If it’s your birthday, I will make you a cake.

I should clarify. If it’s your birthday, and you’re a dear friend of mine, who lives within a reasonable distance (walking or driving)– I will make you a cake of your choosing. It has become a sort of tradition since my husband and I moved to New Haven. I have baked a devil’s food cake with chocolate buttercream and mocha filling. There was the yellow cake with cream cheese icing and strawberry filling, deliciously sweet and very girly– especially for the middle aged man who requested it. And just last week, I made the Gateau de Crepes for a very special 40th birthday.

The cake is a doozy. This is not the sort of cake that one whips up in the morning and has for dessert that evening. It takes forethought, time, and patience. But you will be richly rewarded.

When my husband and I first moved the East Coast, we settled in Manhattan for a couple of years. I had long heard about Lady M Confections and their scrumptious Mille Crepes cake on the tony Upper East Side. (Does anyone really use the word tony to describe any place other than the Upper East Side?) One afternoon, a few months after we had been in the city, I made the trek from Morningside Heights to the Upper East Side, to experience a slice of the cake for myself.

The shop was still, sparkling clean, starched, almost antiseptic. I felt like I had to whisper. But there was the stunning cake, with layer upon layer of crepes and rich cream. It was perfect– symmetrical, geometrical, with a crisp top layer of bruleed sugar. I ordered a slice (it was expensive, but well-worth both the journey and the cost). I savored every morsel, eating slowly, and enjoying the escape from the bustle of the city.

A few years later, I discovered a similar recipe by Amanda Hesser. She wrote about loving the Mille Crepes cake at Lady M, and this was her homage to their recipe. I knew that I had to give it a try. And so the process began with making a million crepes.

Okay, it's really around twenty crepes!

Both the batter for the crepes and the pastry cream for the filling must be made the day before. Butter is browned (delicious!), eggs are separated, milk is poured, many pots are dirtied, and you’re on you’re way. There is no turning back now!

The next day the thin batter is is poured into a sizzling pan to make numerous delicate crepes, that wait to be sandwiched with cream.  The cream is whipped and the pastry cream is folded into the whipped cream. This makes the lightest, vanilla scented filling you can imagine. Then the layering begins.

Almost there! As you reach the top, it is important to select a stellar crepe for the top of the cake; after all, this is the crowning achievement. I didn’t have a blow torch (I would be a danger with one of those!), so I dusted the top with powdered sugar.

This cake is definitely a showstopper. It is gorgeous both in taste and in looks. Ethereal, subtle, not to sweet– every element plays off of the next superbly. This cake is definitely an occasion cake. After all the work, you want the oohs and ahhs, you want to enjoy with loved ones, you want a glass of champagne– you want to celebrate a birthday!

You can find the recipe here.