A Thousand Layered Crepe! BAM!
Though in reality, it’s closer to 15 to 20 layers. (I think Lady M has theirs at 20.. at least according to their menu. But hey, who’s counting?!)
In theory, the cake isn’t hard to make if you already have the basic concept down of making crepes. The real hard part comes from the time you have to put in to construct the cake.
Crepe, if you didn’t know are French in origin and is often associated with Brittany, which is located in the Northwest region of France. Crepes can be eaten both sweet or savory, but we often see them as sweet. I’ve done my fair share of crepe making over the years thanks to taking French back in high school. Not to mention, a basic crepe recipe is pretty simple.
Time consuming. But simple.
So my friends and I decided we’re taking the easy way out and visit the bakery that specializes in the mille crepe. And that is no other than: Lady M Cake Boutique in Los Angeles, CA.
Back in May, I went down to LA for a concert (if you read my Half & Half post, you already have a good idea of what it was for) and Lady M were one of the places we wanted to visit while we were down there.
On the morning of the concert, the three of us headed over to find the shop and let me just say: parking is a mess. Maybe because we’re unfamiliar with the area, but trying to find a parking spot on the streets had us going in circles for 15 minutes. And keep in mind this was the weekend and it was only 11 AM in the morning.
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| Cakes on display |
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| Right, I'll take a slice of each, please! |
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| Sorcery! Fooled.. by the Japanese. |
After finding parking about two blocks away, we headed over to Lady M, which had just opened for the day. We opted to eat inside because we didn’t go all the way here just to eat our cakes in the car, 18% gratuity be damned!
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| Green Tea Mille Crepe |
We ordered three desserts to share: the original mille crepe, the green tea mille crepe and the mont blanc (which was a disaster on my part, more on that later). YL ordered the Royal Wedding, which is a hot white tea blended with almond, coconut, vanilla and pink rosebuds. PC and I both got the iced sencha green tea, which went refreshingly well with our cakes.
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| Original Mille Crepe |
The mille crepes are essentially what I mentioned above: twenty paper thin crepes sandwiched between a layer of cream. The green tea variation is the same, but just with green tea flavored cream. It has an interesting texture thanks to all the layers and there’s something innately satisfying about plunging your fork down 20 layers of crepe and cream. I like how the cake isn’t too sweet. There’s an even layer of cream to crepe ratio and the cream is whipped and light rather than the heavier buttercream you might be familiar with in certain cakes.
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| It looks fluffy... |
The Mont Blanc was an error on my part. I’ve always seen people eating it on Japanese shows and always imagined it to be this fluffy chestnut dessert. In reality, it was dense and extremely sweet, topped with a candied chestnut and a cream center.
Oh Amy… you were deceived by the Japanese. They just make food look too good.
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| In case you were curious, the Sailor Moon bag was for PC's Sailor Moon selfie stick. |
The verdict is: my favorite is the original, with the green tea trailing slightly behind and the Mont Blanc at dead last. And honestly at $8 a slice, I might want to attempt making it one day. Crepes aren’t that hard to make. I’m just wondering how to go about with spreading the cream without ripping the crepes. (maybe my future post should be: EXPERIMENT FUN TIME WITH AMY IN THE KITCHEN!)
No?
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| Royal Wedding Tea |
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| Iced Sencha |
While we were there, there was a steady line of people streaming in buy slices of cakes or in some occasions a full cake, to go. They had many cakes on display and also some that were seasonal. The theme of the store is clean, crisp and white. Everything screams minimalist, letting the cakes take the spotlight. This in turn makes for awesome photos because the whole store front is full-on glass panels.
Overall, it’s worth paying a visit just to see what all the hype was about, but I’m not sure if I’ll return for a visit because the prices are on the steeper side.
Anyone tried making a mille crepe before successfully at home? Is there a trick to spreading the cream or does it have to do with the consistency of the cream? But no, seriously, do you guys want to see a “FUN EXPERIMENT KITCHEN TIME” (capitals are obligatory) post? I’m willing to devote a weekend in experimenting.
8718 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
