This crepe cake includes layer upon layer of buttery crepes, vanilla pastry cream and fresh peaches, and is covered with a generous layer whipped cream and more fresh peaches.

Peaches and Cream Crepe Cake. Layer upon layer of buttery crepes, vanilla pastry cream, fresh peaches and whipped cream. | OfBatterandDough.com

The first time I had ever even heard of a crepe cake was about 10 years ago, while perusing through Food and Wine magazines looking for recipes as I prepared to host my first Thanksgiving dinner. In one of the issues was a recipe for a chocolate dulce de leche crepe cake. The very look of it enthralled me... layer upon layer of thin, buttery crepes stacked high over layers of chocolate ganache and dulce de leche. It was gorgeous. I made it, and it tasted even more decadent than it looked.

For some reason, I haven't made a crepe cake since. Which is ridiculous, because not only was that particular crepe cake amazing, crepe cakes in general are beautiful, elegant and delicious. I make crepes fairly often... but we mostly just drizzle them with melted butter, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of sugar, and eat them for breakfast. Or sometimes we eat them with a smear of Nutella or stuffed with scrambled eggs. Sometimes, we make ice cream sundaes with them. I've never been to France (yet!), but I think fresh crepes just might be my favorite part of that corner of the world. (Well, except for French wine.. and, well, French food in general. And the language. And the cafes. And the countryside.... I need to go to France.)

This week, for whatever reason, I was inspired to make another crepe cake.

It's that time of year when we still have access to an abundance of fresh fruit, so including fresh fruit in my crepe cake was a given. And here in Colorado, for a few weeks in August and September, we are spoiled with the BEST peaches in the world. They are grown in an area we call the Western Slope, an area of the Colorado mountains west of the continental divide, primarily in a town called Palisade. The farmers in Palisade grow an abundance of fresh produce, thanks to a climate that is warm and sunny during the day and cool at night. But, the area is mostly known for peaches.

If you've never had a Palisade peach, you haven't lived. They are incredible - something we look forward to all year. They are incredibly sweet, and so juicy that you have to eat them standing over the kitchen sink. Every year, I buy box after box of them. I make peach pies and peach cobbler and peach ice cream and peach thumbprint cookies. I mix them into my morning yogurt and add them to fruit salad .... but, mostly, we just eat them plain and unadorned, one right after the other, until we're too full to take another bite.

So, obviously, if I was going to make a crepe cake this time of year, it was going to include peaches.

This crepe cake is simply layers of crepes, with vanilla pastry cream and fresh Colorado peaches tucked between each one, and then iced with whipped cream. It's rich and decadent, not cloyingly sweet, and bursting with the flavor of fresh peaches.

If you have access to really good fresh peaches right now (even if they're not Colorado peaches), I hope you'll try this recipe as is. However, you could certainly substitute other kinds of fruit for the peaches... any kind of fresh berry would be divine. So would fresh pineapple. Bananas would be great - especially if you drizzled the whole thing with hot fudge. The point is this: If you've never made a crepe cake, make one! Cease the day, and all that. If you have made a crepe cake before, it's time to make another one.

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📖 Recipe

Peaches and Cream Crepe Cake

Yield: 12

Ingredients

For the Peach Pastry Cream Filling:

A DOUBLE batch of Perfect Vanilla Pastry Cream, chilled for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours
4 peaches, skinned and diced into chunks that are about the size of a pinto bean

For the crepes:

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon granulated sugar
8 large eggs
2 sticks butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
5 cups whole milk

For the whipped cream frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
⅓ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the Peach Pastry Cream Filling:

Make a DOUBLE batch of Perfect Vanilla Pastry Cream, chilled for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours
Gently fold in the diced peaches right before assembling the cake. (The juice from the peaches will make the pastry cream runny if added to far in advance.)

Make the crepe batter:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar with a wire whisk until combined.
Add the eggs to the flour mixture and mix to form a paste.
Add the milk and butter slowly in two additions: Add half the milk slowly, whisking constantly to prevent large lumps from forming. Then add the butter slowly, whisking constantly. Then whisk in the rest of the milk.
Pour the crepe batter into a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or up to 3 days.

Cook the crepes:

Heat a teaspoon or two of butter in a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. (I like to use clarified butter because it won’t burn, but regular butter works too. Just wipe the skillet with a paper towel in between crepes to remove butter that is starting to brown.)
Pour in ½ cup of crepe batter into the center of the pan. The batter will spread out into a disk.
Cook the crepe until the bottom is golden brown and the batter looks semi-set, about 1½ minutes. Lift the edges of the crepe with a spatula and flip. Cook until the other side is a light golden brown and flip out onto a plate to cool. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Assemble and frost the cake:

To assemble the crepe cake, simply layer the crepes with thin layers of the pastry cream filling, staking the layers as high as you dare. If you want a tall cake, but the lower layers seem to be slipping around a bit, cover the cake and put it in the refrigerator for abut an hour before continuing to stack.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Make the whipped cream frosting: With an electric mixer, beat the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until medium-firm peaks form. Be careful not to beat the cream into butter, but you want it to be stiff enough to be able to ice the cake without it dripping down the sides of the crepe cake.
With a sharp, serrated knife, trim around the edges of the crepe cake to create straight sides all around. Frost the cake with the whipped cream, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 591Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 223mgSodium: 345mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 3gSugar: 20gProtein: 14g

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Comments

sharyn says

August 03, 2019 at 6:50 pm

can i use frozen or canned peaches for this recipe.

Jeff Blackwell says

May 22, 2019 at 12:41 pm

Where can I order a box of Palisade peaches? Thanks.

- Rebecca Blackwell says
  
  May 22, 2019 at 2:26 pm
  
  Hi Jeff! Colterris is a good place to order Palisade Peaches - https://www.colterris.com/ The peaches won't be ready until August, but on their website, they mention that pre-ordering will begin in June. I can hardly wait. They are soooo good! Please let me know if you have any other questions!
  
Caroline says

September 11, 2015 at 1:28 am

I remember back in the 1970's, picking fruit in the Palisade orchards. The itch of the peach fuzz, the workers singing and whistling as we all worked. I am over 60 now, but those are some of the best memories of my life. To wake up in an old pickers shack, & go 10 feet away and have the pick of the best peach in the world for breakfast. I remember it like it was yesterday ????????

- Rebecca Blackwell says
  
  September 11, 2015 at 1:34 am
  
  That sounds fabulous Caroline! When I was a little girl, one of my uncles had a peach orchard in Palisade. I was so young, that my memories are pretty fuzzy... but I'm sure that's where I developed my obsession with Palisade peaches. There's really nothing like them in the world. Now, with a family of my own, I've trained us all to look forward to them every year. You should see how we all descend on the first box of Palisade peaches that I bring home each season! And... how sad we all are when the season is over. 🙂
  
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says

September 07, 2015 at 4:26 pm

Crepe cakes really are amazing. This one looks like no exception--love the use of fresh peaches! Perfectly seasonal 🙂

- Rebecca Blackwell says
  
  September 07, 2015 at 4:40 pm
  
  Thank you June! xo

Peaches and Cream Crepe Cake