Crepes are one of the easiest things to make, and are one of the first things you learn in culinary school. A good crepe batter simply consists of eggs (I used 2), flour (1 cup), milk (1 1/4 cup), salt (1/4 tsp), and oil (2 tbsp). So I whisked the ingredients together, put the batter in the fridge to chill and then started on my cheesecake filling. I got myself two types of cream cheese, your standard Philly cream cheese and some local sheep's milk cream cheese called La Petite Folie. The latter definitely had more tang than the Philly. I mixed them together (making sure they were softened first) and added some icing sugar (1/4 cup), vanilla (1 tsp), and lemon juice (1 tbsp). In a separate bowl, I whipped some all-natural heavy cream (1/2 cup) and then folded the whipped cream in with the cream cheese mixture. The filling was amazing, and there wasn't much I could do to make it better. I slapped it in the fridge because the harder your cream cheese mixture, the better; it will prevent all of the filling from bursting out of the crepe when you cut into it.
Now it was time to make a sauce. While my favourite sauce for cheesecake is usually a chunky strawberry sauce, I'm also a huge fan of blueberries and had some extra blueberries on hand so I figured I should use them up. I also had a jar of some amazing blueberry and lavender jam called michaelsdolce (made right here in Ottawa), why not throw that in too? Making the sauce was super easy, I put 2 cups of blueberries into a saucepan and added 4 tablespoons of cane sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice. I simmered until the blueberries were liquefied, and then stirred in the jar of jam. Done! Taste? Awesome, the lavender in the jam really put it over the top. The sauce is still very good without the jam though, so it's not entirely necessary.
After chilling the batter and filling for about an hour, it's now time to put it all together. You really need a quality pan for crepes, a nicely greased, medium-sized non-stick pan will do. I poured in 1/4 cup of the batter for each crepe, and swirled it around the pan to form a circle. You have to do this quickly because the batter solidifies in just a few seconds! Once the top of the crepe is dry, it's time to flip it and cook it on the other side for about 15-30 seconds. Done! For an instructional video on how to do this, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DgmbMMOgA
So I took the finished crepes, put my cheesecake filling in the middle-right (not dead centre or it wouldn't roll properly), added just a bit of the blueberry sauce on top of the filling and then rolled it like a cigar. Then added some of the blueberry sauce on top. Too easy!!! They were just as enjoyable as any cheesecake I've ever had, including Carnegie Deli's.
Any questions on how to make these? Just ask. I encourage you to actually make these, they're worth the time and effort! It's been a quiet month with regards to blogging due to being very busy with work and other things, but I'll be more active in the coming months
P.S. I cracked the other day and had a strawberry cheesecake at Zak's Diner, and because of that, I have to take David Lin out to Murray Street Restaurant for dinner next week. We had a deal and I'm a man of my word. That's fine though, it IS my favourite restaurant in Ottawa. I'll blog all about my experience there!
