Flavor my Holiday Crepe Cake

December 21, 2018 7:58 AM

I'm looking for new new flavors for my 30 layer crepe cake. Thinking of lemon as the core flavor and maybe adding pomegranate, ginger, and either almonds or pistachio. Details inside.

I have been making this holiday crepe cake for the last eight years for Christmas Eve. Occasionally I've modified the flavors, but usually I stick to brown butter crepes, filling with ginger/ricotta/cream cheese filling, and cream cheese frosting over all with candied ginger on top and candied macadamia nut on the sides.

This year I'm spending the holidays not with my family, but with my partner's, and I want to continue the tradition but with new flavors. We're in the Mediterranean so lemons, pomegranates, pistachios, almonds, honey, are good and local at this time. We don't have berries, which are a frequent pairing with lemon, and I think chocolate will be a bit too sweet in a cake this big (also there will probably be a chocolate dessert) .

I'm thinking brown butter crepes with alternating layers of two to three types of filling: lemon curd, pomegranate whipped cream, the same ginger/ricotta/cream cheese filling from the original. Which two layers would you pick? What would you put on top? The same cream cheese frosting or pomegranate frosting? Candied almonds or pistachios crushed up on the sides?

I don't want it to have too many flavors and clash, and it shouldn't have a very strong ginger or other flavor dominate, because some people might be picky and it's for a crowd from 5-75.

Any other ideas? Links to favorite filling recipes?

posted by perrouno to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Response by poster: This crepe cake, with a link that works.
posted by perrouno at 7:59 AM on December 21, 2018

I'd do lemon/pomegranate, with crushed pistachios up the side and also dried rose petals ground up with sugar.
posted by clavicle at 8:25 AM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

Mmm.. I'd absolutely alternate lemon curd and cream cheese filling
posted by valoius at 9:02 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

so in my experience using pomegranate to flavor fillings, what you get is a generic (although attractively pink) tart flavor, without any of the aromatic elements of citrus. So I would not rely on pomegranate, if there's already a lemon layer. Ginger, lemon and honey are a wonderful, harmonious combination, and beautiful with pistachio, so that's the direction I'd go in.

Now honey as you surely know is subtle, so what I do to amp a floral honey flavor, is I add just a tiny bit of orange flower water. It adds a floral complexity that codes as "orange flower honey."

So your layers are lemon curd, and the ginger ricotta with honey and orange flower. With pistachio sprinkled over. OH IT'S GOING TO BE SO GOOD. I wish I was coming to your thing.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:09 AM on December 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

I think a layer made with tea would be a good transition flavor.
posted by carmicha at 9:40 AM on December 21, 2018

Grapes are a good lemon pairing and works well with ginger. Prickly pear is really good with lemon. Quince? Port wine? Just not sure what all you have in the Med area. Walnuts are good against lemon, too.
posted by bz at 9:41 AM on December 21, 2018

Tea. Orange.
posted by anthropomorphic at 6:41 PM on December 21, 2018

Sounds pretty great. I think the lemon layer and the light ginger ricotta layer sound like they would go together very nicely. You could add a little cardamon (and orange water) to the nuts.
posted by hawthorne at 12:17 AM on December 22, 2018