the candies and pulse it in a food processor. Pulse the candy cane for a more grittier and chunkier texture for some crunch in the cake.
BUILDING THE CHOCOLATE CREPE CAKE
This step is quite easy. Just stack layers of chocolate crepe, cream and candy cane!
I stacked the layers in this order: crepe, cream, crushed candy canes - repeat until done!
There is no rule for how much candy cane you want to sprinkle on. If you like a sweeter cake, then you can put candy cane on every layer, if you are like me and prefer a less sweet cake then layer on the candy cane every other layer or every 3 layers.
See how pretty it looks? Honestly, you can even serve it as it is without the dark chocolate frosting if you like!
Once you have completed the layers, keep the crepe cake in the fridge and let it cool before adding the warm chocolate frosting on it. (This is so the cream won't melt and become runny from the heat from the chocolate sauce.)
CHOCOLATE FROSTING (GANACHE) LAYER
In a small pot, heat up the cream until it is hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat, and pour in the chocolate chips and stir! If you find the frosting still clumpy, you can turn on the stove on low and keep stirring it until it is smooth. Let the chocolate ganache cool a bit before you pour it on the chocolate crepe cake!
It is VERY IMPORTANT that you let your cake cool in the fridge before pouring the chocolate ganache over it. When the crepe cake has not fully cooled, the cream layers are not set and warm frosting will melt the cream layers and it will produce a gobbly mess of a cake. (Of course with my crappy patience, I didn't wait for the cake to cool and learned this the hard way.)
Don't worry if the sides of the cake are not fully covered by just pouring the ganache over the cake, so you will need to take a spoon to ladle it onto the sides.
Put the crepe cake in the fridge to set before transferring it to another plate or adding toppings on it.
...and voila! An interesting looking chocolate candy cake crepe cake that tastes very chocolatey and minty! Perfect for the holiday seasons and if you decide to make this for parties and family gatherings, your guest will be very impressed well because...it kinda looks fascinating with all the layers!
LOOKING FOR MORE DESSERT RECIPES? TRY THESE!
- Chewy Five Spice Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Mini Butter Mochi Cake
- Roasted Banana Banana Bread
- Black Sesame Cheesecake
DID YOU MAKE THIS CREPE CAKE RECIPE?
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Chocolate Candy Cane Mille Crepe Cake
INGREDIENTS
Crepe
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk ( or eggnog)
- ½ cup water (add an extra ¼ cup if using eggnog)
- ¾ cup flour
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Cream Filling
- ¼ cup candy canes (crushed)
- 473 ml whipping cream (or heavy cream, minimum of 30% milk fat)
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Candy Cane Filling
- 16-20 candy canes (crushed)
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 255 g dark chocolate wafers or chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
INSTRUCTIONS
Candy Cane Filling
- Unwrap the candy canes and pulse in a food processor. To keep the cake crunchy, don't pulse it too finely. Set aside for later
Cream Filling
- Using a mixer, whip the heavy cream it forms a stiff peak
- Add in vanilla and crushed candy canes and mix for a few more seconds
- Set aside in the fridge to cool
Crepes
- Combine all the crepe ingredients and mix until smooth. It should be a thin pancake consistency. If it's not, add some water or milk.
- In a small non-stick frying pan, add a little butter and adjust the stove to low heat.
- When the pan is hot, add ¼ cup of batter (adjust this amount if you are using a larger frying pan) to the pan and swirl a thin circular layer around the bottom of the pan
- Cook it for approximately 2 mins (or when the edges become light brown and start curling, then flip it and cook for another 1-2 minutes
- Remove from pan and set it aside to let it cool.
- Repeat until all the batter has been used.
Building the Cake
- Start with a crepe layer
- Add a layer of cream
- Add a layer of candy cane sugar
- Repeat the layering. (If you prefer a less sweet cake, put candy cane sugar on every other layer, or every 3 layers instead.)
- End the last layer with a crepe
- Keep cake in the fridge for 30 mins to an hour to cool and set
Dark Chocolate Ganache
- In a small pan, heat up the heavy cream until hot. Careful not to let it boil.
- Turn off the heat
- Add the chocolate chips into the hot liquid and stir until it has melted
- If the chocolate seems lumpy and not fully melted, turn the heat back on low for a few mins and keep stirring until it is smooth
- Set aside for 5-10 mins to cool
- Pour over the cooled cake. You may have to ladle some of the chocolate manually to cover the sides.
- Set in the fridge to cool for 1 hour
- Decorate and enjoy! 🙂
NUTRITION
Pam says
What a great idea! You could just take this recipe and go wild with variations. Love it!
Joyce says
That's definitely my favourite part, switching up the combinations of flavours! 🙂