Apricot and Lemon Crepe Cake

Ingredients

Description

I have often been haunted by memories of Stephanie Alexander’s crepe cake with lemon curd, which I ate in Melbourne at her restaurant, Stephanie’s, in the late 1980s. So I created my own version with a lovely velvety filling of apricot and lemon, layered with whipped cream. Be sure to make the crepes as thin as you possibly can, or the dessert may become rather stodgy.

Method

Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Break the whole eggs into the well, add the egg yolks and stir in some of the flour. Add the milk and the melted butter and whisk until smooth. (All this can be done in a food processor.) Allow this mixture to sit for at least an hour. The consistency should be like cream. If too thick it can be thinned with a little extra milk.

Heat the crepe pan and brush it with a little oil. Ladle a large tablespoon of the mix into the crepe pan and then swirl and run this around so it spreads across the pan to the edges. Set over a medium heat a cook for one minute.

Using a thin spatula, lift the edges right around the crepe and flip over to cook the other side. When lacy and brown, stack on a plate on baking paper or foil. Continue the cooking process until you have a stack of 12 to 14 crepes. Cover and chill until needed.

Place the apricots and liquid in a saucepan with the sugar and the lemon zest and then gently bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes or until soft. Puree until smooth then add the lemon juice. Taste the puree for sweetness (it should be quite tart) and adjust the flavour with more lemon juice if necessary. Cool.  Whip the cream until it holds its shape.

Place a crepe on a serving plate. Spread with a thin layer of apricot puree and a layer of whipped cream. Top with another crepe, and then continue with apricot and cream until all crepes (or the apricot cream) are used. Cover crepes and refrigerate until serving- this can be done a day ahead.

To serve, dust the top with icing sugar, cut into wedges (much easier if the cake is very cold) and hand extra whipped cream around separately.

CREPE PANS crepe pans, available from specialty kitchen stores, are very shallow. Mine is never washed but just wiped out after use – it has developed a fabulous surface over the years so the crepes never stick.

Makes 6 to 8.

Categories

Desserts
Fruit

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