LC Fuzzy Math Note
We like to think of cheese blintzes as the original breakfast burrito, although truth be told, we like them just as well for dessert. We like them so much, in fact, that it always feels like we’re doing fuzzy math when we make the recipe because the yield never seems to be enough, no matter how many times we multiply the recipe. Shrug.
Cheese Blintz Recipe
Ingredients
- For the cheese filling
- For the pancakes
Directions
Combine the cheese, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate.
In a bowl, combine the eggs and water and blend thoroughly. Beat in the flour and salt. The mixture will be runny but should have no lumps. (If there are lumps, strain the pancake batter.)
Pour 2 tablespoons batter into a hot, generously buttered 7-inch omelet pan or similarly sized skillet over medium-high heat. Rotate the skillet so bottom of pan is covered evenly.
Cook for 3 or 4 minutes on one side, or until golden. It may be necessary to reduce the heat to medium. Flip the pancake onto a plate, uncooked side down, and repeat this process using all the batter, adding more butter to the pan or skillet as necessary. Stack one pancake on top of the other, uncooked side down. At this point the pancakes are ready to be filled.
Working with one pancake at a time, place it on your work surface, browned side down. Place 2 heaping tablespoons filling on 1/2 the unbrowned side of the pancake. Fold the pancake over once to cover the filling. Fold in the sides of the pancake. Continue rolling the blintz. Set it aside and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Warm the remaining clarified butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place a few blintzes, seam side down, in the skillet and sauté until golden on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining blintzes and serve hot with sour cream.
*Clarified Butter
Clarified butter has had the milk solids removed. Because milk solids scorch at a relatively low temperature, using clarified butter enables the home cook to heat the butter to a slightly higher temperature without it turning brown and taking on any bitter notes. To make clarified butter, melt 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for 2 minutes. Skim and discard any foam from the surface of the butter. Pour the clear, oily looking butter into a container, being careful to stop pouring when you reach the milky residue that has settled at the bottom of the pan. Cover and refrigerate the clarified butter until needed. Discard the milky residue. It’s as easy as that!
Recipe Testers' Reviews
This cheese blintz recipe is definitely a winner! Although blintzes are time consuming to make, they are definitely worth it. If you're short on time you can always make the bletlach (pancakes) one day, refrigerate them, and then make the blintzes the following day. I have also made the bletlach and frozen them, layered with sheets of waxed paper between the pancakes, and then defrosted them when ready to make the blintzes. And I have also made blintzes to the point of assembling them and then freezing them raw and then defrosting and cooking them. Whichever way you do it, you'll be happy you made them and wish you had made more. If you've never made crepes before, the first few can be somewhat frustrating, and probably the first 1 to 3 will be throwaways, but once you get into the rhythm of it you'll be amazed at how simple it is. Using a Teflon-coated pan can make a big difference, also. I started my pan on medium-high heat but then turned it down to medium-low and each one took about 3 minutes. The same thing applies to rolling the blintzes—once you get the hang of it, it goes very quickly. The filling was excellent. I took the author's suggestion and mixed half a cup of raisins with 3 tablespoons cinnamon and added it to the filling. As a well-known TV personality would say, Yummo! My frying pan held 4 blintzes at a time which were cooked on medium-low heat for about 4 minutes each. (By the way, my stove is gas so it's difficult to tell the exact heat but everything was done at an approximate medium heat). I served them with plain sour cream. I did not use clarified butter; instead I used regular unsalted butter. It is important that there are no lumps in the batter. Some suggest straining the batter if there are lumps. Also,the batter for the bletlach works better if you refrigerate it for about half an hour before using it. I've also made them using a filling of ground beef and sautéed onions, which my family calls "melintzes.”
These cheese blintzes were very easy to assemble and made a delicious dish. The heat was always medium and I buttered the pan after each pancake. I used a 9-inch pan and had a dozen pancakes.
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This is the recipe I’ve used in the past – it’s from Ratner’s. Farmer’s cheese is nearly impossible to find unless you live in a town with a large Jewish population, so I DID substitute very well drained ricotta and was thrilled with the result. Squeezing out all the excess liquid was the key step. I was farklempt. Making them again this weekend after Yom Kippur.
Thanks, Roni. I’m so pleased that this turned out so well for you. Can’t wait to hear what you try next.
In case you do’t want to make your own: If I am not mistaken, clarified butter is the same as ghee, which you can find in Indian groceries and some food stores, such as Wegman’s.
Many thanks, Joanie B. Clarified butter and ghee can be used interchangeably although there is a slight difference between the two. Clarified butter is butter cooked just to the point where the milk solids separate and sink, whereas ghee is cooked a touch longer until the milk solids begin to caramelize. But yes, effectively, the same thing. Appreciate you sharing the tip and sources.
My Bubbe always used farmer cheese. And cinnamon. Ricotta? Raisins? Feh! :)
Hah! Thanks, Carin. Clearly you had a wonderful teacher in the art of the cheese blintz!