Tuna and egg crêpe cake

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

by Lili
July 10, 2015
24 comments
Savoury cakes and snacks

Crêpe craving?  Come have a savoury tuna and egg crêpe cake with me!  In fact let’s have it for breakfast!  Brunch maybe?  Any time’s perfect for these spelt crêpes with delicious layers of tuna and chopped hard-boiled egg in creamy white béchamel sauce.  All made with almond milk and spelt or cornflour, so everything’s light and kind of healthy!  Not convinced?  Listen to this:  gâteau de crêpes au thon et aux œufs.  Now that sounds chic and delicious, non?  Hee hee. 🙂

Tuna and egg crêpe cakeWhat shall I put in my little crêpe cake?

The whole idea for this savoury cake arose from a craving for crêpes.  It’s an invention based on ingredients in kitchen limbo, including two little tins of tuna and recently-purchased spelt flour that should be used within a few weeks or month. 

You can play around to include your favourite fillings like yummy pieces of bacon, mushrooms, spinach or smoked mackerel.  But tuna and boiled egg, discovered years ago in a lasagna recipe, is a truly amazing combo.  Surprising but true with the stamp of approval from an Italian.  Absolutely delicious.

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

Less is more

I kept the ingredients few and simple to avoid running around for exotic ingredients or herbs, hence this cake’s rather pale appearance but don’t be fooled, it’s yummy!  Though some finely chopped dill would be beautiful in there.

Tuna and egg crêpe cakeRECIPE – makes a half-crêpe cake (double the quantities for a whole one)  Serves 2 good portions for healthy appetites and 4 smaller portions for breakfast or with salad/vegetables and whatnots.

Crêpes

You need 5 crêpes cut in half to make 10 layers.  My spelt crêpes recipe here gives you 9 to 10 crêpes so you can eat extra ones (to test!) or freeze.

spelt crêpes

Healthy spelt crêpes

White gluten-free (béchamel) sauce

  • 500g/2 cups and a scant tablespoon almond milk or any other kind
  • 2 cloves of garlic (other options:  onion, cloves, bay leaf)
  • 50g/3 and a half tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 50g/a third of a cup cornflour (or plain/all-purpose flour)
  • freshly grated nutmeg to taste
  • black pepper
  • salt
  • 160g-240g/5.5oz-8.5oz canned tuna (2 to 3 small tins) in brine – drained, to taste
  • 3 medium-large eggs, hard-boiled
  • A small piece of hard cheese, like gruyère or cheddar (grated), to taste
  • A handful of dill, finely chopped (optional)

Method (for very calm and clear instructions you can also watch Eddiejchef’s youtube video on How to make Bechamel)

  1. Heat the milk with the 2 peeled cloves of garlic.  Don’t let it simmer or boil.
  2. Melt the butter over low-medium heat.
  3. Add the cornflour and stir quickly with a wooden or silicone spoon.  Continue stirring a few minutes to cook the flour.  It will look pale yellow and strangely soft – don’t worry.
  4. Take off the heat and get a whisk.  Pour in the milk gradually while whisking constantly.  If you do it gradually you should have no lumps and your sauce will start looking more normal – thick and white!
  5. Return to the heat and whisk until the sauce thickens into a bechamel.  Woohoo!
  6. Add nutmeg, salt and black pepper, to taste. white béchamel sauce
  7. Add the tuna and chopped hard-boiled egg – I left out one of the yolks.tuna and egg
  8. Taste and add more nutmeg, salt or black pepper as required.

Assembling the cake

Place the first half-crêpe on a baking dish.  Divide your mixture into around ten parts and spread each one thinly (but not too thinly) on a crêpe before covering with the next.Assemble the crepe cake

Grate some cheese over the crêpe cake.

Tuna and egg crêpe cakeYou can keep it in the fridge to bake/reheat later or the following day.  Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (static, non-convection oven) or 160°C/320°F (fan-assisted oven).  Bake or reheat (covered in aluminium foil) around 20-30 minutes till it’s heated through but not drying out.  Though it’s delicious cold too!

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

So I’m taking my yummy treat to a few parties and challenges.  There’s the sociable Fiesta Friday hosted by Angie at The Novice Gardener.  Then there’s Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dominic at Belleau Kitchen with a great breakfast theme this month.  I’m also sharing with Cookblogshare hosted by Lucy at supergolden bakes,  Recipe of the week hosted by Emily at A mummy too, and Fabulous Foodie Fridays hosted by Lucy at bake.play.smile.   All great parties with lovely recipes and delightful people to meet!

fiesta and linkiesHelp yourself to a slice of this tuna and egg crêpe cake for the road with a glass of Tinto de verano, a little red wine with Casera soda water, which is what granddads (and me) drink in Spain with their meals!  🙂

Tuna and egg crêpe cake

Thanks for coming over for virtual brunch and have a lovely weekend savoury reader!  Happy baking, cooking and eating!  🙂 x

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Baking on Sundays with my French mum was a lovely part of my childhood. Later I experimented with baking books or internet recipes and did the pâtisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Still trying out new recipes and inventing cakes with influences from all around the world, including some healthier ones. Yes, love cakes!!! Hope you'll love them too and have fun baking. :)

24 thoughts on “Tuna and egg crêpe cake”

    • Lili says:

      Yay! No, not psychic Julie but perhaps all our munchies and cravings are syncing online! 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your crepe cake! 🙂 Lili

      Like

      • budgiesntiels says:

        Could be. Another possibility is your food always looks soooooo gooooooooood I can’t resist trying it. Someday I am just gonna show up in your neck of the woods and insist you feed me. 🙂 Julie

        Liked by 1 person

      • Lili says:

        Thanks Julie! Always nice to know the food here’s appreciated. And yes, waiting for you and any other hungry people to turn up and help with the eating! 🙂 Lili

        Like

    • Lili says:

      Thank you Julie for your lovely comments and I’m glad you like the whole idea of a savoury crepe cake… let me know if you make one! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lili says:

      Thank you and so glad you like the idea Meghan! Let me know how it goes if you make your crepe cake! Happy Fiesta Friday to you too! 🙂

      Like

  7. Pingback: Week (23) of cakes and celebration! And could you be a food historian? | lili's cakes

  8. Dominic Franks (@belleaukitchen) says:

    these look adorable. I do love a crepe cake and yet I very rarely make them… such a simple idea and a great way to use up eggs and so creamy yet light too… a perfect brunch I think! Thanks so much for linking to Simply Eggcellent x

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili says:

      Thank you so much Dominic for your lovely comments! I’m glad you like this crepe cake. Like you I feel I could make crepes and crepe cakes more often and might try to think of some new fillings! Thanks for organising Simply Eggcellent and for stopping by! 🙂 x

      Like

  9. tentimestea says:

    Lili, I hope you don’t mine me mass commenting on all of your posts today but I just love everything you’ve posted recently (and, for that matter, every-everything you’ve posted really)! What a creative savoury cake with a delicious sounding filling! I love the use of the bechamel, the herbs and spices, and oh yum boiled eggs. Finally, that is a perfectly chosen and adorable fishy tablecloth!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili says:

      Hi Laurie, please feel free to mass comment any time! It’s lovely to get feedback. And I’m so pleased you like the dish and noticed the dinky tablecloth – it was a present from a friend who thought it would might up on the blog! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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