Saturday, March 24, 2012

Guest Post: Coconut Mojito Crepe Cake

Gina really is a cookie queen. And a cake queen. Just a queen of food in general. We were very lucky to catch Ms. Gina, who is in the middle of a grand move to a new abode. I'm not sure when she created the masterpiece you see below - I'd like to think she's a MacGyver-like baker who baked up this cake on the hood of her U-Haul. I can just see her, flipping crepes with one hand and whipping up cream with the other while, driving with one foot and trying to stop Hot Dog Dude snoring in the front seat.

She is totally Wonder Woman. 
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Thank you Courtney for inviting me over here to hang out and entertain the troops while you are away frolicking in Paris.  You requested I bring delicious, boozy and Parisian inspired, hopefully the Coconut Mojito Crepe Cake I made for you fills that bill.

Delicious? Hmm, let's put it this way, when Hot Dog Dude came home and saw it sitting in the fridge I thought I'd have to fight him off with a fork so he wouldn't take a huge piece before I got it photographed.  He sat there on the phone telling his friend all about his wretched wife who wouldn't let him have a piece of cake even though she knew crepes were his favorite. (Cry me a river while you're at it HDD).


Parisian you wanted?  I stared aimlessly at photos of complex looking creatures called crepe cakes on the internet for what seemed like an eternity.  I recollect it being akin to staring directly into the sun.  I knew I shouldn't, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of them.

Boozy?  I had to sip on that idea for a bit before deciding on Malibu Rum.


Step 1:
Malibu Mint Syrup 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 ounce Malibu Rum
4 sprigs fresh mint leaves, washed

Place sugar, water, rum and mint leaves in a small saucepan.  Turn the heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat off, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.  Once cool pour syrup through a strainer and set aside.

If you make nothing else, make yourself a batch of this for your ice tea - trust me on this one.

Step 2:
Crepe Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 ounces Malibu Rum
12 ounces milk
1 cup water
6 large eggs
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
zest of one lime

Combine flour, rum, milk, water, eggs, butter, salt, sugar and lime zest in a blender and pulse until combined.  

I have a French crepe pan, but a 9" or 10" skillet will work too.  Heat the pan on medium heat, when hot add a little sliver of butter, pour in about 1/2 cup or a small ladle full of crepe batter and swirl around until the batter is near the edge of the pan.  Let cook undisturbed for about 45-60 seconds, until the top starts to look dry.  Jerk the pan a little, if the crepe slides off easily it's ready to flip.  Flip and cook a few seconds on the other side.

As I take the crepes off the heat I like to place them on a plate to cool for a minute before stacking them on a baking sheet, separating the crepes with sheets of wax paper.

Makes 12 crepes.

Step 3:
Lime Mascarpone Cream
1 pint heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pound mascarpone
zest from one lime

Place the mascarpone and lime zest in a bowl, mix together and set aside.

Add the whipping cream and sugar to a bowl and beat until the whipping cream is stiff.  Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream at a time into the mascarpone mixture.  Set aside.

Step 4:

Assemble the cake:

I decided to use a spring form pan for shape, when it dawned on me I had already packed it.  Two hours later of unpacking, I had that spring form pan in hand.  (Why did it never occur to me to go buy another one?)

Spray a 9" spring form pan with no-stick spray.  Place a crepe in the bottom of the pan.  Use a pastry brush and brush the crepe with a little bit of the Malibu Mint Syrup.  Place a small amount of the Lime Mascarpone Cream on top of that and use a small offset spatula to level.  Make sure and push the cream all the way to the edge of the pan to fill in any gaps.  

Repeat until the pan is filled to the top, ending with the cream mixture.

Place in the fridge overnight.

I garnished the cake with 1 cup of coconut that I toasted in a 350 degree F oven for 3-4 minutes, fresh raspberries and melted chocolate.


Sweet Travels Courtney, thanks for letting me hang out over here and be sure and have a couple dozen Macarons for me!


Gina

9 comments:

Gina said...

Thanks so much for having me over today, it was so much fun to make this for you and yes that's totally how I made it, lol. Enjoy your trip, can't wait to hear all about it.
-Gina-

Becky said...

Gina,
This cake is amazing and I love all of the flavors. It was such a good idea to stack the crepes in the spring form pan. I probably would have never thought of it. You are so creative:)

Courtney,
Thank you for having my favorite Queen as Guest Blogger today! Hope you had a wonderful trip, and that Gina get macrons!

Nancy said...

I agree Gina is Wonder Woman. Love the image you had in your head :)

Gina the cake looks amazing! Loving the flavors, it's so springie too :)

Angie's Recipes said...

Gina, the cake looks really bright and tasty! I got a spring kick just looking at it! It's so good to see you back to blogging world!

Unknown said...

Gina, this cake had me at Malibu Rum, one of my favorite drinks with PJ juice!! This cake looks stunning and I'm sure it must taste outrageous! Wonderful and so beautiful to look at. Jackie

Lora said...

This is a masterpiece. Fantastic flavors. Wow.

Magic of Spice said...

Gina this cake is just gorgeous! A perfect delight for spring :)

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

Gina, this is an amazing cake. I'm still startled by how beautiful these layers are stacked!

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