Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake

Five stars—every time. I’ve made this cake many times and it never fails to amaze. The first time I made it I carried it across the street to a party. People were so floored by its appearance that no one would speak to me until they ate it! My best “silent rave review” ever. But do yourself a favor: unless you have at least two days do not bother! Also have some bamboo brochettes/skewers on hand. Insert them (3 or 4) temporarily into the cake after layering for stability and chill until ENTIRELY firm before adding the ganache in two passes, the second and final coat after an hour in the fridge with skewers finally removed. Oh! And if the extra drama of threading delicate hazelnuts on sticks and dragging them through carmelized sugar scares you—don’t bother! The cake is amazing without.

We got this recipe to work on the first try, but I must say we strayed widely from the recipe’s instructions, but not on the ingredients: 1. CREPES - we did not have a crepe pan, so needed to choose between an 8” & 10” non-stick pan. The bottom surface of our 8” pan was only 6”, so we went with the 10” pan that had an 8” bottom surface. There was no possible way that 2 Tbs of the crepe batter would work. We ended up doubling the batter per crepe to 1/4 cup. Crepes worked better without butter added to the pan. There is lots of butter in the batter and it was plenty. Flipping the crepes was very difficult. With chocolate in the batter, the crepes were extremely delicate. We ended up flipping the crepes onto a plate and then carefully with fingers moving it back. For our stove, pan was at medium low the entire time, cooked 2 min on first side until top was mostly dry, flipped using a plate, then cooked on the 2nd side for 30 sec - 1 min. Note: we didn’t stack the crepes coming off the pan for fear they would stick. They might not have, but we lost 2 crepes getting them to cook right, so we didn’t want to risk more. We would put the first crepe on a plate in the fridge to cool while cooking the 2nd. 2nd went on a new plate in fridge to cool. When 3rd crepe was ready, 2nd was moved onto wax paper on top of first. We continued this system so that crepes were totally cooled before stacking with wax paper in between. It took a couple of hours at least to make the crepes and got much easier as the batter warmed to room temperature. Cold batter is harder to swirl. Despite doubling the amount of batter used per crepe, we still ended up with 30 crepes (2 lost in our first attempts). 2. HAZELNUT FILLING - you definitely want to use the ingredients listed in the Martha Stewart hazelnut cream recipe. Others asked about hazelnut coffeemate, or linked to a different filling recipe. I can’t imagine those working or being as good. In the M.S. recipe for Hazelnut Filling, she lists “Hazelnut Cream” as an ingredient. We found it on Amazon: “Cream of Hazelnut from Sicily”. The brand is Vicente. It can probably be found at specialty grocery stores. 3. CHOCOLATE GLAZE - this was easy and came out as the recipe described. It does not, however, look like the picture. The picture implys a true glaze you can pour over the cake to coat. The recipe describes what you end up with...more of a floating. But it is delicious and worked out fine. 4. ASSEMBLY - We were extra sure that all the ingredients were cold. You put a lot less filling in then you think you should, barely enough to cover the crepe. But it comes out perfect in the end. The finished cake is about the size of a 2 layer cake in diameter and height. Ours was slightly domed in the center because swirling the batter results in slightly thicker middles on the crepes. 5. CANDIED HAZELNUTS - this went as expected. The sugar starts to harden fast, so work quickly. Although the crepe cake itself can sit a couple of days in the fridge once complete, the hazelnuts cannot. If you want to do the hazelnuts on top, wait and do them the day you serve the cake. 6. FINAL COMMENTS: We made the batter on day 1, cooked the crepes and assembled the cake with hazelnut garnish on day 2, ate it on day 4. By day 4, the spires on the hazelnuts had moistened in the humidity of the fridge and melted onto the cake. Not in a bad way, but less dramatic looking. This recipe didn’t get 5 stars from me simple because of the amount of work involved. Delicious, absolutely. Impressive to look at, definitely. But I probably won’t make it again unless I really want to impress, or experiment with different flavors.

This looks like a knock0ff of Kate's cake in the The Great British Baking Show (Season 5). I like Kate's use of thin layers of a simple white sponge cake better than the crepes. She also created the caramel sugared nuts with the spikes for her cake.

The cake was much richer than I like but it went over well with everyone else. I had issues making my hazelnut cream and it was a little thinner than I had planned so as the 30+ crepes took shape it did begin to slowly slide so I put wooden skewers in it to hold it while it set in the refrigerator. Keep in mind this is not a big cake, it will be about 8 inches wide (given an 8in crepe pan and probably about 6 inches tall. I took two days making it, 1 for prep and chilling and 1 for finishing.

Also, when I look at the picture it seems like there is probably twice as much cream between the layers as what mine looked like (I used the 3 Tablespoons called for). For it to look like that cake I would probably have to have doubled the cream.

I had no problems with the recipe- thank you previous commentors for your tips!- I have to say though that the cake wasn't nearly as high as the one pictured. I did use an 8" pan, so it's unclear to me why this would be.

