French Vanilla Crepe Cake ft. Cappuccino Mousse + Edible Confetti
This remix is all about the paper. And birthdays. To celebrate Discover Paper's 2nd year of existence on the World Wide Web, blog owner Donaville reached out to see if I would like to collaborate on a remix. Discover Paper spotlights digital and hand-crafted paper products, as well as artists creating beautiful works of art including paper jewelry, upcycled books, and unique alphabets. Donaville also spends a good deal of time compiling an impressive holiday gift guide every year and has been kind enough to feature some of my diptych calendars in the past.
Anyways, it just so happens that Cake Remix is about to celebrate a birthday of its own - numero uno baby! My first Thai Curry remix was posted on April 30, 2012 and here we are - 23 remixes later and I haven't run out of ideas yet. So with paper as the inspiration and without further ado, I am so happy to present the Discover Paper remix:
I decided right away that this would be a crepe cake, also dubbed mille (French for 'thousand') crepe cake. Consisting of alternating layers of crepes and frosting/filling, this cake actually resembles a stack of flaky papers and when sliced, the interior looks like the pages of a book. The cake is relatively easy to make - though, time-consuming to pour and flip all of the crepes. A bit more work than just popping a cake in the oven for 45 minutes but this one looks impressive and hand-crafted, if you will. You can use those valuable seconds in between crepes to be productive - I did push-ups, put away dishes, and then caught up on my celebrity gossip.
Sticking with the theme of good books and curling up with a cup of coffee, I chose a cappuccino mousse to sandwich in between each crepe layer. I used brewed coffee and heavy cream in the recipe, but you could substitute a tablespoon or two of cappuccino or other flavored drink mixes for the coffee instead.
And what would a paper remix be without the paper? I had fun experimenting with edible rice paper for some decorative accents, and scroll down for mini crepe-cupcake versions as well. Happy Birthday Discover Paper - here's for many more to come!
Rice Paper - Two Ways
Edible rice paper or wafer paper is used as a wrapper in Asian dishes, such as spring rolls, and more recently in confectionery sweets such as the one you are currently reading about. Rice paper is not necessarily tasty (think dry and starchy like a Communion wafer), but it is edible so you can use it in a food dish and not have to worry about removing before eating.
The paper is fragile and usually comes wrapped in cellophane to prevent breakage. The paper will also shrivel and crinkle when it gets wet, so be sure to keep it as dry as possible while working.