Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte Crepe Cake

Preparation

Heat the oven to 350ºF.

In a high power blender, combine all pancake ingredients and blend until smooth and well blended. Let the dough rest for 3 minutes to bind.

While the dough is resting, lightly grease a very good nonstick skillet (see notes) with coconut oil and place it just over a medium heat (about setting 4 if your skillet goes from 1 to 10 for a heat reading). I just dab a paper towel in the coconut oil and rub the pan lightly.

After the batter has rested for 3 minutes, pour a little 1/3 cup into the center of the pan, swirling around the pan as you pour the batter. You need to do this quickly so that the dough does not start to cook. before reaching the edges. The pancakes will be a little thicker than your usual pancake.

Bake until edges are crisp and top is set, about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip quickly and cook an additional minute until the pancake is tender, but cooked through. Transfer to a plate and repeat with all the remaining batter, lightly wiping the pan with oil every few pancakes. You should end up with 22-23 pancakes. (See footnotes.)

While you bake the pancakes, combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin pie filling and pour into a medium baking dish. Bake until the mixture darkens and begins to reduce and thicken, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent a thick skin from forming on top of the filling. It takes about 55 minutes to 1 hour. Once cooked, let cool at room temperature until pancakes are done.

Once the pancakes are cooked, place them, along with the pumpkin pie filling, in the fridge to chill for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

For the frosting or coffee filling, in a large bowl, beat together the coconut cream (see notes), pumpkin puree and agave until smooth and well blended. Stir in ground coffee.

Place a cooled pancake on a cake stand and gently, using an offset spatula, evenly spread just under 2 tablespoons of the cooled pumpkin pie filling over it. Place another pancake on top and spread a lightly heaped tablespoon of coconut cream on top, spreading it gently. The pancake will not be covered with as thick a layer as the layer of pumpkin pie filling; it’s normal. Repeat with all the pancakes, alternating between the two different fillings. (I find this helps gently remove any really crispy edges or bits of pancake that fall off the sides of other pancakes as you layer them, so they’re all equal in size.)

Once the layers are complete, spread a very thin layer of coconut cream frosting over the entire cake, to seal all sides. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Once cooled, Spread the rest of the cream all over the cake and garnish with coffee beans. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight to set the cream. Devour.

Remarks:
1. These crepes do not work with a poor quality crepe maker or skillet. You must use a very good, very non-stick 10 inch skillet or your pancakes will stick.
2. The batter will thicken slightly as it rests, so you may need to stir 2-3 tablespoons of Bai into the blender with the batter as you prepare the pancakes. Do not add too much otherwise the pancakes will not hold.
3. Do not use your ground coffee as is; It’s too big. Use a spice grinder to grind it more finely. If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can use a small food processor (mine makes 3 cups) but you’ll need to blend a lot more (at least 1/4 cup) for this to work. Then just use 4 teaspoons of that. Also, please sift your coffee once ground, so you don’t get ugly brown bits in your frosting!
4. I find it helps if you let the coconut cream (for the coffee glaze) sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes to soften. But don’t put it in the microwave! It will melt.