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Cheese Blintz with Cherry Syrup

Prepare these (up to baking in the oven) the day before you serve and enjoy them with your guests, stress free.
Course Breakfast, Special Breakfast
Cuisine Eastern European, Jewish Russian, Yiddish
Keyword Blintz, Cheese Blintz, Traditional Blintz
Prep Time 1 hour
Servings 6 people
Author David of Sunset & Sewanee

Equipment

  • electric blender
  • whisk
  • mixing bowl
  • Cherry pitter
  • measuring spoons
  • ladle
  • non stick skillet
  • non stick spatula

Ingredients

Crepe batter

  • 3 whole eggs
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp sugar, white granulated
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted

Cheese filling

  • 1 ½ cup Ricotta-drained if wet over cheesecloth and a fine mesh strainer. Use whole fat Ricotta. Low fat Ricotta is too watery.
  • ½ cup cream cheese, softened You can substitute mascarpone/neufatel/farmer's cheese
  • 1 whole egg, large
  • 1 whole lemon, zested
  • 2 tbsp sugar, confectioners or powdered
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Cherry Syrup

  • 1 lb cherries, pitted
  • 1/2 cup sugar, granulated or caster
  • 1/2 lemon juiced or about 2 tbs
  • 1 whole lemon zest peeled with pith removed
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp kirsch (add at the end of process) optional: kirsch or kirschwasser is a cherry distilled brandy that adds pop to the syrup.

Garnish

  • 12 whole blackberries garnish
  • ½ cup blueberries
  • 12 whole raspberries garnish
  • 9 whole strawberries, sliced garnish
  • 2-3 mint sprigs
  • 1 tsp sugar, powdered or icing sugar
  • 1/2 cup cherry syrup
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mixing the batter

  • Add the eggs, flour, milk, water, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, vanilla and melted butter to a blender container. Mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined after a few seconds. Reserve. (You can make this batter the night before using it.)

Making the filling

  • Add the ricotta, cream cheese or mascarpone, egg, lemon zest, butter and salt to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or mixing bowl and hand whisk. Beat the batter slowly at first to incorporate the ingredients. Slowly add speed to the whisk to make a smooth consistency.

Cherry Syrup

  • Add cherries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, water, cinnamon, vanilla and salt to a medium sized pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the syrup since it will tend to foam up and will need to be stirred back down by removing from the heat and whisking occasionally.
  • Once the syrup has cooked for 10 minutes, remove from heat and remove the whole lemon zests and reserve. (Make sure there are no cherry pits in the sauce.) Allow the syrup to cool for 8-10 minutes. Add the syrup to a blender container and mix briefly until very smooth. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer back into the cooking pot. Return the lemon zest to the syrup and heat over medium heat. Reduce the syrup to desired consistency and remove the lemon zests. Stir in the kirsch and you have a delicious homemade cherry syrup.

Cooking the Crepes

  • Preheat oven to 325°F
  • Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by brushing the bottom and sides with warm butter and reserve.
  • Heat a 10 inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp of butter and melt while moving the butter around the skillet. Add 1/4 cup of the crepe batter and tilt and roll the skillet around to cover the bottom. The crepe will cook quickly-about 1 minute. Once the top of the crepe looks dry and the batter is no longer wet, gently remove the crepe with the help of a non stick spatula and reserve on a clean plate. Repeat the process until all of the crepe batter has been used. There should be enough batter to make 10-12, 10 inch crepes.
  • Once all the crepes have been made, place one crepe on a clean cutting board and add 3-4 tbsp of cheese filling about 1 inch from the edge closest to you. Roll the leading edge over the top of the cheese filling and gently tuck the cheese inside the crepe. Then fold the sides over the center and continue rolling until the crepe is a small neat package. Repeat this process until all the cheese filling has been used.
  • Using the same non-stick skillet used to make the crepes, add a tablespoon of butter (or vegetable spray) and melt over medium heat. Add three or four rolled blintzes to the hot butter and cook seam side down. After about 2 minutes gently turn over the crepes. They should be golden brown. Once the blintzes have cooked on both sides, add them to a pre-prepared baking dish. Repeat this process until all of the crepes have been cooked and placed into a baking dish.
  • Add the baking dish filled with crepes to the oven. (Be careful not to overcrowd the crepes. They should have enough room to be in the pan without touching directly.) If your pan is overcrowded, use a second pan. Place in the oven at 325°F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Plating

  • After the cheese blintzes have rested 5 minutes out of the oven, pour 1-2 tablespoons of cherry syrup to the bottom on the serving plate. Add 2-3 warm blintzes on top. Add cleaned berries and sprigs of fresh mint. Using a fine sieve, dust the cheese blintzes with a light covering of powdered/icing sugar.