Indulgent Peanut Butter and Nutella Crepe Cake

I made this cake for my birthday just recently. I'd wanted to make a crepe cake for a long time but the thought of making that many crepes freaked me out so much that I constantly put it off. Then, not long ago I visited a dessert bar with crepe cake on the menu which was deeelicious and made up my mind that I was going to conquer the beast.

Now, I'm warning you, this cake has a disgustingly large amount of butter in it, so if you're health conscious, best look away now. Also, I apologise to my friends who ate this on that weekend...

I did get some comments about it tasting like a giant Reeses peanut butter cup, which I was pleased about since they began my love for PB and chocolate many years ago.

The crepe's are chocolate and made from a martha stewart recipe for her crepe cake with a (very complicated) delicious looking hazelnut filling. The PB and nutella are my creation adapted from frosting recipes. You'll want to set it in the fridge after making it, but if the weather permits then leave it out at a cool room temperature otherwise the crepes harden up and it's less fun. Best eaten within a few days.

Apologies for the wonky photos, it was my birthday and I was so excited to eat the cake I could barely manage pictures.

ermagerd! cake!

Chocolate Crepes

1/4 cup water
170g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate
1 1/2 cups flour
6 eggs
1/3 cup sugar (caster, raw, whatever you please)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups milk

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup smooth peanut butter
200g butter
2 cups icing sugar
dash of vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Nutella Filling

1 cup nutella
200g butter
2 cups icing sugar
dash of vanilla extract
pinch of salt


Method

Heat 1/4 cup of water over the stove and whisk in butter 1 cube at a time until all emulsified. Turn off the heat and stir in the chocolate until all melted and incorporated. Set aside momentarily.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, add the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla and whisk till combine, slowly add the milk until a smooth but runny batter forms. Grab the chocolate mixture that's been cooling and whisk in vigorously until it resembles a delicious chocolate drink. Don't drink it though, it's pretty tempting.

Let that baby rest for a couple hours or overnight if you want to make it in advance.

Take a break and watch some trashy daytime television.

Next step, cook the crepe's spooning a small ladle full in to the pan and swirling to spread. The first will always be a disaster so don't be disheartened. Also if you make lots of ugly ones, not to fret either, you can hide them in the middle of your cake ;)

I ended up with about 22 crepes (convenient since I was turning 22!) you may have a few more, or a few less, which is fine.

While the crepe's cool, make the fillings by beating the butter with sugar, salt, and vanilla until fluffy then adding the PB/nutella and beating a few minutes longer until it's all mixed in and aerated.

Now comes the fun part! Start layering with a crepe first, then alternate layers of PB and nutella filling, allowing one very heaping tablespoon for each layer. Top with a layer of filling or just leave the crepe bare. You can also sprinkle with grated chocolate or cocoa powder. I left mine with PB :)

Slice, and marvel at the glorious stripes!

Baked Cheesecake

Donna Hay wins again! I turned to her cheesecake recipe because it looked so super easy and delicious when I saw it on masterchef a couple of years back. It turned out amazing and didn't take much time at all to prepare. I wish I'd had some berries or passionfruit to lay over the top but I completely forgot when I did the grocery shop, no worries though because it was just delicious all on its own.

I gave all the measurements in grams because I figure you'd be getting those scales out to measure the cream cheese and ricotta so no need to dirty the measuring cups! Also, I advise using a food processor for this, unfortunately I only have a mini one so I turned to the blender and that actually worked really well! So there's your backup plan. Hand beaters are not a good plan B. I would know.

Donna Hay's Classic Baked Cheesecake

330g softened cream cheese
500g ricotta cheese
4 eggs
295g cups caster sugar
60ml cup lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp water (to mix with cornflour)

For the Base

40g cup almond meal
105g cup plain flour
55g caster sugar
90g chopped butter


Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Start with the base, whiz all the ingredients in a food processor until they form a crumbly texture, tip in to a lined cake tin and press in to the bottom (use your hands and then smooth out with a spoon to make sure it's all nice and even).

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

For the filling, add all but cornflour and water to a food processor. Combine cornflour and water separately and add in. Process until smooth and pour in to the tin.

Tap to remove any air bubbles and bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off but leave the door closed for a further hour then remove and chill.

Tip: I noticed that my cake was still wobbly in the middle after the first hour and completely forgot about the whole 2nd hour thing so I baked it longer until it was set, it still turned out great but ended up a little brown around the edges so don't fret too much if there's a little raw bit in the middle that will cook further in to the 2nd hour.  Also, don't be tempted to open the oven and take the cake out early as it will crack if it cools too rapidly.