I have been kicking this idea around for a couple of weeks now and was
excited to finally see if it would work. It did but it's not exactly
how I imagined it. In fact, yesterday when I first made it, I was
convinced it was an epic fail. When I cut into it the crepes resembled
slices of bologna - not a very appetizing sight in a dessert. When I
tasted it it was ok but not great and the crepes were a little bitter
from the cocoa powder. Enter: crushing disappointment. Here's what I
think went wrong - I used Stevia to sweeten the "frosting" since I am
trying to avoid chemical sweeteners as much as possible and I still
don't love the flavor of Stevia. Last time I made this whipped
cream/cream cheese filling/frosting it was for the Caramel Machiatto Tiramisu
which tasted amazing. The difference is I flavored this cream with sf
vanilla extract and stevia. The tiramisu cream was sweetened with a
Torroni caramel syrup which uses splenda. Next time I make this, I'll
use vanilla or white chocolate flavored, splenda sweetened syrup and I
think it will be significantly better tasting. The crepes were a
variation of the versatile cream cheese pancakes to which I added cocoa powder, chocolate flavored syrup, and red food
coloring. I also used less eggs and while it was tasty, it was
impossible to flip on the stove so I ended up pouring it onto cookie
sheets lined with parchment paper (sprayed with nonstick spray) and
baking it until firm. That worked great and I just used a large-mouthed
cup to cut out the "crepes" for layering. Next time I will have a
heavier crepe to cream ratio too because I think there was too much
cream in these. Ok now that I've told you all of the problems and
totally convinced you to never ever make this, if you are still with me
here is the good news! This morning I had most of it left in the fridge
and hated to toss it so had a piece for breakfast. It was delicious!
Some kind of strange alchemy happened overnight in my refrigerator that
transformed this into a tasty and attractive dessert/breakfast!! It
was nice and firm, and of course very cold which may have helped it a
lot. The crepes lost their bitterness and tasted more chocolately as
I'd originally expected them to taste. They'd also darkened a bit and
some of the red had bled out to tint the inside layers a light pink - less
bologna looking which is a good thing, trust me! The cream lost some of
that Stevia taste and while I still think there could have been a
little less of it, it actually tasted quite nice. The texture of the
crepes was nice and cakey - overall it was good and I was relieved not
to have to scrap the whole idea! I still think replacing the
stevia/vanilla in the cream with white chocolate or vanilla syrup will
make it so much better. Is this going to win over your sugar loving friends/family?? Probably not, but if you've been doing low carb awhile
and are missing cake and sweets, then you're going to love it! And if
nobody else likes it...well that's more for you then! :)
That worked great and I just used a large-mouthed
cup to cut out the "crepes" for layering. Next time I will have a
heavier crepe to cream ratio too because I think there was too much
cream in these. Ok now that I've told you all of the problems and
totally convinced you to never ever make this, if you are still with me
here is the good news! This morning I had most of it left in the fridge
and hated to toss it so had a piece for breakfast. It was delicious!
Some kind of strange alchemy happened overnight in my refrigerator that
transformed this into a tasty and attractive dessert/breakfast!! It
was nice and firm, and of course very cold which may have helped it a
lot. The crepes lost their bitterness and tasted more chocolately as
I'd originally expected them to taste. They'd also darkened a bit and
some of the red had bled out to tint the inside layers a light pink - less
bologna looking which is a good thing, trust me! The cream lost some of
that Stevia taste and while I still think there could have been a
little less of it, it actually tasted quite nice. The texture of the
crepes was nice and cakey - overall it was good and I was relieved not
to have to scrap the whole idea! I still think replacing the
stevia/vanilla in the cream with white chocolate or vanilla syrup will
make it so much better. Is this going to win over your sugar loving friends/family?? Probably not, but if you've been doing low carb awhile
and are missing cake and sweets, then you're going to love it! And if
nobody else likes it...well that's more for you then! :)
Serves 4
For the crepes:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
5 eggs
1/4 cup SF chocolate flavored syrup
2 Tbl SF cocoa powder
1/2 tsp red food coloring
1 tsp stevia or splenda
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Line 2 medium or 1 large cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used reynolds parchment on one side, foil on the other, parchment side up) and spray with nonstick spray. Pour the batter onto the paper and tilt the sheet until smooth and uniform, should be about 1/8 inch thick. Bake in preheated 350 degree (F) oven for 8 minutes or until firm. Remove from the oven, cool and cut into squares or circles for your "crepes."
For the cream:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbl vanilla (or white chocolate) flavored SF syrup
1 cup heavy cream
Combine the cream cheese and syrup, blending/whipping until smooth. Whip the cream until peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture. When fully combined, gently fold the cream cheese mixture to the rest of the whipped cream. Chill for 15 minutes.
To assemble:
Place one crepe on a serving plate and spread a thin layer of cream onto it. Gently press another crepe onto the cream, try to get it as flat as possible and make sure the cream is to the edge. Repeat for as many layers as you want. You may have to chill for a few minutes during the process to keep the layers from sliding around. When finished layering "frost" the top and sides with cream. Decorate with piped cream if desired. Don't overdo the cream like I did or it's just too rich. Chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight before serving.
As always I love your comments and "hacks" so let me know what you think and please do share with the rest of us how you would (or did) make it better! M-
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