chocolate hazelnut crepe cake

The holidays are officially over. I've said goodbye to my family and all of my friends, I've packed up my belongings once again, and I'm flying back to the Baby State. I still have a couple more weeks until the spring semester begins, but I'll definitely need those weeks to finalize teaching plans and work on the upcoming graduate conference. Today, however, I'm enjoying one last day of mental rest before the planning insanity ensues. I'll be spending that day on a number of planes and camping out in a number of airports, but by 6:30 Eastern time tonight I'll be back to the coast.

During my time at home, I did plenty of baking but this cake was by far the most memorable. My brothers birthday happens to fall three days after Christmas so I'm always home for his big day. This year, I handed him my new Smitten Kitchen cookbook (which I love!) and instructed him to pick any dessert he'd like. Of course, like a typical little brother, he picked the most complex and time-consuming recipe in the book. (sigh) But, being the fabulous sister I am, I made that danged thang. And it was awesome.

You might scroll down and see that epically-long recipe and want to click away immediately. But, I urge you to then scroll back up and look at these pictures. Just look at all those crepes, layered with pastry cream, smothered with chocolate ganache. How can you say no? You can't.

Bonus: this cake tastes just like Nutella. Just. Like. Nutella. So there's that.

Here's some real talk. Yes, this cake is time-consuming. I wouldn't want to make this cake on the regular. But it's an awesome special occasion cake. It makes an impact, no doubt. So, the secret to making this cake manageable? Break down the steps over a couple days. When I made this cake, I made the crepe batter and the pastry cream the night before. Then, the next morning, I tackled crepe-making and assembled the cake. Then, that evening before serving, I quickly made the ganache, poured it on the cake, and added the hazelnuts. Viola! Done. (phew)

Now back to the real world...

Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake

Crepes:
9 Tbps unsalted butter (for both crepes and pastry cream)
2 1/3 cups whole milk
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

Cooking spray for skillet

Hazelnut Pastry Cream:
1 1/3 cups hazelnuts (for both pastry cream and topping)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tsp hazelnut liqueur (I used Frangelico)
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/3 cups whole milk
7 Tbsp sugar
5 large egg yolks
5 Tbsp cornstarch
Butter reserved from crepes above

Chocolate Ganache:
6 oz. (about 1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 Tbsp hazelnut liqueur

Make Crepe Batter:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it's melted, reduce heat to medium-low. The butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir butter frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you go. Once the butter is brown and nutty-smelling, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Let cool to lukewarm.

In a blender, combine milk, eggs, flour, salt, sugar, and 6 Tbsp cooled browned butter. (I didn't have a blender, so I combined all ingredients in a bowl and whisked until combined.) Cover finished mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or up to 2 days.

Toast/Skin Hazelnuts:
Preheat oven to 350 and spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Toast for 10 minutes, rolling around halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool. 

If your hazelnuts still have their skins, rub nuts between your palms to remove skins, and discard. Mine, however, were skin-free. Feel free to ignore this step if that's the case.

Make Hazelnut Pastry Cream:
In a food processor, grind 1 cup of nuts (set the other 1/3 cup aside for topping the cake), confectioners' sugar, liqueur, and salt together. Keep running the machine as hazelnuts grind from a coarse chop to a powder and eventually into damp-looking crumbs that combine in small clumps. Do not over mix, or you'll make a hazelnut butter!

In a saucepan, combine the hazelnut paste, milk, and sugar over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring a bit so it doesn't scorch. In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Slowly stream small spoonfuls of the hot milk into the egg yolk bowl while whisking. Repeat this a few times until egg yolk mixture is hot. Now, go in reverse, slowly stirring warm egg yolk mixture back into the hot milk in the saucepan, whisking constantly, until the two are combined. Continue whisking while you bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 2 minutes; the mixture should thicken upon boiling, to a loose pudding consistency. Remove from heat and stir in the reserved 3 Tbsp browned butter from the crepe batter recipe. 

Transfer to a bowl, press plastic wrap on top of custard, and refrigerate until set, at least a couple hours. 

Make Crepes:

Preheat a medium (9-10 inch) non-stick skillet or crepe pan over medium-high heat. Once it's heated, brush pan with butter or spray with  non-stick spray. (I repeated this approximately every three crepes to keep the pan super non-stick.)

Pour 1/4 cup batter into skillet and quickly tilt pan until batter evenly coats the bottom and cook, undisturbed, until the bottom is golden and top is set (1-2 minutes). Carefully flip and cook on other side for 5-10 additional seconds to set. (It may take a few crepes to get the hang of this process. Mine really started looking good around crepe three. And that's fine, there is plenty of batter.)

Transfer finished crepes to a paper towel-covered plate and stack; they won't stick together. (I found that the batter actually made close to 20 crepes, but you'll only need 16 or 17 for this recipe, as the pastry cream only makes so much.)

Assemble Cake:
Lay first crepe on your cake plate or stand. Spread with 1/4 cup pastry cream. Repeat with remaining crepes until you're out of pastry cream. Chill in the fridge until you're ready for the ganache.

Make Ganache:
Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat cream and liqueur to a simmer in a small saucepan and pour over chocolate. Let sit for a minute, then stir until smooth.

To Finish:

Remove cake from fridge, pour ganache on top and gently push some off the sides, so there are a few drips on the edges. Decorate the top of the cake with remaining hazelnuts. Set cake in fridge until the chocolate is set.

FINALLY, serve!

Yield: 12 servings

Source: Smitten Kitchen cookbook