Welcome to How To Cook That, I'm Ann Reardon and
today we are making a 100 Layer crepe cake, with those crepes layered up with raspberry
sauce, ganache and mascapone in between the layers.
We've had so many requests for something 100 layers and also for something that doesn't
need an oven so I've combined those two requests to make you this huge cake.
Firstly to make the crepes you'll need eggs, flour, milk, sugar vanilla and melted butter.
Now this will make about 25 crepes so we're going to need to do all of these ingredients
4 times over for the 100 layers.
Place everything into the blender and I'll put all of the recipe quantities on the howtocookthat.net
website in grams and ounces and cups and I'll link to that below.
Blend it together, now you can do this by hand using a whisk in a bowl if you don't
have a blender.
Heat a non-stick fry pan and then pour in a small amount of the mixture, immediately
tilt your pan from side to side to spread it out evenly over the base.
Leave that on that side for just under 1 minute and then flip it to the other side and let
that cook for about 30 seconds and tip it out of your pan.
The other way you can make sure they are very thin crepes is to pour a larger amount of
batter into the pan and then immediately tip the excess out.
This will give you some up the edge so you'll need to use your spatula to cut across to
make it a nice round circle.
That just makes the crepe really thin and really even the whole way across.
Then you just need to make more ... and more ... and more, counting as you go.
Now if you're wanting to do 100 layers then you're going to have to keep going.
Perhaps if you could actually count these for me to make sure and just double-check
that I actually have 100 crepes that would be great.
Now of course when you're making it you can do less.
You can do 20, you can do 25, you can use a smaller pan so that you don't need as much
batter it's up to you.
Now to make our raspberry sauce we need lemon, sugar and frozen raspberries or you could
use fresh raspberries here.
Juice your lemons and then add that into the pan with the raspberries.
Then heat that on high heat until the fruit falls apart.
Pour it into a fine sieve ... and then use the back of your spoon to push the juice through
and into the bowl.
Add sugar to taste, I'm not going to add much here I just want it to be quite tart because
we've got the sweet ganache, and then microwave it to heat it up so that the sugar dissolves
so you don't have any of the crystals in there.
Now for the ganache you'll need milk chocolate and cream.
Just pour the cream over your chocolate and heat that in the microwave in 30 second intervals
stirring well each time until all the chocolate is melted and you've got a nice smooth ganache.
And now we are ready with our crepes, mascapone cheese, ganache and raspberry sauce.
Now because this is going to be so tall I am stacking it in a stock pot to keep the
sides straight.
Place your first crepe at the bottom, and if it is too big on the edges there you can
pull it out and just trim it by placing a baking tin on top and running your knife around
the edge so you get a good circle there.
Put that back in the bottom and then add a tablespoon of ganache on top and spread it
out using a spatula.
Add the next crepe and then cover that in raspberry sauce, spreading it out.
Then another crepe and a thin layer of mascapone.
Now this is going to take me a while to layer up 100 layers of this, so while I'm doing
that, I'm going to get Dave to read you chapter 1 from our book The Deep Enders
Alright, here we go - Chapter 1 of The Deep Enders...
Micki stepped onto the murky street, skirting the opium dens and tin-roof gambling shanties
that pockmarked the desperate side of town.
A sliver of moonlight broke through the clouds, backlighting a squadron of angry mosquitoes
in the alley ahead.
Micki swatted them away, walking fast with her head low in the midnight air.
Her chest ached and eyes burned, but she couldn’t stop now, not here.
An argument drifted on the breeze and, in the distance, a miserable dog howled.
Keep moving ... don’t draw attention.
And then she saw them.
Two soldiers slouched under a fly-spotted porch light, smoking as they swapped tall
tales.
Micki baulked, but they hadn’t seen her yet.
She couldn’t turn back now anyway.
Hugging the shadows, she slipped into a side street and immediately picked up the pace.
Micki checked over her shoulder then weaved into another narrow alley—a heartbeat later,
crashing into a candle-lit card table with three gamblers hunched over it.
