Pandekagekagen or Pancake Cake

So last week I was at our local library with Anatole playing with their fun toys and picking out books to bring home.  Along with a Barbapapa book about the Barbapapa family turning into an orchestra, a book about going to the doctor (endless fascination for Anatole at this stage in his life), and a "search and find" picture book, I found a something for me.  Has anyone else ever done that?  It happens every once in awhile that I find a children's book I just have to take home.  Like the time I found a fascinating story about a day in the life of a real family in Mongolia or the book with fun do-it-yourself crafts for Easter.

Well, this time it was a Danish cookbook called "Fun in the Kitchen with Peddersen and Findus."  It has plenty of fun illustrations geared toward children, but the recipes are adult-friendly.  I fell in love with the drawings, fun colors, and great looking recipes...and of course Peddersen and his helpful cat.  Too cute.

The recipe for "Pandekagekagen" or pancake cake had my name written all over it.  But I should confess right now.  Yes, I made a pancake cake, but No, I did not make it from scratch.  Right from the start I knew that I'd use a box of the best pre-made Swedish pancakes, available in my grocer's freezer aisle.  Swedish pancakes are thin and similar to crepes. I debated and debated about the right filling, and then ended up grabbing a jar of Scottish lemon curd that a friend had given me a few months back.

To a leftover tub of soft cream cheese, I added a half cup or so of powdered sugar and stirred it until it was nice and smooth.  Then came time for the fun part.

I placed the first (thawed) pancake on a cake plate, smeared on some lemon curd and then topped with another pancake.  Then I added the cream cheese filling, another pancake, and more lemon curd, alternating until I had a plain pancake on top.

To the top I spread on a thick layer of maple-syrup-sweetened whipped cream and garnished with sliced strawberries and lemon rind.

The guests that I served it to said they really enjoyed it.  Personally, I loved the presentation more than the taste.  It's a good dessert and the flavors work really well together, but it was perhaps a tad gummy.  I actually think it would be better to make my own crepes and assemble the cake with the homemade version.  My store bought brand is excellent and all-natural, but perhaps the time going from frozen to thawed to served made for some challenge in the texture department.

Best nevertheless, I had a lot of fun preparing the pancake cake.  And I also think it makes for a novel dessert for a lunch or dinner party.