Yena, 3, woke up one morning wanting pancakes.
Yena: I want pancakes!
Me: We’re out of maple syrup.
Yena: pouts, whines
Me: We have chocolate syrup. And chocolate!
Yena: perks up a bit.
Me: We have cheese!
Yena: wrinkles nose oooo-kaaay….
Me: Why don’t you go read or play first and I’ll come up with something.
Daughter walks away, Mom thinks: “Hmm, pancakes, chocolate, cheese. … The Swiss are known for cheese AND chocolate, there must be something to that sensuous pairing. I’ve seen chocolate cheese fudge before. Harold McGee makes chocolate cheese truffles. There’s a Filipino bibingcrepe. I’ve eaten chocolate cannolis filled with somewhat salty ricotta. And weren’t those chocolate cheese pies at that one fair we went to? Daughter makes an awesome cream cheese brownie…. And those molecular gastronomists are always trying weird food combinations….this should work!”
To make the crepes:
Combine 1/2 cup sifted flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tablespoon cold water, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Whisk briskly. Let stand 15 minutes at room temperature. Cook in crepe pan, or other skillet (sprayed with a bit of cooking spray or brushed with melted butter), about 2 tablespoons batter each, spreading batter by tilting pan — crepe should be very thin — to make about 10 crepes. Pick your stuffing and enjoy.
So here are the crepes, stuffed with a combination of mozzarella di bufala and Feta, rolled, then drizzled with some chocolate syrup, and sprinkled with fresh gratings of Parmigiano Reggiano and Lindt dark chocolate.
Though the fresh mozzarella di bufala is the closest thing to the Filipino kesong puti which is a must for traditional bibingka (the Filipino rice cake), I actually preferred the saltiness of Feta and Parmigiano Reggiano as it provided a better counterpoint to the sweetness of the chocolate syrup.
So Yena had two bites…. then opted to have cereal. The other kids chose to have theirs with just a sprinkling of sugar: a simple solution that would never have occurred to Mom who likes to complicate things. Next time I’m making these, it will be for ME!
I am surprised they did not go for it. Ya never know.
Hi Stef! The bibincrepe sounds interesting. Do you have a recipe? I used to make bibingka out of rice flour, coconut milk, eggs, sugar, salted eggs and cream cheese. What’s the difference? Crepes ba talaga? Really thin?
Hi chef’em out, yup, you never know. I really thought they’d love it.
Malou, you can use your bibingka recipe — your ingredients are similar to mine — but if cooking on the stovetop you may need extra help from baking powder. I tried making mine into pancakes once and they turned out quite dense; the texture wasn’t crepey and not pancakey either:( — you may have better luck, let me know. I’m thinking with b.p. it may turn out more pancakey (fluffier and thicker) than a crepe, making it more similar to the Halfmoon bibingcrepe in the article. My goal here was to use just a thin one because I wanted to be able to roll it nicely just like a traditional crepe but still have it as light as possible, hence the wheat flour and regular milk. Let me know how yours turns out!
They look great!
I was thinking about it though, my mum used to do some “unusual” or we thought so things in the kitchen… and we always paid her out for it.. but keep it up they will appreciate it sooner or later 🙂 we did