Yiddish cousins of French crepes and Russian blini, blintzes are delicate pancake packets with a sweetened and spiced cream cheese filling. A chafing dish filled with blintzes makes a luxurious dessert, especially if there's an assortment of elegant toppings: a pitcher of warm fudge or raspberry sauce and bowls of fresh berries and thick sour cream.

Buttermilk Blintzes

Makes 20 to 24 blintzes

3/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 to 4 tablespoons each: butter and vegetable oil, for frying

sour cream or yogurt

cherry preserves

CHEESE FILLING:

1 package (8 ounces) regular or reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups (1 pound) pot cheese (also called farmer's cheese)

In blender or food processor, combine flour, soda, salt, sugar, buttermilk, water, eggs and oil. Whirl or process until batter is smooth, stopping motor once or twice to scrape flour from sides of container with a rubber spatula. Cover batter and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Cook blintzes in a lightly oiled 6- to 7-inch pan as for crepes, but brown them on one side only and cook until top surface is dry to touch. Stack blintzes to cool.

To fill each blintz, place a dollop (about 2 tablespoons) of cheese filling in center of browned side of each pancake. Fold in opposite edges about 1 inch, then fold in remaining edges to enclose filling, overlapping in center to make a rectangular-shaped "envelope." Set blintzes aside, folded side down.

In a large frying pan over moderately high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Fry filled blintzes without crowding until golden on each side (1 to 1 1/2 minutes on each side). Add more butter and oil to pan as needed.

Drain blintzes and serve on warm plates with sour cream and preserves.

To make the cheese filling (3 cups): In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with confectioners' sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Then beat in pot cheese.

Pub Date: 03/14/99