Hot crêpes filled with a zesty cream cheese filling, dusted with icing sugar and topped with toasted flaked almonds and fresh berries. Jump to Recipe
Looking back on my childhood, I often reminisce about my teenage years when my dad and I would host brunch for our neighbourhood friends. My dad loved making it a big occasion, serving an abundance of hot toast, eggs, fruit and blintzes.
My dad was definitely the best pancake maker in my family. He’d frequently decide to spontaneously whip up a batch after dinner or as a weekend treat. His crêpes were incredibly thin, delicate and delicious. As you can imagine, his kitchen endeavours were always encouraged!
In preparation for our brunches, my dad would often make a big batch of crêpes the evening before. These would then be generously filled with a zesty, lightly sweetened cream cheese filling, baked and then served hot. When cut in half, the crêpe would have a slight chewy crunch and the deliciously rich creamy filling would burst out. Dusted with icing sugar and served with fresh berries and tart sour cream, his blintzes were never too sweet or too savoury, but always just right.
Following in my father’s footsteps, I’ve taken on the tradition of making blintzes for brunches. They are such an easy, yet impressive and delicious addition to the table. I often make a big stack of crêpes and put half aside. Then when it comes to brunch time, the additional crepes can be served with syrups, spreads and berries alongside the blintzes. Recently, I’ve really enjoyed eating blintzes with fresh seasonal strawberries (thank you Queensland!) and a dollop of quark. The quark has a more subtle flavour than sour cream yet still isn’t overwhelmingly sweet or rich.
My dad insisted that by using double cream in the batter that the crêpes would be lacy sheets of perfection. Although I do still occasionally use this recipe, I try to avoid the additional double cream when making blintzes. This is because I find that it can make them a little too rich. This crêpe recipe uses the more common crêpe ingredients and simply involves chucking everything in the blender and blitzing it for a few seconds. Easy!
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 40 g butter, melted
- 250g cream cheese
- 1 small egg, beaten
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 tbs castor sugar
- fresh berries
- icing sugar
- toasted flaked almonds
- quark or sour cream
- Place all ingredients in a blender.
- Blitz for 20-30 seconds or until well combined.
- Place batter in fridge to rest for one hour.
- Heat a crêpe pan (or a medium-sized frying pan). Add a small amount of butter or oil to coat the pan.
- Pour about a ¼ cup worth of batter into the centre of the hot pan and swirl to allow the mixture to spread thinly and evenly. Cook for 20-30 seconds or until lightly brown. Flip the crêpe and cook the other side for roughly 10 seconds before removing from the pan.
- Repeat until you have used all the batter.
- Begin by preheating the oven to 180° C.
- Place the cream cheese, egg, lemon zest and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined.
- Spoon 2-3 tbs worth of cream cheese mixture into the centre of one crêpe. Fold in the crêpe's sides to enclose the filling.
- Place the blintz (with the folded side down) on a lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture and crêpes.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve hot, dusted with icing sugar and topped with berries, flaked almonds and quark.