This Easy Peaches and Cream Dessert Is Summer in a Slice

Crêpe cakes have enjoyed their moment in the dessert spotlight for almost two decades now—and for good reason. Their thin, tender layers of barely sweetened batter are the perfect vehicle for bold, fruity, or creamy fillings, stacked into a showy, silky, and unexpectedly light dessert. Made famous by bakeries like Lady M in the early 2000s, crêpe cakes have since become a mainstay in pastry cases and special-occasion spreads alike.

But as someone who’s made many, I can attest that a crêpe cake is a big commitment to make at home. Cooking a dozen or more crêpes one at a time on the stovetop, cooling and stacking them without tearing, and keeping your fillings from slipping and sliding is fussy business. But our streamlined sheet-pan crêpe roll recipe below delivers all the elegance of a classic crêpe cake, with a fraction of the effort—and it’s no less impressive when sliced and plated.

This version, developed in our Birmingham, Alabama, test kitchen by Craig Ruff, calls for baking just one thin crêpe in a rimmed sheet pan, which is then layered with a roasted peach purée and a whipped cream cheese filling, then rolled up into a tight, neat spiral and chilled so it sets for clean slices. It’s a clever mashup of crêpe cake and jelly roll, designed to impress with minimal stress. The key is in the batter and baking technique, plus a couple of clever filling tricks that balance aesthetics and flavor.

The Crêpe Batter and Bake

Traditional crêpes are cooked one at a time in a skillet, where their doneness and browning are easy to control. But when you’re aiming for a single-sheet crêpe baked in the oven, Craig found that new challenges cropped up, such as uneven browning, batter pooling, and inconsistent thickness.

After plenty of testing, Craig found a few smart workarounds. For starters, he nailed down a batter ratio close to standard crêpe formulas—flour, egg, and milk in the right balance for a thin but tender result—while limiting the amount of added sugar to just a touch for a subtly sweet flavor. Achieving crêpes with a light, golden brown hue was tougher: Even at 500°F, the crêpe remained pale, and overbaking it to coax color caused the crêpe to stick to the pan and become dry, brittle, and nearly impossible to roll.

Craig tested preheating the pan with butter before adding the batter. While this technique helped develop some browning on a standard aluminum half-sheet, the results were inconsistent, and the crêpe still tended to stick or overbake. The real solution turned out to be something we rarely call for: a nonstick baking sheet. It delivered a reliably even color on the crêpe without the fuss and, more importantly, prevented sticking altogether. That one change produced a thin, even crêpe with lightly golden edges and a flexible texture that held up beautifully to rolling.

The Peach Filling

Rather than layering the crêpe with fresh peaches (which can make slicing the rolled cake challenging) or a cooked-down chunky mash (which lacked visual appeal), Craig landed on a simple, elegant solution: a roasted peach purée. Chopped firm-ripe peaches are tossed with lemon and sugar, then roasted until tender and syrupy. Once cooled slightly, they’re blended into a smooth, spreadable purée that’s bright, juicy, and thick enough to hold its shape.

This extra roasting step concentrates the flavor of the peaches while the excess moisture evaporates in the oven. And keeping the fruit layer separate from the cream ( instead of folding the two together) means the peach color pops against the creamy white filling when you slice the roll.

The Cream Filling

The “cream” in this peaches and cream dessert isn’t just whipped cream; instead, Craig creates a sturdier, tangier whipped cream cheese filling that stands up to rolling without losing its silky texture. Whipping heavy cream and cream cheese together creates a billowy, mousse-like texture that spreads easily and firms up nicely in the fridge.

Initially, Craig tested folding some of the peach purée directly into the cream filling, but the results were underwhelming: It muddied the color and thinned the texture. By keeping the two fillings in distinct layers, each can shine. The cream adds richness and body, while the summer fruit brings brightness.

Make sure to use all the cream filling when spreading it over the crêpe. In early tests, Craig held some back, but a slightly thicker layer improves both the structural integrity of the roll and the visual contrast of the sliced spiral.

Assembly and Serving

Once the crêpe has cooled, it’s ready to be transformed into dessert. A flexible metal spatula (or two) makes it easier to lift and transfer to your work surface without tearing. From there, just spread on the cream filling and layer the chilled peach purée over top—an offset spatula helps here. Roll it up tightly, jelly roll–style, starting from the short end.

We like the underside of the crêpe—the one that didn’t touch the pan—to face outwards for presentation because it tends to be smoother and more evenly golden, but honestly, go with whichever side looks best. The important thing is to chill the finished roll for at least a couple of hours (overnight is even better). This gives the fillings time to set and ensures you’ll get tidy, clean slices with clearly defined layers.

As for garnish, it doesn’t take much to elevate the presentation. A dusting of powdered sugar, a few peach slices, and piped or dolloped whipped cream go a long way. Despite the cooling and chilling time, the active work here is minimal. There’s no batch-cooking, no delicate layering: just one crêpe, one roll, and one very satisfying reveal when you slice into the spiral.

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