By Lee Guekguezian ’17 This column is sort of like the TV show on The Food Network, “Beat Bobby Flay”, where Twin Cities chefs stand in for Bobby Flay, and try to recreate some of their signature dishes. Some key differences between this and the Food Network show: the chefs competing against me are completely unaware that a competition is in fact occurring, and (more importantly) I am not a chef but rather a college student with average cooking skills and a lot of heart. In sum, I am using this platform as an excuse to make my favorite foods.

This week, I took on Diane Yang’s (@dianemyang) famous crepe cake from the very popular Spoon and Stable, located in the North Loop. This creation is an orgasm-inducing, mouth-watering, taste bud-satisfying work of art, and goes for $6 a slice, which is cheaper than Shish cake. While all parts of this cake are praise-worthy, the brûléed crepe that sits on top of 20 other crepes is truly something special, and requires the skill and blowtorch that I do not have.

My replication process began with a recipe from Natashaskitchen.com. I messed up four crepes, made 20 acceptable crepes, found a real rhythm, and forced Benny Goldman ‘16 to help me churn some butter, condensed milk and cream cheese. All in all, the process took around three hours due to some unforseen mishaps (the four crepes I messed up.) The finished product was not nearly as alluring as Diane’s and lacked the aforementioned brûléed top, but I gave it my all and am satisified with my effort. When I texted my housemate Lily Stein ‘18 asking if she liked my cake, she replied “yes.” Even better, my other housemate’s boyfriend (Elliot Cassutt ‘18) said “DAMN” after he put a little stack of crepes into his mouth. While these comments were greatly appreciated and real ego boosters, I think it is safe to say that I did not beat Bobby Flay (Diane Yang.) I did make a crepe cake for $10 so I am a winner in my own eyes. The recipe for the losing version can be found here:

https://natashaskitchen.com/2017/09/12/crepe-cake-recipe/