Cheese Blintzes
The Shavuot pancake. Thin crepes wrapped around a sweet farmer-cheese filling, folded into neat little envelopes, fried gently in butter until the skin crisps and the cheese inside warms through. Eaten with sour cream and a spoon of berry compote.
Overview
A two-stage dish. First, thin crepes (much thinner than a pancake - almost see-through) cooked one side only on a buttered pan, stacked under a clean cloth. Then a filling of farmer cheese (or ricotta drained well) mashed with egg yolk, sugar, vanilla and a little lemon zest. A heaping tablespoon of filling on the cooked side of each crepe, folded into a tight envelope, and fried briefly in butter on both sides until golden. Served warm with cold sour cream and a spoon of red-berry compote.
Ingredients
The crepe batter
- 150 g plain flour
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs
- 350 ml whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted, cooled, plus more for the pan)
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
The cheese filling
- 500 g farmer cheese (or ricotta drained 30 minutes in a sieve, or full-fat cottage cheese drained the same way)
- 1 large egg yolk
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- The zest of 1 lemon
- A small pinch of fine sea salt
To finish
- 30 g unsalted butter (for frying)
- 200 g sour cream
- 200 g mixed berry compote (or fresh raspberries crushed lightly with a spoon of sugar)
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar (for dusting)
Method
Stage 1 - Mix and rest the batter
- In a wide bowl, whisk the flour and salt. Make a well, crack in the eggs, and whisk in.
- Add the milk in three pours, whisking smooth between each. Whisk in the melted butter, sugar and vanilla.
- The batter should be the consistency of single cream - thinner than pancake batter. Strain through a sieve if any lumps remain. Cover and rest for 30 minutes; this relaxes the gluten so the crepes are tender, not rubbery.
Stage 2 - Cook the crepes
- Heat a 22 cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Wipe the inside with a buttered paper towel.
- Lift the pan from the heat, pour in 50 ml (about a small ladleful) of batter, swirl the pan immediately so the batter coats the base in a thin even film, and return to the heat.
- Cook for 60-90 seconds. The top will set, the edges will lift, and the underside should be pale gold with a few small darker patches.
- Slide onto a plate, cooked-side UP (this is the side the filling sits on; the wetter top side becomes the outside of the parcel).
- Repeat with the rest of the batter, stacking crepes under a clean tea towel. You should get 12 crepes.
Stage 3 - Make the filling
- In a bowl, mash the farmer cheese with a fork until smooth-ish but with some texture.
- Beat in the egg yolk, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. The filling should be the consistency of stiff sour cream and hold its shape on the back of the spoon.
Stage 4 - Fold the blintzes
- Lay a crepe cooked-side up on a clean board. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling on the lower third, leaving a 2 cm border at the bottom and sides.
- Fold the bottom up over the filling, fold the two sides in over the bottom flap, then roll up away from you into a tight envelope. The seam should be on the underside.
- Repeat with the rest. Set the parcels aside seam-side down.
Stage 5 - Fry to finish
- In a wide frying pan over a medium heat, melt half the butter until it foams.
- Place 4-5 blintzes seam-side down in the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes per side, turning gently with a spatula, until both sides are deep golden and the filling is warmed through.
- Lift onto a warm plate. Wipe the pan, add more butter, and fry the next batch.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Place 2-3 blintzes per person on a warm plate. Spoon sour cream alongside and a spoon of berry compote over or next to. Dust the blintzes lightly with icing sugar.
Notes
- Farmer cheese (sometimes called "twaróg" in Polish shops, or "tvorog" in Russian ones) is the canonical filling and worth tracking down. Drained ricotta is the most accessible substitute; well-drained full-fat cottage cheese also works, blitzed briefly in a food processor for a smoother texture.
- For a savoury version, omit the sugar and vanilla, add 100 g grated gruyere or a handful of chopped chives. Serve with apple sauce instead of berries.
- Blintzes can be assembled hours ahead and chilled, then fried just before serving. They also freeze well once assembled (before the fry stage) - fry from frozen with the heat dropped slightly, adding 2 minutes per side.
Serving
Two or three to a plate, warm, with cold sour cream and berry compote. The temperature contrast is the point: hot crepe, warm cheese, cold cream, cold-tart berries. On the Shavuot table, often the centrepiece of an entirely dairy meal.
Storage
Best fresh. Fried blintzes keep in the fridge for 2 days; reheat in a buttered pan over a low heat for 2 minutes per side. Unfried, assembled blintzes keep in the fridge for 24 hours or freezer for 2 months.
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