Fruity treats for Pancake Day

Pancake Day is a time for celebration when the whole family can come together in the kitchen to create an easy batter and test their pancake flipping skills, before dressing the results – perfect or otherwise (it really doesn’t matter).  This year, rather than the usual lemon and caster sugar, why not turn your hand to something a little more substantial like these thin, rolled, pancakes with honey, orange and soft cheese which are then lightly fried.

Honey orange and cheese blintzes

Here’s a tried and tested recipe using a blender (and stand mixer for the filling) to create the perfect batter with the turn of a switch.

Enough for 10-12 filled blintzes 

Prep Time 10 minutes (not including 20 minutes rest time for the batter)

Cook Time 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

• 375ml whole milk
• 6 large free range eggs
• 56g melted butter
• 2 tbsps honey
• ½ tsp salt
• 180g flour
• ¾ tsp cinnamon
• 6g orange zest

​​Cheese filling:

• 162g cottage cheese
• 246g ricotta cheese (drained)
• 2 tbsps honey
• 1 large free range egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch salt

Serving:

• Orange Marmalade
• Sour Cream
• Honey

Method:

1. Make the batter. Place all batter ingredients into the Artisan K400 blender (dry first, then wet). Turn to speed 4 and blend for 10 seconds. Keep the cap on and place the blender jar in the refrigerator to rest the batter for at least 20 minutes before using.
    
2. Make the crepe wrappers. Heat a 10-inch, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the surface. Pour in about four tablespoons of batter into the hot pan and immediately swirl batter around to coat bottom of pan in a thin, even layer of batter. Cook until the surface looks dry - about a minute. Flip the crepe over and cook briefly to set the other side (no more than 5 seconds). Remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
    
3. Make the cheese filling. Fit the Artisan Stand Mixer with the whisk attachment. Add cheeses, egg yolk, vanilla and salt. Turn mixer speed to 4 and blend mixture for 30 seconds.
    
4. Prepare the blintzes. Lay a crepe in front of you. About 1” from the bottom of the crepe, and with about 1” of space on each side, add 2 tablespoons of cheese filling. Fold bottom edge up over filling and flatten slightly. Fold in both sides (to box in the cheese filling), then fold up crepe into a small filled rectangle, ending with the seam on the bottom. Set blintz aside onto your sheet pan, and continue filling the remaining crepes. (NOTE: This step can be done a day ahead and prepared blintzes can be kept on the sheet pan in the refrigerator, covered with plastic.)
    
5. When ready to eat, melt a bit of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Gently place 2-3 blintzes in pan, cover and cook for 2- 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Use a spatula to gently turn the blintzes (be careful to slide the spatula in the same direction of the bottom seam to prevent opening the bottom of the blintz when turning), cover again, and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve warm with sour cream and orange marmalade.

Fruity farmhouse pancakes

Use a combination of seasonal fruit and meet at least half the recommended ‘5 servings of fruit and veg a day’ before you even leave the house!

Ingredients

Makes 8 pancakes

For the pancakes

• 50g/2oz plain white flour
• 50g/2oz gram flour, sifted
• 15g/1/2 oz poppy seeds
• 300ml/10floz soya milk
• pinch of salt
• 5ml/1tsp sunflower oil

For the filling

• 1 ripe bananas, chopped
• 1 apple or pear, chopped
• 1 lemon, juice only (reserve zest for decoration)
• 50g/2oz chopped dried apricots r fresh British berry fruits
• 50g/2oz toasted almonds, chopped
• 150ml/5fl oz soya yoghurt (natural) – see recipe
• 5ml/1tsp poppy seeds to decorate (optional)

Method

1. To make the pancakes, put all the ingredients except the oil into a blender jug. Blend briefly and leave to stand for 15 minutes (or overnight).

2. Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing the bnanas, lemon juice, apricots and almonds together.

3. Heat the oil in a non-stick pancake pan. Use a 50ml/2oz ladle to measure the batter for each pancake. Make 8 pancakes and layer to keep warm.

4. Fill each pancake with a couple of spoonfuls of the filling and fold into quarters. Arrange 2 on each plate with a spoonful of soya yoghurt. Sprinkle poppy seeds and lemon zest on the yoghurt to decorate and serve.

 

Thanks to KitchenAid for the honey, orange and cheese blintzes recipe which marks the launch of the new KitchenAid Artisan K400 Blender (RRP £279).