“Sorry, sorry.”
Micki stepped back, her hands raised in apology as the men scrambled to steady the table.
One of them, young with scraggly blond hair, glared up at her.
But then his eyes widened greedily as he took in the pretty teenager—dark hair and olive
skin with a tiny beauty mark on her cheek.
The gambler flashed a broken smile as Micki edged away from the trio.
“Hey lovely girl,” he beckoned her closer, waving his beer bottle.
“Come ‘ave a drink.”
“No thanks,” she said firmly, easing past, almost in the clear.
The man suddenly lunged for her and latched onto the hem of her cotton shirt.
Micki pulled away, but he was too strong, reeling her in until she could smell the stink
on his breath.
She tried to wrench his hand off and, in a moment of morbid fascination, her eyes fell
on a gnarled stump where his little finger should have been.
Micki wanted to cry out . . . but the soldiers were so close, just around the corner.
If they heard anything . . . “Let go!”
she rasped.
“Let go,” he mimicked sadistically and the others roared with laughter.
Micki balled her fist and struck with all her might on his shoulder.
It wasn’t hard as far as punches go, just enough to throw him off balance.
But as he swayed backward, his rickety stool creaked and toppled over.
His feet shot straight into the air and upended the table, spraying cards and beer bottles
across the night sky.
The other two men leaped up indignantly, cursing as their beer rained down.
And for one stunned moment Micki was transfixed by the chaos she had caused.
“You awright, Toothy?”
one of the strangers said, stretching out a hand to his nine-fingered friend sprawled
in the dirt.
The other man, an older fellow with a beer gut and a wispy mustache, eyed the girl with
growing suspicion.
And slowly, a sly smile crept across his sunburnt mug.
“She’s one of them!” he thrust a finger at her face.
Busted!
Micki didn’t protest.
She turned and sprinted down the alley as the three men clambered over the table and
gave chase, yelping like hunting dogs after a rabbit.
Stupid, stupid!
It was madness for her to have come back.
To be here in this place, alone at night could only ever have ended badly—but she was scared
and starving and all she wanted to do was go home.
Even if home was empty.
Even if the soldiers had already taken everyone.
It was the only place she knew.
She ran harder.
Deeper into the labyrinth.
Micki had been a good athlete at school, but the hunters were grown men and, despite their
intoxicated state, they were gaining on her.
Toothy in particular was quick . . . and motivated.
He’d recovered from his humiliating tumble in a flash and joined the chase, racing past
the other two men like they were jogging on a beach.
Step by step he closed in on his prey.
His footsteps pounded in Micki’s ears as she blurred past a side-street and Chinese
laundromat with buckets and bamboo-handle mops hanging on an awning to dry.
Faster, he’s right behind, her mind screamed.
Ahead the street widened to an expanse of flat ground and, beyond that, the waters of
Dampier Creek, smooth and glinting in the moonlight.
Micki desperately wanted to keep running, but with the blond one right on her tail,
she realized the open space was her worst enemy.
She’d be run down in a matter of seconds.
Instead, Micki did the last thing he expected.
Digging a heel into the dirt, she turned and sprinted directly toward Toothy, then at the
last second, she double-stepped around his grasping fingers and headed for the laundromat.
Her boots pounded on the road.
It was close now, but so too were the shadowy figures of the other two coming her way—in
a few seconds she would be hopelessly trapped between all three men.
If she could just reach it . . . almost there . . . she leaped for a bamboo mop hanging
from the awning.
The beam overhead groaned, then the head of the mop broke away and she swung down, landing
neatly in the dirt with the wooden handle in her hands.
Toothy snarled, almost upon her, as Micki wheeled around.
In that moment she was grateful for her father’s playful kendo lessons as a child—mock stick-fighting
in the backyard with homemade face masks and bamboo “swords”.
She planted her feet, gripped the stick with both hands, and swung viciously in the direction
of her pursuer.
