I Pledge Allegiance to Dessert

I originally wasn't going to make another crepe cake post, but this one is one of the best desserts I've ever made, and I did 4-H, so that's saying something. This is America, I am free to write about as many crepe cakes as I want!

America, the land of life, liberty, and the pursuit of obesity through the over-consumption of patriotic desserts. It's almost independence day, and I know what that means: blowing stuff up and eating a ton of great food!( Okay, the blowing stuff up isn't going to happen this year because I, you know, live in the city where such things are frowned upon).

As a child, the 4th of July was a ton of fun. I always went to the parade and got a ton of candy, then went to my Grandma's house to shoot off fireworks. And my family did not mess around when it came to fireworks. My dad and aunts and uncles would buy a ton, and our objective was to light as many as possible by the time the party broke up. Fountains, firecrackers, parachutes, sparklers, artillery shells, I shot them all. And for those of you who are wondering about the safety of an 8-year-old playing with things that literally shoot fire, I only ever got a couple of minor burns from stray sparks. We were all taught how to light fireworks safely.

When I was a bit older, I worked at a firework stand to raise money for my school's band. And by "worked" I mean I hung out with my friends and we would occasionally provide recommendations and ring up customers. Those were some good times. That particular gunpowder smell of a fireworks stand still puts a smile on my face.

When I started making crepe cakes, I got an idea knocking around in my head to make one in red, white, and blue. The bright colors and stripes would be perfect for a dessert where presentation is everything. The challenge was how to achieve this without blueberries. Why no blueberries? I don't like blueberries. Then I got an idea from staring at cake on Pinterest. A lot of good ideas come about that way. Blue velvest cake is the same as red velvet, but with blue food coloring. Why not make blue velvet crepes? Now, I could just alternate blue and red velvet for my patriotic effect, but I wanted something a little bit more fun. So I decided that the red would be thinly sliced strawberries. Now all I needed was an excuse to make the thing. I was invited to a game night with some people from my church last Saturday. Perfect.

I made my crepes the night before and they were....very blue. The color does look strange, and some might find it off-putting. The last crepe was smaller than the others because I ran out of batter, so it was my taste test. Wow. I think these are the best crepes I've ever made. The texture is cakey and they're nice and sweet. In the morning I whipped my cream, sliced my strawberries, and started stacking. I ran out of strawberries halfway up the cake and had to go buy more. When the last crepe was stacked, his thing had roughly a pound and a half of strawberry goodness in it. It chilled in the fridge until it was ready to serve, and oh my did it serve beautifully. A cake the founding fathers would have approved of.

*Star Spangled Banner plays in background*

*majestic eagle screech overhead*

The presentation was stunning, and the taste was just as good. The light chocolate flavor of the crepes went perfectly with the strawberries and the rum-flavored whipped cream. It was like a strawberry shortcake on steroids. A light, festive, and delicious addition to a party.

Okay, here's where I got my crepe recipe:
Red Velvet Crepes
I don't know if the cream cheese frosting the recipe uses would be better or not, I wanted to do whipped cream.

Sprinkles of Kim:
-When I made the crepe batter, I used blue food coloring instead of red, and added just a touch of cinnamon for more flavor
-To make the whipped cream, I whipped some cream with powdered sugar, vanilla, and rum flavoring
-I added thinly sliced strawberries. Duh.