Stunning yet easy no-bake Japanese style strawberry mille crepe cake made up of super thin crepes that yields the softest and most delicious cake.
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I was motivated to write this strawberry Japanese style mille crepe cake recipe after seeing all the love I continued to receive on these two old recipes of mine: Japanese Strawberry Cake Roll & Asian Bakery Strawberry Cake. Fresh strawberries are abundant and in-season right now, I thought it was the perfect time to come up with a new sweet recipe featuring strawberries. Since my twin toddlers are still a handful right now, I was inspired to create a cake that was easier to make and would have a near perfect chance of success. So, yes, to easy no-bake cakes! I really love how I could make this strawberry crepe cake in small bursts yet it turned out so beautifully. I hope you can try it too.
XOXO,
Mimi
Why You'll Love Making This Cake
- Easy no-bake dessert - you'll know how it will turn out right away
- Make before and freeze in advance of special occasions
- Stunning presentation - no one will know how easy it was though!
- Substitute with any fruit!
- Uses basic ingredients that can be found year-round
- Delicious - a refreshing moderately sweet dessert
What is a Crepe Cake?
Crepe cakes are made by stacking paper-thin crepes together with filling and sometimes fruits like strawberries and bananas. Unlike regular pancakes, crepes are made without a raising agent so it remains flat. It's made with conveniently made with year-round ingredients of flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and butter. Cooked on a frying pan, it is a perfect no-bake dessert.
Can I Substitute Strawberries with Other Fruits?
Yes! You can definitely substitute strawberries for other seasonal or canned fruits. The key is to use fruits that slice well and have a low-moisture content. Recommended fruits include: bananas, mangos, canned peaches, apricot and apples. If you are interested in making crepe cakes in other flavors, you can take a look at my other crepe cake recipes: Coconut Rainbow Crepe Cake and Matcha Green Tea Japanese Crepe Cake.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Japanese Mille Crepe
- Heavy cream - Heavy cream has a milk fat content of 36% +, it can be substituted with whipping cream with a fat content of 33% +.
- Milk
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Neutral tasting oil - choices include avocado, grapeseed, canola and vegetable.
- Cake flour - this yields a softer textured crepe which is more ideal. It can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
- Vanilla extract - use either pure or artificial
- Butter - for frying. It can be substituted with cooking oil but you'll risk losing the yummy butter flavor.
- Optional: red food color - I prefer gel color. It is a more potent food coloring that doesn't add excessive moisture.
Chantilly Cream
- Heavy cream - can be substituted with whipping cream but heavy cream will produce a more sturdier and stable cream.
- Powdered sugar - if you prefer to use granulated sugar, here's a stabilized whipped cream recipe that incorporates gelatin for the sturdiest type of whipped cream.
- Vanilla extract - use either pure or artificial
How Many Crepes Should I Have?
Ideally, you should be able to make between 25-30 crepes with the amount of batter provided in this recipe. If you end up with less than that, the crepes will be thicker, making the cake chewier and harder to cut into without breaking apart. The higher the amount of crepes, the thinner they will be and the cake will have a softer texture. When you're pan-frying, try to use just enough batter to make a crepe with a paper-thin thickness. The water added into the batter right before cooking also helps with this!
Tips On Making Paper-Thin Crepes
Start with a good non-stick pan. It doesn't have to be fancy, just an 8" inch non-stick one like this will work. While cooking, you need to work quickly with a batter that is just a bit runny and not too sticky. In my recipe, I add a little bit of water to the batter to thin it out immediately before it hits the pan. It will help the batter swirl on the pan and spread out quickly before setting. You'll know it's ready to be flipped once the edge can be picked up with a pair of silicone tongs without tearing. Here are some more tips for baking a great crepe cake, I highly recommend you read it before starting this recipe.
Tools for Making Ultra-Thin Crepes
- 8” Round non-stick pan - a good non-stick pan is required for making the crepes ultra-thin. It will prevent the crepes from tearing.
- Silicone tongs - silicone tongs helps pick up the edge of the crepe gently without tearing it.
- Pastry brush - a pastry brush will disperse the butter evenly on the pan creating a non-stick barrier for making thin crepes.
- Blender/Food Processor - a blender helps in incorporating all the ingredients together into one even and uniformed crepe batter. This is the food processor I use in my kitchen. It's very versatile, I use it for chopping up baby food or grinding my own almond flour.
- Mixing Bowls
- Medium-sized pot
- Hand held mixer
- Sifter
- Spatula - a good flat spatula will be needed to lift the crepe off the pan
Can I Make Crepe Cakes In Advance?
Yes! It's very convenient to be able to make a portion of this cake in advance of special occasions. The crepes only can be frozen for up to a month in the freezer. To freeze, place parchment paper in between each crepe and then place the whole stack in a Ziplock bag (remember to place a piece on the top and bottom of the stack too). The day before assembly, defrost the stack in the fridge. Gently peel off each layer and then assemble as usual. The cream will need to be made on the day of assembly. The cake can be assembled 2-3 days in advance.
Step By Step
Heat cream, milk and sugar on medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Take off heat when small bubbles form along the edges, do NOT bring to a boil. Allow mixture to come to room temperature.
Add in eggs, oil, cake flour and vanilla extract.