The bamboo flashed in the night and struck Toothy on the forehead, his wild hair flying
as he cried out and staggered into a corrugated fence alongside the laundromat.
A clang reverberated down the alley.
The hunter bled but didn’t fall.
And even in the dim light, she saw the glint in his eyes shift to something darker.
Micki tucked the mop handle under her arm and bolted, turning right, down a side-street,
then another.
And she might have escaped . . . except her ankle clipped a cargo box and she tumbled
to the ground in anguish, the bamboo skittering across the dirt as she fell.
The girl scrambled to her feet, but before she could reach the stick, a strong hand suddenly
clapped tight over her mouth.
Eyes wide with terror, she tried to scream, to fight him off, but it was no use.
Feet scrabbling in the dirt, Micki clawed and bit and thrashed as she was hauled mercilessly
into the darkest corner of the alleyway.
Then, nothing.
One hand firm over her mouth while his other arm squeezed around her torso, locking Micki’s
wrists to her side.
She could see the bamboo on the ground, but it was too far away.
Again she tried to wriggle free, but then her heart turned to ice at the sound of approaching
footsteps and labored breathing.
A moment later, the enraged Toothy thundered past, blood streaming from the gash on his
head.
The other men followed close behind and also disappeared around the corner.
Micki waited a few seconds and then bucked again, trying to swivel to face her assailant,
but those arms held tight.
Enough!
She lifted her heel and slammed it onto her captor’s toes.
With a cry, the vicelike grip loosened and she scurried from his clutches, scooping up
the bamboo stick in one hand.
She clattered against the tin fence on the far side of the alley, then spun to face her
attacker head-on, bracing defensively with her teeth clenched and weapon raised.
“Oi,” a pained voice hissed from the shadows.
“Take it easy, dumb-bum.”
And Micki’s breath was gone.
It can’t be!
She stared at the figure shrouded in darkness, desperate to peel away the veil of night and
see his face.
To know for sure.
“You can’t ever go home, Micki,” he stepped into the moonlight.
“We’re on our own.”
And that's the end of chapter 1 ... "How're you going over there Ann?"
Nearly there thanks hun ... I found a quicker way of layering it, if I leave the crepe flat
and then spread the topping onto it, then pick it up and flip it over and add it to
the stack.
And then I've just been getting rid of air bubbles as I went by pushing it down with
the cake tin.
Probably about every 10 layers you just need to push it down to get rid of all those air
bubbles.
Now this top one actually becomes the base when we tip it out so if it's not quite flat
on the edges, just add a little more of the ganache and spread it out to make it even.
And then you want to cover that in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge, overnight.
The next day place a cake stand on top and flip it over.
And then pull the tin off carefully.
Now if you line the tin with baking paper this process will be much easier.
I found there was a bit of a vaccume down one side so I had to put a knife down one
edge, just to let some air in to the bottom.
Now you can leave this like that or if you want to make it look prettier you can cover
the whole thing in ganache or in buttercream.
I am using the top of a piping tip just to make stripes down the edges and roughen them
up a bit to make it look a bit like tree bark.
Then on top use a skewer to draw the rings like trees have in the middle or you could
pipe that on with white chocolate to give a bit of a pattern so it looks like a tree
stump.
Now for the big moment, cutting into the 100 layers.
I'm not sure if this will even be able to stand up because it is so tall!
Let's see how we go ... Oh my goodness look at all those layers, it's
very pretty and very dainty looking!
That actually turned out better than I thought it would.
That looks pretty cool.
Now for the taste test - that's pretty good, I can't say it's my favourite cake in the
world, I like the flavour but I think I want more filling ... so if I was making it again
I'd do 50 layers instead of 100 but use the same amount of ganache, rapsberry sauce and
mascapone so you get more filling on each crepe.
Having said that thought, two of my boys really liked it just as it is so it depends how much
of sweet tooth you are if you want more filling or if you want more crepe, you'll have to
decide that for yourself.
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Yes!