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PRIDE Crêpe Cake

To celebrate pride month, why not make this towering rainbow crêpe cake? Flavored with buttery crêpes, refreshingly tangy orange curd, and fluffy almond orange marscarpone cream. Though this cake can be challenging to make, it’s a fun way to practice many different skills in the kitchen and learn something new over the summer. And if your going to be learning, why not make it colorful? And better yet, delicious.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 5 hours
Servings: 20 slices (roughly)
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Orange Curd
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons orange zest
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • a pinch of salt
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
Crêpes
  • 8 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 4 ½ cups whole milk
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • A drop each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple food coloring
Orange Almond Marscarpone Cream
  • 8 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature
  • 3 cups cold heavy cream
  • ⅔ cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon orange zest
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
 

Start by making the orange curd: (I reccommend making this the day before so it can set overnight)
  1. Fill a medium saucepan with 1-2 inches of water. Place a large heatproof bowl on top (you may also use a double boiler for this) Let it come to a boil on medium high heat, then reduce to low and allow it to come to a simmer.
  2. Add the egg, egg yolks, sugar, orange zest, lemon juice, orange juice, and salt to the top bowl. Using a silicon whisk (metal whisks can sometimes leave behind a metallic flavor), mix together. Cook for 10 minutes, whisking constantly. Whisking the whole time helps prevent the eggs from curdling. The mixture will thicken, and will resemble the consistency of Hollandaise sauce. If the mixture is not thickening, turn up the heat, making sure you are still constantly whisking.
  3. Remove the mixture from the heat and immediately whisk in the 6 pieces of butter. The remaining heat of the curd will melt the butter. Pour the finished curd into a glass jar or bowl. Cover the top of the curd with cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap is touching the surface of the curd. This prevents a skin from forming as the curd cools. Chill for at least 2 hours, it will thicken during this time.
Make the crêpe batter
  1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs together with the salt. Gradually whisk in a quarter of the flour, followed by a quarter of the milk. It will be lumpy, but that's ok, it will even out as we continue adding flour and milk. Repeat this process until you have used all of the milk and flour. Whisk in the orange zest and juice, followed by the melted butter. Do not overmix the batter.
  2. Tightly cover the bowl with cling wrap and chill the batter for at least 2 hours, but overnight works even better.
Dye the crêpe batter
  1. Divide the batter evenly among 6 bowls, roughly 1½ cups in each. Dye each one a different color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple). You might want to keep a little extra plain batter to use for your "test crêpe".
Cook the crêpes
  1. Heat a large round non-stick skillet over medium heat. Make sure you are using non-stick, otherwise cooking these will not work. To test if the pan is hot enough, pour a little batter on. If it sizzles and begins cooking immedietly, then it is hot enough.
  2. Pour about ⅓ cup of batter into the pan (you can start with whatever color you want, it doesn't matter). Quickly swirl it around so it covers the bottom. The crêpe will start cooking as soon as it hits the hot pan, so you will have to work quickly. Once there is no wet batter on top of the crêpe (roughly 30 seconds), carefully flip it using a spatula and your hands if needed. Let it cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from the pan and set on a wire cooling rack. Continue cooking the rest of the batter (all of the colors) the same way. Your first few crêpes won't be perfect, that’s to be expected! Once you get the hang of it, the process will go a lot quicker.
  3. I usually have about 4 or 5 of each color crêpe, but this can vary given the size of your crêpes.
While the crêpes cool, make the mascarpone cream
  1. In a large bowl using hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the mascarpone on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium low speed to combine with the mascarpone. Then, turn up to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, orange zest, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined, creamy, and pillowy.
Assemble the cake
  1. Start with your red crêpes. Place one on a large cake stand and spread an even layer of cream on top. You only need about 2 Tablespoons of filling for each layer. Place another red crêpe on top and continue building up repeating the same process. Continue doing this with the rest of the colors (after all of the red, add all of the orange and so on). On each layer where you switch colors, add a little less then 1 Tablespoon of orange curd and spread it evenly on top of the cream. Once you have finished all of the layers, stick the cake in the freezer for 10-20 minutes to firm up. The layers may be sliding around a little, so this little bit of time in the freezer helps. After freezing, decorate with remaining cream and curd if desired.
  2. Cake stays fresh covered in the refridgerator for up to 5 days.

Notes

Whole Milk: For best flavor and texture, make sure you are using whole milk. 
Non-stick pan: Make sure to use a non-stick pan when cooking crêpes. I have tried making crêpes with a normal pan, and it just results in misshapen and torn crêpes.