I’m a big lover of food. Like a BIG lover of food. I’m the epitome of a foodie. I love everything about it. From grocery shopping to cooking to eating to talking about food to watching cooking shows. I’m an adventurous cook and an even more adventurous eater. There’s really nothing I won’t try once. By once I mean, I’ll keep on trying to make sure I wasn’t wrong the fourth or seventh times. Sure, there are a few things that I’m not a huge fan of, but there’s really nothing I won’t eat if it’s put before me. The only real things I don’t love and avoid are ketchup and mustard. I don’t love them, but again, I will eat them if they’re placed in front of me.
Cooking and baking are things I do for fun, to show my love, to get creative, to destress, to have something to eat. Food is one of my love languages. If you enter my house and stay for long, I will try and feed you… By try, I mean, I almost always succeed.
I’ve never been one for setting goals or resolutions. I am creating an In The Kitchen To Do List for 2021. There are things I’ve never made but have always wanted to or things I just haven’t gotten around to or things I’ve been scared to take on. I’m going to try my hand and some of these things… Finally.
- Full English Breakfast
- Bûche de Noël
- Jägerschnitzel
- Kringla
- Beef Wellington
- Croissants
- Black Bean Burgers
- Pelmeni or пельмени
- Black Forest Cake
- Gluten free bread (gluten free baking scares me)
- Italian Beef ala Portillos
January is pretty much a wash for me baking and cooking for a variety of reasons. That being said, if I tackle one of these every month, I can have the list done by next year. One a month… That’s not too daunting. I can do it. Probably.
Alright, I’m using a picture of a Chocolate Mousse Crêpe Cake with Candied Pecans I’ve made more than a few times over the years. I won’t be mean and not include the recipe. It’s delicious. All the parts individually are really easy. A crêpe cake seems far more daunting than it actually is. The hardest part is making the crêpes, and I promise you can do it… Just make a double batch and throw the first five out.
Ingredients
Crêpes
- 1 cup flour
- 1¼ cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbs. melted butter
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 2 tbs. sugar
- 1 tbs. vanilla extract
Chocolate Mousse
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 2 tbs. vanilla extract
Candied Pecans
- 1 cup halved pecans
- ¼ heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbs. butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. cloves
Directions
Crêpes
- Sift flour into a large bowl, and mix in dry ingredients.
- Whisk in milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Fold in the melted butter.
- Let rest for an hour. This really is an important step. (You can make the mousse!)
- In a hot pan, (you don’t have to have a crêpe pan, just as flat as possible, nonstick is easiest) melt butter. Pour in enough batter to thinly coat the pan. Swirl the pan to evenly spread the batter.
- Once little bubbles start to form, flip the crêpe.
- When the crêpe is done, put on a plate to cool. (I put a sheet of wax paper on top so I can stack the crêpes without them sticking together.)
- Repeat the cooking of the crêpes until all the batter is gone. Try and keep them equally sized and shaped… to the best of your ability.
- Set aside to cool completely.
Chocolate Mousse
- Make sure cream cheese is room temperature.
- In a glass bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until it becomes whipped cream. Set aside.
- Whisk (either by hand or in an electric mixer) together the remaining ingredients until they are well blended. You can always add more or less cocoa powder to whatever your tastes are.
- With a spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Place in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
Candied Pecans
- If you prefer walnuts (weirdo), you can do this with walnuts.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a skillet, melt butter, brown sugar and spices.
- Once the sugar mixture is bubbling and sugar is no longer grainy, pour in heavy whipping cream. Whisk until combined and bubbling.
- Pour in the nuts and stir until they are completely coated in the sugar mixture.
- Spread the nuts onto the baking sheet to cool completely.
- Once cooled, crumble and separate the nuts so they’re not one giant glob.
Assembly
- On whatever serving platter you’re going to use, lay the first crêpe down in the center.
- Spread a thin layer of chocolate mousse on the crêpe.
- Place the second crêpe as centered as you can on the first, then spread a thin layer of chocolate mousse.
- Continue this process until you have used all the crêpes or it’s as tall as you want.
- Cover the top of the cake with a thick layer of chocolate mousse. If you want, you can also cover the sides… I like a rustic looking cake, so I leave the sides bare.
- Sprinkle the candied pecans over the top of the cake in whatever quantity makes you happy.
- Place in the refrigerator to set for at least one hour.
- CUT AND DIG ON IN!
bisous und обьятий,
RaeAnna
