Strawberry mille crêpe cake

I was still on a mango mille crêpe cake heaven when I got a phone call from FF's cousin, sweet Nic. Her daughters L and L will be celebrating their birthdays together the coming Saturday and asked us if we could  come . I was ecstatic since I'm off work that day and could join the rest of the family. Before saying adieu, I  asked her if I could bring something for dessert.  She eagerly said ''Yes!'' and asked me if I could bring something cold since we would be having  some barbecue. I was already rubbing my hands together in anticipation at the request, wanting to know if my previous experiment is indeed as good as FF claimed. He's not a dishonest man to begin with, but then again, he is a husband who simply wants to please his wife, if you catch my drift. (^_^). With intention  of making the rest of my German family fall in love with Asian mangoes ( although most of them are well traveled and have been to some parts of Asia themselves), I went off to the biggest supermarket in the neighboring town to look for the  delicious Mangoes I bought the previous week. How disappointing, since not a trace of those were at sight. Mangoes from other continents were abundant, but it was not good enough for me.

I was about to give up on the Mille crêpe cake when boxes and boxes of luscious strawberries caught my attention. It's in season and everybody in the family seemed to love them so I decided to make Strawberry Mille crêpe Cake instead. It got a lot of attention as I carried it to the party that Saturday. With  echoes of aaaahhs and ooohhhs at the background,  I walked feeling like supermodel carrying a calorie bomb on a runway,  totally ignoring the fact that it was the cake that was sucking up all the attention. It was the first dessert to vanish at the dessert table, if I may add . It was gone in less than 5 minutes once I started slicing it.  The only complain was, I did not made enough of it, said a few disgruntled  uncles who have to share a slice  with their wives! I now dare proclaim myself, the Family's mille crêpe cake Queen ! LOL

Strawberry mille crêpe cake ala Emily Recipe

Just make and cook  crêpes  as instructed here. Then wash and pat dry 500 g of fresh, ripe strawberries, remove the leaves and stems and discard. Then  purée strawberries with 5 tablespoons  of caster sugar and juice of half a lemon. Make strawberry mousse by following this recipe  but replacing the puréed mangoes  with puréed strawberries . Frost and garnish cake as you wish and refrigerate it overnight before serving.



Pretty inside out! Strawberry mille crêpe cake.



Mango Crêpe Mille Cake

I was beyond myself with excitement when I saw fresh, individually and carefully wrapped Asian mangoes in our supermarket.''Hurray!'' , my tastebuds rejoice  at the prospect being spoilt rotten.  Mangoes my friends, is one of my  favorite fruit in the universe and beyond. I love it so much I would marry if it were a man. Thankfully my husband is equally  sweet...plus he takes the garbage out and do dishes without complains.  Anyway, in as much as I love mangoes, I'm such a picker when it comes to eating one, after all, I grew up eating good and probably one of the best mangoes on this planet. Something that I don't usually get here in Germany .


My breakfast plate during our last holiday back home.

 Yeees! I don't normally brag but I'm darn proud of the Philippine mangoes. This silky , sweet smelling and tasting fruit could entrap any fastidious palate . I haven't met anybody who did  not succumb to its promise of gustatory pleasure. With this in mind, I immediately grabbed 3 tantalizing mangoes on the fruit counter. I could barely believe my eyes as I saw packs of mangosteen, rambutan and fresh tamarind beside it! Everything air-flown all the way from Asia! What a treat. As I  look at the prices on each pack, my excitement turned to astonishment.  3 pieces of rambutan for over 3 euros?! I probably look like I just swallowed  something rotten at that very moment. I could buy 3 kilos of those back home for the same price! I gulp a mouthful of air as I search for the price of the mangoes I was holding. Lo and behold, each cost a whooping 5 euros! To buy or not to buy? The price made me flinched. Don't get me wrong, I have my share of expensive dining but to pay so much for a thing that cost so little back home sound so wrong. I could grab the less expensive ( less delicious) mangoes from somewhere else but hey, I might not find such a treat again so I put my treasures in the shopping cart and walk further without turning back. As we arrive home, I was contemplating on how to enjoy these ridiculously expensive fruit best. We could naturally devour these 3 in one go but I want FF and I to enjoy it longer than that. LOL. So I've searched for a recipe that would allow us to just do that. The heaven was smilling at us that days since I found a promising one. The end product was so delicious and we were able to enjoy those mangoes for three marvelous days. I made a Mango Crêpe Mille Cake and damn if I would not say that it's worth every sweat and every penny.



Mango Crêpe Mille Cake recipe ala Emily

Step 1. Make the Crêpe batter

1. Bring 600 ml fresh milk to a scalding point, set aside to cool off for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together 175 g all purpose flour, 50 g white sugar and 1 tsp. salt.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, beat  6 eggs .
4. With a whisk, carefully incorporate beaten eggs into the flour-sugar/salt mixture.
5. Add warm milk, one cupful after the other while whisking. Do not add  milk all at once to avoid eggs from curdling.
6. Melt 60 g of butter until it turns amber, then whisk into the batter. Leave batter to cool at room temperature, cover with cling foil and refrigerate for about 6 hours or longer. You could do this the night before.

Step 2. Make the Mango Mousse Filling 

1. With a food processor or hand held blender,purée  2 ripe mangoes and 50 g of caster sugar together. You could use more mangoes if you want .A good quality mango pulp would also be a nice alternative.
2. Beat 300 g of Philadelphia cream cheese and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat 500 ml whip cream, 2 tbsp. of whip cream stiffener, 100 g of caster sugar and 1 tbs. of vanilla sugar until soft peaks form. Then whisk in beaten cream cheese until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold in puréed mangoes. Cover with cling form and refrigerated.

Step 3. Cook the Crêpes

1. Heat a non stick pan over medium low heat and brush with oil and a tad of butter. If you are own  a crepe pan or crepe maker, the better. It will certainly make your life easier. Dealing with a paper thin and delicate crêpes without tearing in to pieces was not as easy as it looked...so I've realized.Read:Temper tantrum filled Saturday afternoon.
2. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan ( Depending of the sized of your pan, mine was  12 in'' in diameter  so I used about 1/3 cup for each crêpe ). Tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly. A ribbon goes to you if you could produce paper thin crêpes.
3. Cook Crêpe for about 2 minutes on the first side then a minute or less on the other side.
4. Stack  crêpes carefully and set aside. Cover with parchment paper and let it cool  off. I was able to make a dozen 12'' crêpes with my batter.



Step 4. Assemble the Crêpe Cake

Probably the most fun part of the entire repertoire. Lay a crêpe on big plate or on a serving platter. Spread the mango mousse over it. Sprinkle with chopped mangoes, repeat until all the crêpes are used up. Use the remaining mango mousse to frost the entire cake and decorate your cake to your heart's content. Who says you can't play with your food? Refrigerate overnight and enjoy it on the next day...and the on next day ...and on the next day as we did.