Optional: add in food color, gently stir until desired color is reached.
Pulse in blender (or with immersion blender) a few times until flour lumps are gone. A few pulses should do, do not over blend. Pour through a sieve and place in fridge for a minimum of 1 hour (use mixture within 24 hours). Immediately before cooking, add the water into the mixture and stir to thin it out.
Heat an 8'' pan on low-medium heat, using a pastry brush, coat pan generously with butter for the first crepe. Pan is ready when the butter sizzles as it hits the pan. Using a small ladle, pour approximately ⅕ cup of batter onto pan, swirl the batter around until it coats the pan evenly. Cook first side for approximately 2 minutes. The crepe will bubble up and once the sides can be picked up with a silicone tong without tearing, the crepe can be flipped with a flat spatula. It will look slightly golden. Watch the second side closely. It will cook much faster, about 1 min. Remove from heat before it turns brown. Place on cooling rack to cool before stacking on plate. Repeat steps 8-12 for subsequent crepes.
Spread a thin layer of cream and thinly sliced strawberries in between each layer of crepe. Gently press down on cake after each layer. Place in an air tight container and let it set overnight before cutting. Strawberry mille crepe cake should be kept in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will remain fresh for up to 3-4 days.
Recipe
Japanese Strawberry Mille Crepe Cake
Stunning yet easy no-bake Japanese style strawberry mille crepe cake made up of super thin crepes that yields the softest and most delicious cake. Substitute strawberries with other fruits too!
Ingredients
Japanese Mille Crepe
- 190 ml heavy cream*
- 190 ml milk
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 35 grams neutral tasting oil*
- 135 grams cake flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoon water
- Butter for greasing pan
- Optional: red food color
Chantilly Cream
- 360 ml heavy cream
- 80 grams powdered sugar (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assembly
- 12 strawberries, thinly sliced
Supplies
- Regular kitchen supplies PLUS
- 8" non-stick pan
- Silicone tongs
- Cooling rack
- Blender or immersion blender
- Sieve
Instructions
Mille Crepe Cake
- Heat cream, milk and sugar on medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Take off heat when small bubbles form along the edges, do NOT bring to a boil.
- Allow mixture to come to room temperature.
- Add in eggs, oil, cake flour and vanilla extract.
- Optional: add in food color, gently stir until desired color is reached.
- Pulse in blender (or with immersion blender) a few times until flour lumps are gone. A few pulses should do, do not over blend.
- Pour through a sieve and place in fridge for a minimum of 1 hour (use mixture within 24 hours).
- Immediately before cooking, add the water into the mixture and stir to thin it out.
- Heat an 8'' pan on low-medium heat, using a pastry brush, coat pan generously with butter for the first crepe. Pan is ready when the butter sizzles as it hits the pan.
- Using a small ladle, pour approximately ⅕ cup of batter onto pan, swirl the batter around until it coats the pan evenly.
- Cook first side for approximately 2 minutes. The crepe will bubble up and once the sides can be picked up with a silicone tong without tearing, the crepe can be flipped with a flat spatula. It will look slightly golden.
- Watch the second side closely. It will cook much faster, about 1 min. Remove from heat before it turns brown.
- Place on cooling rack to cool before stacking on plate.
- Repeat steps 8-12 for subsequent crepes.
Chantilly Cream
- Place a mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge to chill. It will help the cream whip better.
- Place cream in the chilled mixing bowl, then whip on low speed until the beater starts leaving light tracks in the cream.
- Add powdered sugar.
- Increase speed to medium-high.
- Before the cream becomes stiff, add vanilla extract and continue to whip.
- Stop whipping when the cream starts to get stiff and turns from glossy to matte. Do not over whip.
- Use for assembly immediately.
Assembly
- Spread a thin layer of cream and thinly sliced strawberries in between each layer of crepe.
- Gently press down on cake after each layer.
- Place in an air tight container and let it set overnight before cutting.
- Strawberry mille crepe cake should be kept in an air-tight container in the fridge. It will remain fresh for up to 3-4 days.
Notes
- Heavy cream has a milk fat content of 36% +, it can be substituted with whipping cream with a fat content of 33% +. For the Chantilly cream portion, heavy cream will produce a more sturdier and stable cream.
- Neutral tasting oil choices include: grapeseed, canola, avocado and vegetable.
- Read post body on how to make this cake in advance.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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T-fal Advanced Non Stick Fry Pan 8 Inch, Oven Broiler Safe 350F, Skillet, Non Stick Frying Pan, Kitchen Egg Pan, Omelet Pan, Always Pan, Versatile, Home, Cookware, Pots and Pans, Dishwasher Safe Black -
Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract for Baking and Cooking, 8 Ounce Bottle
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KitchenAid Silicone Tipped Stainless Steel Tongs, 12 Inch, Aqua Sky
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OXO Good Grips Silicone Basting & Pastry Brush - Small
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Braun 4-in-1 Immersion Hand Blender, Powerful 350W Stainless Steel Stick Blender, Multi-Speed + 2-Cup Food Processor, Whisk, Beaker, Masher, Easy to Clean, Black, MultiQuick MQ537BK
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Kitchenaid Handheld Mixer
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 456Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 18gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 13gCholesterol 154mgSodium 70mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 1gSugar 19gProtein 7g
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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