Matcha Crepe Cake

When I think of a crepe cake, I think of the dainty mounds of crepes stealing the spotlight in a bakery window, the creamy sensation that explodes in my mouth after I take a bite. My family and I often go to a little bakery by my home to buy a slice of matcha crepe cake. One day, I thought, why not make one in my own kitchen? I decided to try with my friend Olivia. It seemed a bit intimidating, but how hard could it be?

On Saturday, we met at my house. We blended the crepe ingredients together to make a liquid green mixture, and then put it in the fridge to settle. When mixing the cream to go between the layers of crepes, we accidentally flung heavy cream everywhere. That attracted my dog, Archie. He made a beeline for any cream he saw, and we laughed as he smudged cream all over his snout. After three minutes, the cream hardened into an airy, white fluff, stiff enough to form firm peaks as we pulled the mixer out of the bowl.

Two hours later, we oiled the pan to cook a crepe. It wasn’t until we spread the batter that we realized neither of us knew how to flip it. In the end, we managed a maneuver with forks and a spatula, and ended up flipping, but also ripping, the crepe. We called it our “tester”, gobbled it up, and then made another one using that spatula operation. Our crepes looked better and better, and in the end, we had a beautiful stack of 20 matcha crepes. We spread the cream with a knife and layered them one by one. Finally, we sprinkled matcha powder on top with a sieve, and then gathered some mint leaves from outside to position on the cake. The end product looked surprisingly like a store-bought crepe cake.

As we were devouring our masterpiece, the combination of the delicate crepes and the sweet cream made every bite melt on my tongue and ooze with flavor. I was surprised that it was such a success, and I learned never to underestimate the power of a good recipe, quality ingredients, and some determination.

Ingredients

For the crepe batter:
1 ½ cups / 350ml milk
3 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp matcha powder
1 cup  / 130g all-purpose flour
2 tbsp  / 30g melted butter
1 tsp baking powder

For the cream:
2¼ cup / 540ml heavy whipping cream
2 tsp sugar

Method

1. Mix all the crepe batter ingredients together. You should have a liquid green mixture with a consistency similar to a thoroughly blended smoothie.
2. Put the batter through a sieve, pushing through any lumps, and let it sit in the refrigerator for two hours.
3. In a separate bowl, add the sugar to the heavy whipping cream, and whisk it until it is thick, but easily spreadable. Put it in the refrigerator.
4. Butter a 10” / 25cm pan lightly and pour enough batter in the pan to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Cook both sides of the crepe. To do this effectively, let the first side cook for a little while and then when the center is firm and the edges are starting to look cooked, try scooping up the edges of the crepe with a thin, metal spatula. Then shake the pan a little to free the rest, and flip the crepe with the help of some utensils. You may need to practice a few times! Do this with the rest of the batter, ending up with 20-25 crepes.
5. Let your crepes cool down, then stack them one on top of the other spreading a thin layer of cream in between each layer.
6. You may want to sprinkle some matcha powder on top of the cake, but this is optional. To make it look more professional, try sprinkling it with your sieve.
7. I put mint leaves on my cake, but feel free to put what you want on yours, such as raspberries or strawberries.

Enjoy!