I made this for a dessert contest and won overall. For awhile though while making it I was ready to give up--it takes a long time to make and crepes aren't easy. I like to make the chocolate crepe recipe by itself... it'd be good with strawberries. Couple things.... I didn't have the hazelnut cream -whatever that is exactly- but I used part hazelnut coffee creamer and part ground-up hazelnuts. It worked really well; I food-processed the hazelnuts very fine. I halved the chocolate glaze recipe.

P.S. there is also a recipe for hazelnut cream here, that I think would work. http://www.marthastewart.com/355331/hazelnut-cream-tuiles The hazelnut cream that I found was simply sweetened nut butter. Be sure you are not using hazelnut coffee creamer, that is not what they are talking about.

This cake is epic, but it truly does take forever. I had no problems with stability, I am guessing those who did, did not whip the filling long enough after adding the butter. It is Swiss meringue buttercream, so after adding butter, it will get soupy, so whip the heck out of it until it's thick and fluffy again...it will be perfectly stable between the crepes if you do this. I also chilled my crepes before assembling. I made my own hazelnut cream in the food processor. It's just nut butter.

My third attempt to make this cake was this weekend, and it finally turned out perfect! I've had stability problems in the past as well, but this time I refrigerated the crepes until they were cold. Also, since we don't like hazelnut much, I used nutella chocolate creme or raspberry chocolate creme (found in the peanut butter aisle) instead and raspberry extract instead of vanilla (to cover up the faint hazelnut taste in the nutella) in the filling. It turns out amazing.

This was obnoxiously delicious!!!! Pure food pornography. ;-) I was a little nervous starting out as I read all the reviews about the stability of the cake but we had no trouble whatsoever. It did take about 8.5 hours of labor to pull it off however, so plan ahead! I think the most important part is to use actual hazelnut creme. I found it at Williams and Sonoma. I wasn't familiar with it prior, but it is basically the equivalent of the filling you find in a hazelnut creme filled chocolate.

I also had trouble with this cake's stability. Next time I will: whip the cream more to make it firmer, refrigerate the filling before using, and assembling the crepes in 4 stacks, then refigerating overnight, combine the stacks, and refigerate 30 min. That should do it, else just make a cake base and rod in the center to stack them on! Would also double the recipe of filling if you want to look like the pic. Instead of hazelnut cream/butter I used ground hazelnuts.

True, this cake takes a lot of time and some effort, but it tasted amazing and turned out great! Give yourself enough time between steps (i made the crepes the night before assembling the cake) and you'll be fine. I had trouble with Hazelnut creme too. I used "hazelnut praline" from whole foods instead, which was just like peanut butter, but with hazelnuts. worked great and tasted delicious! I was thinking of subbing vanilla for hazelnut extract next time-- any thoughts?

Hazelnut creme? I even tried to buy it online but can't find it. I don't think Nutella was what the recipe called for. I was going to try it but after reading the rest of the comments I'm discouraged from lack of wanting to clean up a huge mess.

This cake was an unbelievable disaster (although it tasted great). Followed the recipe exactly, but as we neared the end of the assembly the entire thing gave way and crepes spilled all over the counter, every which way. We even tried to firm it up in the freezer - use. We ended up sitting around the counter, nibbling at the mess and drying our tears.

This cake was an unbelievable disaster (although it tasted great). Followed the recipe exactly, but as we neared the end of the assembly the entire thing gave way and crepes spilled all over the counter, every which way. We even tried to firm it up in the freezer - use. We ended up sitting around the counter, nibbling at the mess and drying our tears.

this cake. oh lord. i used a nutella whipped cream as suggested below and have zero success. it was awful. delicious, but awful. i'm not sure how martha did it. i'm quite impressed yet again. obviously it's important that your crepes are equal. and to not use a lot of filling between crepes. only use a very thin amount just to secure it. i know the recipe calls to refrigerate, but i couldn't get my cake to not slip and slide all over the place enough to place it in a refrigerator. be brave!

I have not tried this yet - but I'm wondering if a solution to the "mess" people are having is to make your own whipped cream and whip in nutella? Have everything cooled/refrigerated overnight when doing?

worst idea ever, sounds easy.. i know how to make crepes, i bought nutella, and the chocolate glaze came out perfect. but the end result was disgusting. nutella started liquefying even though the crepes cooled completely, and they started sliding around the more crepes i put on. end result? a mound of mess covered in chocolate, and something happened to make the crepes harden. COMPLETE WASTE OF $ AND TIME!!!!!!

I would say to the last reviewer that something must be wrong with your stove or your refrigerator. It took me a few hours at most with the longest being the fridge time. It took me a bit over an hour for the crepes. If it took you 11 hours i would invest in new appliances. That would probably explain the 'runny' filling. I didnt have that problem either.

I also had the hardest time finding hazelnut cream. This recipe did not work for me. The filling between the crepes was much too runny and the chocolate crepes weren't my favorite either. They should really adjust the total time it takes to make this cake, it took me nearly from noon to eleven at night!

