If you haven’t made a crepe cake before, now is definitely the time! Paper thin crepes smothered with ricotta cream, drenched in a blood orange syrup and stacked sky high. This cake is a masterpiece!
Can’t get enough of blood orange treats? Take a look at our Frozen Blood Orange Pina Colada!
Making and eating crepes is one of my favourite pastimes! So putting them together in a stunning cake was only natural.
If you are wondering what 12 thin and delicate crepes filled with sweet, flavoured with blood orange juice ricotta cream taste like, you will have to make this recipe.
I can try to describe the bliss you will experience but my words won’t do its justice. This amazing crepe cake is something to be experienced.
How to make it
I am often enthusiastic about a new creation but this crepe cake combines everything that I adore. Thin crepes with a delicate touch of almond flavour and creamy ricotta.
The ricotta cream is infused with a bit of homemade blood orange syrup. All flavours dance together beautifully! I was a little surprised by how much I loved it since I am NOT a huge orange fan. However, blood oranges and almond flavour created something far more delicate than I could’ve expected.
Finally, you can just make the crepes and serve the blood orange blossom ricotta cream on the side! Less of a faff, same amazing taste!
Don’t let glossy food magazines and Food Network lead you to believe crepes are the territory of skilled chefs or the French!
Although crepes and the French go together very well, it’s not fair to say they invented them, as these paper thin pancakes exit in almost every country. Sweet or savoury!
If you have never made crepes before, fear not, the crepe recipe I am sharing today has been tested by me hundreds of times. It produces consistent results every time if you follow my tips below.
Top Recipe Tips
- After you mix the batter, let it stand for 3o minutes. It helps to achieve a smoother batter and consequently smoother crepes.
- Flavour your batter with either good quality vanilla or almond. Or both! It elevates a humble pancake to something luxurious, worthy to be a cake!
- Heat your frying pan well before pouring the first crepe in.
- Pour a little bit of oil in a small bowl, dip balled up paper towel in and rub all over the frying pan. Repeat between each crepe.
- Finally for best results choose a heavy bottomed, well-seasoned cast iron frying pan or a good non-stick one and a thin edge spatula for flipping. Watch this video for more guidance.
- Make sure your crepes are room temperature before assembling the cake to avoid the ricotta cream melting. (Sadly it happened to me before.)
More Crepe Recipes:
This recipe was originally published in 02/2017. Updated and republished in 02/2021
Ingredients
For the Blood Orange syrup
- 250ml/1 cup blood orange juice or regular orange freshly squeezed
- 200g/1 cup white sugar
For the Almond Crepes
- 210g/1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 560ml/2 ¼ cups milk or soy milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
For the Blood Orange Ricotta Cream
- 500g/2 cups ricotta
- 4 tbsp blood orange syrup
- 250ml/1 cup heavy whipping/double cream
- 30g/1/4 cup powdered/icing sugar
- 1 tsp orange blossom water optional
- 1 blood orange sliced thinly
- powdered sugar
Instructions
For the blood orange syrup
- Juice the blood oranges and combine the juice with sugar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, let it bubble away for 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool completely. When cooled strain into a jar or a bottle.
For the crepes
- In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Crack eggs into the mixture and pour in 1 cup of milk. Mix everything with a whisk, then add remaining milk, vanilla and almond flavourings, mix well. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Heat the frying pan on medium heat. (Read the tips on making better crepes in the post!!) Rub the frying pan with a little bit of oil and pour ⅓ cup of crepe batter in the pan, tilt the pan to let the batter run to the edges.
- Cook each crepe until the surface looks dry, approximately 1 minute, then flip with a thin-edged spatula and cook for 20-30 seconds on the other side. Repeat until all better is gone. You will have 12 crepes if using an 9 inch/23 cm frying pan.
- Stack crepes on top of each other and let them cool completely.
For the Blood Orange Ricotta Cream
- Combine ricotta and blood orange syrup in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds for a smoother texture.
- To a medium bowl add heavy/double cream with powdered sugar and orange blossom water if using, whip until stiff peaks form with an electric mixer.
- Gently fold half of whipped cream into ricotta with a spatula, then fold in another half.
To assemble the crepe cake
- Choose a pretty plate or a cake stand and place the first crepe on it, spread approximately ¼ cup of the blood orange ricotta cream with a spatula, drizzle with 1 tbsp of blood orange syrup. Repeat until all crepes are gone.
- Drizzle the top of the crepe cake with additional blood orange syrup, decorate with blood orange slices and refrigerate for at least 1 hour for the cream to firm up and for the cake to soak up all the flavours.
- Dust with more powdered sugar right before serving if desired.
Notes
