If you don't have the time or money to queue at Lady M, make your own crepe cake!
You don't even need an oven! We've also got a super easy no-cook recipe for rocky road bars
We like mango sauce, but don't let our preferences limit you...So yeah, it’s your besty’s birthday and you want to show them some love, but you have no money or time to spend at Lady M, and no oven. Not to worry, you can still make a cake. Here’s how.
Whip up a batch of pancakes (see the recipe here) that are slightly thicker than normal, and use butter to fry them instead of oil. Leave each pancake to cool completely. It’s great if you have a cake rack for this, but you can use any clean, meshed surface.
Decide on a filling and topping. If you’re feeling lazy, look in the supermarket for cans or jars of caramel, Nutella, chocolate sauce, lemon curd, jam ... whatever flavours you like. One of our favourite combos is cream cheese filling, with mango sauce on top. (If you want to DIY, the recipes are below.) Then grab half a cup of whipped cream and some cherries, berries, nuts or sprinkles for the top.
Put your cake together
1 Lay one of the cooled pancakes on a serving plate. Spread some filling over it, as though you’re making a sandwich.
2 Repeat with as many crepes and layers of filling as you like, making the pancake cake as tall as you like.
3 You can alternate the fillings; for example, you might do 3 layers of jam, then one of a creamy filling, and repeat. If you’re using a creamy filling, leave one third for the top.
4 Spoon the last of the filling into the centre of the top pancake. Using the back of a spoon or a knife, spread it around to the edges.
5 Drizzle a bright fruit sauce or jam on top, add cream and fruit if you like, and eat.
Cream cheese filling
Ingredients
1 package/tub plain cream cheese
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp flavouring, eg vanilla essence
Method
1 Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
NB This will be very sweet, so spread it thinly!
Mango sauce
Ingredients
3 mangoes, peeled, stoned and chopped into pieces
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp brown sugar (NB it will colour the sauce)
2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp water
Method
1 Cook all the ingredients in a saucepan, over a medium heat, until the sauce gets to the thickness you want. Stir slowly and constantly in a figure-of-eight pattern to keep it from burning.
2 Pass the sauce through a fine sieve or strainer to catch any remaining mango strings.
Craving a sweet, chocolatey treat? You can’t go wrong with chocolate and marshmallows. Try this:
Rocky road bars
Ingredients
125g soft unsalted butter
300g chocolate, broken into pieces
3 tbsp golden syrup
200g rich tea or digestive biscuits, bashed up
100g mini marshmallows (or the normal marshmallows chopped up small)
You can also add a big handful of raisins, chocolate chips, Smarties, Maltesers ... anything you like!
Method
1 Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2 Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, making sure the water does not touch the bowl.
3 Once the chocolate has melted, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
4 Pour into a baking tray, level the top with a butter knife, and put in the fridge for at least two hours.
5 Once set, tip out and cut into squares. It freezes really well, too. Enjoy!