Gâteau mille crêpes
A cake of French crêpes that, by most accounts, was born in Japanese cafés and spread from there to patisseries worldwide: twenty paper-thin crepes layered with cream, with no baking at all. It all comes down to regularity. The crepes must be of uniform thickness and pale, never browned — brown patches are tougher and show in the cut. And the cream layers must be thin, since thick cream squeezes out at the sides under the weight of the crepes above.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Crepe batter 60 min
- Cream 30 min
- Cooking the crepes 60 min
- Chilling 360 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBlend the batter and rest it an hour
Blend the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, salt and browned butter until smooth, strain it and rest for an hour. The rest lets the flour swell and air bubbles escape — the crepes come out thinner, smoother and less prone to tearing.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 750 ml milk · 6 pcs eggs · 60 g sugar · 70 g butter · 1 pinch salt
Cook a vanilla pastry cream
Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla, temper the yolks beaten with the sugar and cornflour, and cook, stirring until thick and bubbling, then a minute more. Stir in the butter, spread into a shallow dish, cover with film touching the surface and chill — it will cool while you cook the crepes.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 140 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 40 g butter · 400 ml whipping cream (30–36%)
Cook very thin, pale crepes
In a lightly greased 24 cm pan cook paper-thin crepes, 50 ml batter each, about 60 seconds, without flipping — the underside should stay pale. You need 20 of identical diameter — there is batter to spare for the first few failures. Cooking them all takes about an hour.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 750 ml milk · 6 pcs eggs · 60 g sugar · 70 g butter · 1 pinch salt
A pale underside, no flipping — brown would show in the cut.Cool the crepes separately
Lay the crepes out individually on a cloth or paper, not in a stack. Stacked hot, they stick together and steam, then tear when you separate them.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 750 ml milk · 6 pcs eggs · 60 g sugar · 70 g butter · 1 pinch salt
Lighten the cream with whipped cream
Whip the cream to soft peaks. Whisk the cold pastry cream smooth, then fold in the whipped cream in two additions. It should be airy yet thick enough not to run off a crepe.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 140 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 40 g butter · 400 ml whipping cream (30–36%)
Layer in thin coats
Lay a crepe on a plate, spread about 5 tablespoons of cream thinly (1/19 of the total), stopping 1 cm from the edge, and cover with the next. Repeat, aligning the edges. The cream reaches the edge by itself under the weight of the layers above.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 140 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 40 g butter · 400 ml whipping cream (30–36%)
Five spoons, a centimetre short — it spreads by itself.Chill six hours
Cover with film and chill at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. The cream must set and the crepes absorb its moisture — only then does the cake slice into clean, sharp wedges.
Ingredients: 600 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 140 g sugar · 50 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 40 g butter · 400 ml whipping cream (30–36%)
Twenty layers, edges aligned — then a night in the cold.Caramelise the top with a torch
Just before serving sprinkle the top with sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch like a crème brûlée. Cut with a long knife dipped in hot water and wiped after every slice — only then do the layers stay distinct.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp sugar
Before you start
Browned butter in the batter
Butter heated to a nutty brown before going into the batter gives the crepes a faint caramel note. A small detail that adds a lot, since the cream itself is fairly neutral.
The matcha version
In Japan the green tea version is very popular: add 2 tablespoons of matcha to the crepe batter and one to the cream. Matcha absorbs liquid, so loosen the batter with a spoon of milk.
Three days in the fridge
The cake keeps three days in the fridge under film. Always caramelise the top just before serving — the caramel softens from the cream's moisture within an hour and stops crackling.