I couldn't find hazelnut cream so i took 2 tbs almond paste and added 1/4 cup of heavy cream to make it creamy. A VERY pleasant taste and a big hit - not too strong a flavour either - could even add more next time!

The problem I am having is not enough cream filling I am going to have to make another batch as not to waste crepes and my hazelnut creme ended up costing $24. online Also using 2 TBS of batter seemed to make awful thin crepes and I ended up with more than 32. And what do you use if you dont have a paddle attachment for stand alone mixer. Help on the filling would be appreciated.

You can watch the video by clicking on the "Watch Video" text and arrow on the photo of the cake.

I would like to know how I could be able to watch the video. For your help. Thank you.

I made this cake for my boyfriend's birthday last year/first time meeting his parents. It was a hit! The entire table was completely silent and everyone said it was the best cake they've ever had. It took me 7 hours to make, but it was a definite show stopper!

yeahh,, where is the rest?? its look intresting.. i want to make it 4 my voyfriend's bday...

Where is the rest of the video? Anyone know where I can find it. I would to make this for Easter. Thanks!!!

thanks for everyone's response. i ended up taking a wild guess and using hazelnut coffee cream from the dairy isle. and it was correct. the only problem was that i think i over mixed it so it start to look like how it should then became lumpy and sort of cottage cheese texture. next time i'll definitely try the Praline Paste. besides being my first time and extremely labor intensive it was fun and a big hit for my friend's birthday.

if you use nutella, try making plain non-chocolate crepes to achieve a similar(dark-light layers) effect as in the picture. i think it would work just as well.

Anyone know how to see the other half of the video?

I used hazelnut butter instead if the cream and it was so good. I just made it for a friend and used almond butter and that was so tasty.

I used Nutella (hazelnut and chocolate spread like peanut butter) and mixed in a 12 oz. tub of whipped topping for me hazelnut spread. It didn't turn out like the picture, but it was DIVINE! Also, I was thinking of using dark chocolate pudding next time to same time and money.

I too am having trouble finding Hazelnut Cream. Does anyone know if Hazelnut spread by Loacker will work. This is the color of chocolate and looks like creamy peanut butter. Thanks for any help.

i have made this cake twice, and it is awesome. It took me a while to figure out the hazelnut cream as well, but make sure you keep this is in the fridge for a while before you glaze it or it will slide. I put mine in the freezer the second time for an hour, and it didn't slide a bit while being glazed Make sure you don't cook the caramel for too long, or it will crystalize after about 2-3 minutes of making the hazelnut topping..

i have made this cake twice, and it is awesome. It took me a while to figure out the hazelnut cream as well, but make sure you keep this is in the fridge for a while before you glaze it or it will slide. I put mine in the freezer the second time for an hour, and it didn't slide a bit while being glazed Make sure you don't cook the caramel for too long, or it will crystalize after about 2-3 minutes of making the hazelnut topping..

The Hazelnut cream is just hazelnut coffee cream found in any dairy section. It took a while of research, but I figured it out!

I loved making this cake. But, it was very hot in my kitchen and I should have refrigerated it longer than 15 minutes prior to glazing because in the middle of spreading the glaze, the layers started to slide off of each other! To keep it together I grabbed a bar-b-que skewer and stuck it straight down the middle and quickly put it in the freezer. Thankfully, I did get it glazed, but it was a quite uneven

i would love to make this cake but can't find hazelnut cream, what exactly should i be looking for

This cake was very impressive. BUT, it was SO MUCH WORK that I'll never make it again - I told everyone to enjoy while they could! The crepes were really finicky... I've done crepes before but these were hard to cook without being over or under done. And the filling wasn't too hard but covering this cake in chocolate was a mess! There was more on me and my kitchen than on the cake! I dubbed it Gloppy the Chocolate Monster (from Candyland). Overall a 6hr investment, so make sure you plan ahead!

I too used the Hazelnut Praline from whole foods and it was perfect. This cake was an absolute showstopper. Finally a dessert everyone loved! From 3 year-olds to seventy year-olds, it got rave reviews.

Re: I am sure I am way to late for ;jamdaejee's' birthday cake... sorry about that, but I do want to mention I went to Whole Foods and purchased a "Praline Paste" from the baking isle. It has since become one of my absolute favorite ingredients. It is made mostly from hazelnuts and since I made this recipe, about a year and a half ago, I have since put it in many other this like frostings, batters, etc. If you like hazelnuts-- you will LOVE praline paste. Good luck :)

Re. Hazelnut cream. Used hazelnut paste recipe on recipegoldmine.com and it worked just fine. FYO-as a guide, walnut cream is 100g softened butter, 200g walnuts, 200g sugar and 2 eggs. 1 pound = 454 grams. Hope this is not too late.

Hazelnut Filling calls for Hazelnut Cream and I've looked at whole foods as stated and online but cant find it. Can someone tell me where I can get this or do I have to make this from scratch? I really would like to make this for a birthday next weekend.

I made this for my friends and they still can't stop talking about it. They were surprised to see all of the layers of crepes. It wasn't too sweet and it was pretty easy to make.