Nutella Crepe Cake

 

Nutella Crepe Cake

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus melted for pan

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (Ghirardelli semisweet baking bars)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature

6 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Bring 1/4 cup water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate until completely melted. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla in another medium bowl. Gradually add milk mixture to flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Add chocolate-butter mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into an airtight container; discard lumps. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Lightly coat an 8-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet with melted butter. Heat over medium heat until just starting to smoke. Remove pan from heat; pour about 2 tablespoons batter into pan, swirling to cover bottom. Reduce heat to medium-low; return pan to heat. Cook, flipping once, until edges are golden and center is dry, about 30 seconds per side.

Slide crepe onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, coating pan with butter as needed. Crepes can be refrigerated, covered, up to 1 day. (It is nice during assembly if the crepes are cold.)

Place a crepe on desired cake plate. Spread with about 3 tablespoons hazelnut filling. Top with another crepe. Continue layering with hazelnut filling and crepes, using about 32 crepes and ending with a crepe on top. (I ended up only using 22, the filling ran out...but still was beautiful and delish.) Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Spoon 1/2 cup glaze on top of the cake, spreading to edges. Spread remaining glaze around sides of cake, coating completely. Refrigerate until glaze is firm and set, about 60 minutes, or overnight was better!  Cake can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Hazelnut Cream

2/3 cup heavy cream
6 large egg whites
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup hazelnut cream
Pinch of salt (I used a bit more, maybe 1/4 t)
Put cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Whisk egg whites and sugar in the clean bowl of mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar has dissolved and mixture registers 160 degrees, 2 to 3 minutes. (I didn't measure temp, I just slowly heated until the sugar was dissolved. My egg whites didn't beat up to stiff peaks, but the cake went together flawlessly.)

Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until slightly cooled and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 5 minutes.

Fit mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter, several pieces at a time, mixing well after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Add vanilla, hazelnut cream, and salt; mix until mixture comes together, 3 to 5 minutes. Fold in whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Use immediately.

Chocolate Glaze

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (Ghirardelli semisweet baking bars)

Bring cream, corn syrup, and salt to a boil in a medium-heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; swirl pan to cover completely with cream. Let stand about 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let cool completely.

**Adapted ever so slightly from Martha Stewart
**This cake was a definite time commitment and labor of love, but so worth it! It was delicious and super fun! Fancy, tasty, fun to talk about and was better on the 2nd and third days! When it was well refrigerated, the slices came out perfect, even if it was only 1/2 inch thick. I will make this again if anyone requests it, otherwise it might be what I make myself for my 40th next year! :)
**I made this again and made 1/2 of the batter for crepes and it worked out perfect. Keep the cream and the glaze the same.  About 20 crepes and still just as beautiful, just a lot less time over the stove making crepes!