Worth it! Once.

David was responsible for a colleague's birthday cake.  So we used this as an excuse to try a crazy multi-day recipe.  Even better?  David does not like chocolate very much (allergic to too much), and we are avoiding "bad" calories, so we could try it without "buying the farm."

Here was the psychotic recipe:

32-Layer French Style 

Chocolate-Hazelnut-Caramel-Root Beer-Crepe Cake

Yield: 1 Cake, 2 weeks' caloric intake

Chocolate Crepes

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces,

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

• 1 ½ Cups flour

• 1/3 Cup sugar

• 2 ½ Cup whole milk, room temperature

• 6 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Bring 1/4 cup water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking to combine after each addition. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate until completely melted. Set aside. 

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla in another medium bowl. Gradually add milk mixture to flour mixture, whisking until smooth. Add chocolate-butter mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into an airtight container; discard lumps. Refrigerate overnight (2-24 hours).

3. Lightly coat an 8-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet with melted butter. Heat over medium heat until just starting to smoke. Remove pan from heat; pour about 2 tablespoons batter into pan, swirling to cover bottom. Reduce heat to medium-low; return pan to heat. Cook, flipping once, until edges are golden and center is dry, about 30 seconds per side.

4. Slide crepe onto a plate. Repeat process with remaining batter, coating pan with butter as needed. Crepes can be covered and refrigerated up to 1 day (2-12 hours).

5. Make Filling Layers (Simultaneously – so they are all ready at the same time – recommended 3 people)

Hazelnut Filling

• 2/3 cup heavy cream

• 6 large egg whites

• 1 2/3 cups sugar

• 1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup Nutella or Hazelnut cream

• Pinch of salt

A. Put cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Refrigerate 1 hour.

B. Whisk egg whites and sugar in the clean bowl of mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar has dissolved and mixture registers 160 degrees.

C. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until slightly cooled and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 5 minutes.

D. Fit mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on medium low speed, add butter, several pieces at a time, mixing well after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Add vanilla, hazelnut cream, and salt; mix until mixture comes together, 3 to 5 minutes. Fold in whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Use immediately!

Root Beer (or alternative like Raspberry or Cherry) Filling

• 1/6 cup heavy cream

• 1 large egg white

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• Just less than 1/3 C sugar

• 1 teaspoon root beer extract (can use raspberry extract, cherry extract, or another desired flavor)

• 1 Tablespoon sweetened condensed milk

A. Put cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Refrigerate 1 hour.

B. Whisk egg whites and sugar in the clean bowl of mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar has dissolved and mixture registers 160 degrees.

C. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment; beat on high speed until slightly cooled and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 5 minutes.

D. Fit mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on medium low speed, add butter, several pieces at a time, mixing well after each addition (meringue will deflate slightly as butter is added). Add root beer extract, sweetened condensed milk, and salt; mix until mixture comes together, 3 to 5 minutes. Fold in whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Use immediately!

Caramel Filling

• 24 Caramels

• 3 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk

A. Place ingredients in small saucepan, heat slowly, stirring regularly until melted and mixed. Use immediately.

6. Place a crepe on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet (Or just on a plate like I did). Spread with about 3 tablespoons hazelnut filling. Top with another crepe. Continue layering with hazelnut filling and crepes, substitituting Root Beer Filling every 6 crepes (5 total), and caramel filling about every 10 (3 total) using 32 crepes and ending with a crepe on top. Refrigerate until firm (About an hour).

7. Make chocolate glaze

Chocolate Glaze

• 2/3 Cups heavy cream

•1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch

• Pinch of Salt

•5 ounces finely chopped high-end European dark chocolate (Harmon's grocery!)

A. Bring the first three ingredients to a boil in a medium sauce pan on medium heat.

B. Remove from heat.  Add chocolate.  Swirl pan to cover chocolate with cream.  Let stand 5 minutes.

C. Stir until smooth.  Let cool completely.  (1/2 hour in fridge!)

8. Spoon 1/2 glaze on top of the cake, spreading to edges. Spread remaining glaze around sides of cake, coating completely. (May need to heat glaze slightly) Refrigerate until glaze is firm and set, about 30 minutes.

9. Spread second layer of glaze.  (Add optional candied hazelnut crumb topping now). Refrigerate until glaze is firm and set, about 30 minutes.

Optional Candied Hazelnut Crumb Topping

• ½ Cube Butter

• 2 TBSP Crushed Hazelnuts

• 1 TBSP Brown Sugar

A. Melt butter in pan on stovetop on medium-low temperature, add Crushed Hazelnuts and Brown Sugar.  Do not burn! Stir constantly until moisture from butter is gone.  Remove from pan immediately and cool on glass plate 5 minutes.  Crumble and sprinkle on cake.

10. Serve, enter sugar coma, gain 5 pounds.