Dessert aficionados may recognize the name Lady M as a French patisserie, famous for their delectable 20-layer mille crepe cake, available in a variety of flavors. Sadly, not everyone has the chance to pop into one of their major cosmopolitan locations. Try this copycat recipe instead—with the addition of warm tea-steeped milk, this impressive dessert tastes just like a fragrant cup of earl grey tea.
Lady M’s Earl Grey Crepe Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
For the pastry filling, bring the 1 ¼ cups milk to a near boil over medium heat. Once simmering, lower the heat and steep the 3 teabags in the milk for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg, 1 tbs flour, 1 tbs sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl until smooth.
Remove the milk from heat and gradually stir into the egg mixture. Return all the ingredients to the stove and keep stirring until thick.
Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. If it’s looking too clumpy, you may want to stir in an extra tablespoon of milk. Refrigerate until firm.
Whip the 2 cups of cream with a hand mixer. Add in the 2 tbs powdered sugar and tea leaves in the earl grey teabag.
Slowly fold the earl grey pastry cream prepared in Steps 1-3 into the whipped cream until smooth. Refrigerate the filling.
For the crepe batter, heat the 2 ½ cups milk until steaming. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, mix together the 5 eggs, 1¼ cup flour, 3 tbs sugar, 5 tbs butter, and salt. Slowly add in the warm milk and mix until smooth.
To make the crepes, melt 1 tbs butter on a pan over medium heat. Pour about 3 tablespoons crepe batter in the pan and swirl until the surface is covered.
Flip after about a minute, or once the edges start crisping up. Repeat until you have a stack of 20 crepes (but if you run out of energy, a shorter cake will taste just as good).
To assemble the cake, lay down a crepe and evenly spread dollop of the earl grey cream filling over the crepe. Lay down another crepe on top. Keep going until the cake is complete.
Once your cake is assembled, cut the tip off a corner of a Ziploc bag and fill with leftover cream to pipe whatever decoration you’d like on top, or simply finish with a dusting of powdered sugar. Take lots of pictures and enjoy!