Ricotta and Cream Cheese Blintzes are so delicious. Am I the last one to make her own? Probably not, but I felt it was something I had to do. A rite of passage, if you will. Blueberry blintzes are my favorite so I started on a quest to make ones I really enjoyed.
First comes the crêpe batter. After making a bunch with all-purpose flour, I decided to try using cake flour. Wow — what a difference. The batter is thinner and smoother, resulting in crêpes that are much lighter and more delicate. I also discovered that weighing the crêpe batter helped me produce even thinner crêpes that were all the same size. Cooking the crêpes is actually fun and rewarding when you get the hang of lightly brushing the pan with grapeseed oil and swirling the batter so that it forms a thin circle. Assume the first one or two won’t work and then you’re home free. It’s a quick learning curve.
Next comes the cheese filling. After trying different proportions of farmer cheese and cottage cheese with more/less sugar and lemon zest, I decided that that wasn’t the combination for me. Ricotta cheese and cream cheese is a winner. It’s rich, creamy, and lightly touched with lemon zest. Absolutely delicious — and when you add the blueberries, WOW!
Finally, you have to choose how you want to cook the filled crêpes. Do you brush them with butter and bake or do you melt butter in a skillet and sauté them? Personally, I like the way they look and taste a bit more when they’re sautéed; but baking them is an excellent option. They are delicious both ways. I serve blueberry sauce on the side — but again, that’s up to you!
I’ve also included a picture of the blintzes I made for the holiday of Simchat Torah. I thought that my grandchildren would get a kick out of eating blintzes in the shape of Torahs. I was right.
Now that you have the full story, I hope you’ll try these. You won’t be sorry. Enjoy!
Prep time: 60 minutes
Ricotta and Cream Cheese Blintzes
By Published: August 30, 2016
Yield:
- 3 cups batter- 18-22 crepes
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon for batter and 1/4 teapoon for cheese mixture
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil more if needed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 12 ounces cream cheese softened
- 12 ounces ricotta cheese (whole milk)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 small lemon zested
- 1 cup blueberries optional
Equipment
- 1 electric mixer paddle inserted
- 1 crêpe pan
- 1 pastry brush
- 1 spatula
- 1 plate large enough to stack cooked crepes
- waxed paper or parchment squares
- 2 mixing bowls
- baking pan (lined in baking parchment) large enough to hold blintzes for baking blintzes
- skillet (or washed crêpe pan) for sautéeing blintzes
- scale remember to press tare before and after weighng each crepe
Directions
- Add milk and eggs to bowl of blender. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix on low speed until smooth. Pour batter through a strainer if you see any little lumps. Let batter rest 30 minutes.
- While batter is resting, make the cheese filling. Combine cream cheese, ricotta, sugar, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and lemon zest and mix rapidly until smooth. Taste. Add more lemon zest or sugar if desired. At this point, I like to divide the filling in half and mix the blueberries in one half of it. Set filling aside to wait for the crepes.
- To make crêpes: Pour a little bit of grapeseed oil in the pan. Heat pan until the oil just starts to spatter. Pour in a little less than 1/4th cup or 3 full tablespoons or 1.15 oz of batter and swirl it around to form a thin circle. This is easier than it might sound! Cook each crêpe until the edges start to brown and curl away from the pan. Using a spatula, flip crêpe over and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Slide cooked crêpe onto a plate lined with waxed paper-more browned side up. Brush the pan with oil after you make each crêpe. Once you have the heat adjusted to where you want it, adding more oil isn't always required. Repeat this process until you have used all the batter. Place waxed paper between each crêpe as it's made.
- To form blintzes: Take one crêpe at a time and lay it on a hard surface. If you want to bake them- place the more browned side on the hard surface with the less browned side facing you. If you want to sauté the blintzes, do the opposite. Have the less browned side on the hard surface and the more browned side facing you. Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling a little above the center of the crêpe. Roll the shorter side over the filling and keep rolling until the filling is encased in the crêpe. Press the filling down gently so that it flattens out. You can leave the blintze long or fold in the sides. Repeat until all the blintzes are prepared.
- To make blintzes: Preheat oven to: 375° F. Brush the parchment with melted butter. Arrange blintzes in a single layer in the pan. Brush each one with melted butter. Bake in middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Serve hot-with blueberry sauce and/or sour cream on the side.
- To sauté blintzes: You can use the same crêpe pan you used before for sautéeing one or two blintzes at a time; or use a larger skillet to sauté three or four at a time. In either case, brush the pan with melted butter; heat the pan til butter starts to sizzle and carefully place the blintzes down. Sauté 1-2 minutes on each side. Arrange in a serving dish with blueberry sauce and/or sour cream on the side. Serve hot!
