My Christmas will be spent tomorrow at my father’s house. We celebrate the 24th at night, Christmas Eve, or Nochebuena as we call it. It will include appetizers, a turkey with corn and prune stuffing, quince and mustard sauce, salads, a lemon cheesecake and an apple pudding, the last two made by me. And I will miss this savory crepe cake – not a minor issue -, because it’s a tradition on my mother’s part of the family.
Those recipes are not family ones, except for the turkey, and that is my father’s area, that’s why I have no Christmas recipe for you. Though I’m hoping I’ll be able to take good pics and post about it in the coming weeks.
For the last few years we’ve been gathering at my uncle’s house to celebrate the new year.
Sort of a family potluck, with all of my cousins on my mother’s side, a few odd guests invited at the last minute, and that part of my family I never remember clearly, the second or third aunt or cousin who come with their own families, and though I try I hardly ever remember their names; they usually remember mine which is embarrassing.
And of course the familiar food at the table. Since this is the recipe my maternal grandmother used to make, it obviously makes an appearance at the buffet table. A very large table.
It ends up being a big affair, with tables and chairs borrowed from the whole house, because, just like that, without anyone realising it, forty people end up seating together to celebrate the new year.
I hadn’t eaten it in years and was surprised to be craving it as much as I did when I was growing up and this was a once-a-year thing my grandmother made, with familiar flavors that tasted better because of the anticipation. Last year, my cousins made it exactly like the original recipe, with canned devil ham, store bought mayonnaise and an awful decoration of red peppers from a jar.
Today my version is jazzed up a bit using homemade mayonnaise, smoked pork tenderloin instead of the canned ham, and adding hearts of palm.
The crepes are the ones I use for everything, from these savory stuffed with corn, zucchini and bacon to sweet ones filled with dulce de leche.
This cake is very simple. Just a few thing to take into consideration: since you’re spreading mayonnaise on every crepe don’t put too much on each, remember to salt every layer, don’t overstuff the center of each crepe and don’t press the layers down, that way it will be taller and you will be able to distinguish the different fillings when you cut it.
The final decoration on top is up to you. I don’t decorate really, it’s not my thing, especially savory things, so I just added some mayo, grated egg, chopped olives and some chives on top.
This cake can be filled with many other ingredients, depending on your taste, from tuna to roasted red peppers, smoked salmon, etc.
I’ll make it again in a week and take it over to my uncle’s house. I hope they find my revised version as good as the old one. I’ll be crossing my fingers, just in case.
And as the night closes in, the new year is toasted to, the traditional lucky 12 grapes or raisins are eaten, white is worn with pink underwear, which is something hard to pull off, who knows where that idea started, and all traditions are taken care of, I’ll be looking forward to the next time.
I find myself eating the pancake tower, as it’s called in my family, chatting away with my cousins as someone is inevitably cornered and told some story again and again by a drunken guest; while we swear next year we’ll do something with our friends because it should be more fun than family again.
Just to find ourselves, a few minutes later, vowing to each other to attend the party again next year, all of us, so as not to leave the others prey of the drunken or boring guests.
I always have fun with my cousins, even though I’m the oldest, and I love celebrating New Year.
It’s a new year after all. It’s important. If the old one was good we have a lot to celebrate; if it was not so good you want to toast to
a better one.
a better one.
Happy Holidays to everyone, hold your loved ones tight and enjoy the moment!
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It’s very important to keep homemade mayonnaise refrigerated at all times. Use store bought if you don’t want to eat raw eggs.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Crepes (see recipe here)
- 200 g 7 oz sliced smoked pork loin or ham
- Lettuce (2 leaves)
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 hard boiled eggs (cold or at room tº)
- 1 cup chopped hearts of palm
- ½ cup chopped green olives
- 2 Tbs chopped chives (for garnish)
For the homemade mayo:
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- Dash of tabasco
Instructions
For the homemade mayo:
- Put both oils in a jar and reserve.
- Put eggs, mustard and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process for a minute, until foamy.
- Very slowly at first, drop by drop, start adding oils through the feed tube. The first half cup should be added by drops, so it emulsifies well. Have patience.
- After the first cup you can add the rest in a thin stream. The mayonnaise will be thick.
- Add lemon juice and tabasco and pulse to combine. Check seasonings and refrigerate.
- It will keep 3 to 5 days.
- Have ready: room tº crepes, smoked pork, rinsed and dried lettuce, thinly sliced tomato, eggs and a large hole grater, hearts of palm, olives and mayonnaise.
I put it together like this:
- In the plate you plan to serve the cake place one crepe and spread a thin layer of mayonnaise
- Arrange smoked pork or ham on top
- Another crepe spread with some mayonnaise
- Arrange lettuce on top
- Another crepe spread with mayonnaise
- Arrange sliced tomatoes, covering the surface
- Another layer of crepe spread with mayonnaise
- Arrange chopped hearts of palm covering the surface
- Another crepe spread with mayonnaise
- Add chopped olives.
- Another crepe spread with mayonnaise
- Grate 1 ½ hard boiled eggs directly over crepe (reserve ½ for top of the cake)
- Last crepe on top. Spread some mayonnaise and grate reserved egg on top, sprinkle with chopped olives and chives.
The above given recipe is really very nice. It is easy and tastes good. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Paula, I am knocked out by this. It's gorgeous and looks delicious. Wow!
Woah, that looks really good! I could imagine this for fancy lunch or brunch.
Oh yum! I love crepes but I've only ever had sweet fillings, this savory crepe sounds wonderful.
Paula, this looks so freaking good – I love every single ingredient you used between those delicious crepe layers. And your family parties sound like such a hoot! It just isn't Christmas without some drunken relative making it both hilarious and awkward! I hope your holiday season has been absolutely fabulous and filled with good food and family.
I think a big New Year's family gathering sounds like a great tradition. And this Crepe Cake looks so unique and delicious.
That is an beautiful and delicious sounding Crepe! Thank you for sharing!
What a treat to read of your New Year traditions. 12 grapes? That I can manage! Do men wear pink underwear, too? I am with you – how did that tradition start? We will be on a train that day from New Orleans coming back to Tucson – 34 hours in all. We will toast in the New Year in San Antonion, Texas with a 2.5-hour layover… fireworks are promised. I will bring raisins along (or grapes) and we will toast you and your family! ~ David
I'm giggling over the wearing of white with pink underwear. What a fun tradition and I'm also curious of how that got started.
Your crepe cake is beyond fabulous. All those layers and flavors make a tower of deliciousness.
Love the layers!
What fantastic looking crepes!
I knew crepes could go from sweet to savory but your beautiful crepe cake shows me that crepes are so much more than a simple dessert. Enjoy this time with your family. Merry Christmas!
Your torre de panqueques looks delicious! I love hearts of palm, so I'm glad they're popular here in Argentina. I used them in the pionono that I made for tonight's meal. Te deseo muchas felicidades! Un beso.
Well, it´s either the torre de panqueques o el pionono! MY MIL made a pionono with hearts of palm, lettuce and ham, it was amazing. Feliz Navidad!
This looks so tempting and fun to make!
I love savory crepes and make different varieties of it all the time, including stuffed. But I have never done anything quite like this and I love it. So much simpler to make for a group of people.
Fun! This looks really delicious and fun! Love all the different fillings.
Paula,
This is just LOVELY! and beautiful. . LOVE this stacked savory crepe idea, brillant!! white is worn with pink underwear?? What?