Step 1 In a medium bowl, whisk milk, eggs, and vanilla until combined.

Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Step 5 Make Ahead: Pastry cream (without the whipped cream folded in) can be made 3 days ahead.

Refrigerate pastry cream filling until ready to assemble. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in remaining whipped cream. Stir one-quarter of whipped cream into pastry cream until combined. Transfer cold pastry cream to another large bowl and stir until smooth.

Step 4 In a large bowl, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Step 3 Pour hot pastry cream onto a rimmed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto cream.

Cook, stirring, 1 minute longer, then remove from heat. Pour milk-egg mixture into pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until pastry cream boils and thickens to a pudding-like consistency, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, pour half of hot sugar milk into egg mixture.

Step 2 In a medium pot over medium heat, heat milk and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and milk is steaming.

Step 1 In a large heatproof bowl, whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, salt, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until combined.

Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below! We recommend chilling your cake for at least 4 hours before trying to cut it-and if you can overnight, even better! How do I cut my crêpe cake without it sliding like crazy? The answer is pretty straightforward: if your crêpe cake is slipping and sliding around when you try to cut it, you haven’t given it enough time in the refrigerator. In testing, we found that this took about 1 1/2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second. While you definitely want them cooked through, the crêpes should still be soft and flexible when you take them out of the pan. Why is my crêpe cake chewy? If your crêpe cake is chewy, the crêpes might be overcooked. This will help prevent the cake from sloping down around the sides and bulging in the center. How can I keep my crêpe cake flat on top? The best way to ensure that your cake stays flat on top is to spread your filling slightly thicker toward the edges of the cake. Just toss it out (or eat it-it’ll still taste delicious, even if it’s not crêpe cake building material!) and move on to the next one. Don’t worry there’s enough batter here to give you 18 crêpe layers, even with a few flops. Maybe the pan wasn’t hot enough or had too much butter in it.

What do I do if I ruin my first crêpe? It’s completely normal to wreck the first crêpe. It’s fun and airy and not too sweet, and when chilled, it becomes solid enough to hold all those layers together with no problem. What’s the filling? While there are lots of different filling options for crêpe cakes, we’re opting for a simple vanilla pastry cream, lightened with some whipped cream. Looking for more layers? Check out this chocolate chip cookie cake. Read on for more tips on this effortlessly elegant dessert.

When you’re ready to assemble, all you have to do is whip the cream to fold into the filling and get layering. You can make the pastry cream up to a day in advance, and as for the crêpes, they can also be cooked and stored in the refrigerator between sheets of parchment overnight, or even frozen up to 1 month. Our top tip? Plan ahead and pace yourself. Though it might look impossibly intricate and tricky to make, crêpe cake is actually pretty simple. It’s light, creamy, and absolutely irresistible. Crêpe cake is a cool, lofty masterpiece composed of layers of crêpes and lightened vanilla pastry cream, all topped with a billowing cloud of whipped cream and a crown of fresh berries. If you love sky-high, showstopping desserts, prepare to meet your new obsession.

Does crown royal vanilla have sugar