You Won’t Believe a Crêpe Can Be a Savory Layer Cake (Mushroom Edition)

I spent my first Mother’s Day weekend mostly kid-free and in the kitchen. Jacob stayed with his grandparents and, after ten uninterrupted hours of sleep and a little wine, I discovered I can cook a lot without a distracted baby nearby. We hosted brunch for both families.

Oh — you want more about brunch? There were drop biscuits, patted scones, a braided sweet bread I’ll describe later, buttered whole-wheat toast triangles, cheesy scrambled eggs, fruit salad, mimosas and Bloody Marys. So much bacon that my apartment smelled like a smokehouse the next day. And crêpes — stacked and filled with creamy mushrooms and cheese.

I’d wanted to make a savory crêpe cake since I made a sweet version years earlier — a layered crêpe filled with vanilla pastry cream and a brûléed top (the best birthday cake I’ve made). Life distracted me with stratas, savory bread puddings, baked eggs, babies and cookbooks. With extra time on Saturday, I finally attempted a savory crêpe cake, taking a little guidance from Alton Brown.

Crêpes can be intimidating. They’re time-consuming — most recipes recommend resting the batter at least an hour and some suggest overnight. Reasons vary (protein relaxation, starch settling, removing bubbles) but they agree rested batter improves texture. Nonstick pans make crêpes easier, though many people have discarded them; I keep one specifically for crêpes and fried eggs.

Also: the first crêpe is usually a throwaway. It sticks, tears or is the wrong thickness — don’t be discouraged. By the third, you hit a rhythm: you learn batter quantities and wonder why you don’t make crêpes more often. They’re convenient: make them in advance (day, week or month), they reheat well and accept sweet or savory fillings — and yes, Nutella gets its own category here.

My experience followed this pattern, with extra challenges from the filling. I made tweaks (below): used common brown mushrooms rather than shiitakes, sliced them thin so the filling lays flat, added a little thickener when the sauce ran too thin, and made other small fixes. I panicked while assembling — the finished cake looked small (about 7×5 inches) so I toasted bread and made cheesy scrambled eggs to ensure guests wouldn’t leave hungry. In the end the crêpe cake was filling, and guests ate happily.

Mushroom Crêpe Cake

I changed the recipe: skipped shiitakes in favor of creminis, cut mushrooms thin, added a thickener to help the filling set, and noted stove-temperature tips. Below is the adapted version.

Serves: 6 (or 8 if part of a larger brunch spread)

Filling — Ingredients

Method

1. In a large sauté pan over medium–low heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter and cook the diced onion gently so it sweats without browning.

2. Increase heat to medium–high, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and all the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and sauté until the mushrooms soften.

3. Stir in the flour, then drizzle in the milk while stirring. Reduce the liquid by about half.

4. Add the provolone or mozzarella and let it melt; remove the filling from the heat immediately.

Assembly

• Place two crêpes on a buttered sheet pan (this helps save the cake if the bottom crêpe sticks). Spread a thin layer of the mushroom filling on the first crêpe, sprinkle a few chives, then top with another crêpe. Continue layering and spreading filling until you run out of filling (you’ll likely use all the filling before the crêpes).

• Finish with a final crêpe and sprinkle with Parmesan. Brown under a broiler until cheese melts and is golden if your broiler performs reliably (the author’s broiler browned only the edges, so a kitchen torch is an alternative).

Savory Crêpes

The original recipe suggested adding herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the batter; the author tried herbs but found no benefit and recommends adding such flavors in the filling instead. Using an 8½-inch skillet yielded about six crêpes; expect some early failures as you find your rhythm.

Savory crêpe ingredients

Savory crêpe method

• Combine all ingredients (except pan butter) in a blender and pulse ~10 seconds. (Author notes she mixed by hand as an alternative.) Chill the batter in the refrigerator for one hour or up to 48 hours.

• Heat a small nonstick pan and coat with butter. Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter into the center and swirl to spread evenly. Cook 30 seconds, flip, cook 10 seconds, discard the first crêpe (it’s often imperfect), and continue until batter is used. Lay cooled crêpes on a board and keep cooking.

Make-ahead & storage

• Crêpe batter can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the fridge.

• Cooked, cooled and well-wrapped, crêpes keep for several days in the fridge or up to two months frozen. Thaw on a rack and peel as needed.

• The filling can be prepared a day ahead and reheated gently over low heat. The author made crêpes in advance and the filling in the morning.

At-a-glance

Practical Tips