It looks intimidating as hell, we know, but it's not as hard as beautiful Instagram photos would lead you to believe. Once you've mastered the easy crepe technique, it's all about stacking gently, not over-filling with pastry cream, and building it tall enough that you can get a dramatic, stunning slice. The best part is that most of the steps can be done ahead, and the crepe batter is made in a blender.
1. Sleep In (Make Your Batter the Night Before)
It takes only five minutes to make the crepe batter in a blender—4 large eggs, 4 cups whole milk, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt—and it should sit for at least an hour. Impatient? Sleep while it rests in the fridge overnight, because you can't over-chill it.
2. Set Up Your Station
We're not going to sugar-coat things (yet): you're going to spend an hour making this cake. To set yourself up for success, make sure everything is in place. To the left of the stove, keep the pitcher of batter, a ¼ measuring cup in a bowl (to catch any drips!), and a whisk to give it a gentle stir in case it settles. On your right side, keep a rubber spatula ready for flipping, a bowl of melted butter (4 Tbsp.), and a pastry brush to coat the pan.
3. Don't Over-Butter Your Pan!
A suuuuper light brushing of butter is all you need, otherwise the crepes may bubble and brown too quickly. You also don't want them to get greasy, or else the beautiful custard may slide right off them when you build the cake.
4. Control the Pan with Your Dominant Hand
Our instructions are for someone who is right-handed—if you're a lefty, swap everything we said in the setup above. You want to control the crepe-batter-swirling with your dominant hand on the pan handle. By pouring with your non-dominant hand and forming the crepe with your dominant one, you have better control over its shape.
5. Don't Overcook, or You'll Have Tough Crepes
The ideal heat is medium-low, but you can adjust the temperature up or down if you're worried they're cooking too fast or browning too much. You want the crepes to be light golden brown without much color so they are very tender. It will get tougher the more you cook it, and after you work this hard, you don't want to bite into a tough cake! This should take about 2 minutes on the first side and only 30 seconds on the second. Crepes can be made a day in advance if doing all of this in one day seems daunting.
