Contributed by Rachael, Ancesister @ Ancestreats.

First, a few words about blintzes (say: blint-ZEZ or blint-ZEES). The name blintz is Yiddish for an unleavened crepe pancake that gets stuffed like a burrito with a fruit or cheese filling, then is fried in butter, and finally is served hot with a garnish of applesauce and sour cream. With origins from Russia as blin or blintchiki, these are traditionally served in Lithuania during Lent. Some variations use buckwheat flour.  I’m sharing the recipe below  now, since many of you are observing the season of penance and prayer before Easter.

In the United States, Jewish immigrants incorporated the delightful blintz into their cuisine. Blintzes are commonly prepared for dairy meals. They are made specially for the Spring holiday called Shavuot because the rolled crepes resemble Torah scrolls.  Jewish-American grandmothers of European ancestry offer these to hungry grandchildren any time of year. My grandma did it.  My own mom does it for my kids.  I can’t keep them stocked for long in my freezer once their hiding place becomes known.

When one makes a lot of blintzes, they can be frozen in un-fried form, and stored for future onesie-twosie-threesies. Many of you readers have fried blitzes taken out of a frozen package purchased from your favorite grocer and asked yourself, “Why would I ever bother making these from scratch?!” Blintzes made from scratch offer a texture and taste that will not be experienced from factory made products. Cross my heart. Okay? If you are still with me, let’s get back to unfurling the making of The Bomb.

In 1982, Mollie Kazten in her vegetarian cookbook, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest…And Other Timeless Delicacies, introduced a recipe borrowed from a caterer in Rochester, NY named Bardy. It is called Blintz Souffle. When I moved to Rochester in 2002, I eagerly sought out this Bardy without luck. His time in the food business had passed, and maybe even he had. Fortunately, I still had my cookbook and this glorious recipe became my Holy Grail of Blintzes for a crowd.

I prepare this particular dish once-a-year, as part of my offerings for a meal to break the fast of Yom Kippur. Yes, it is rich and heavenly, but not so heavy that you can’t stomach it after going without food all day. At four years old, my eldest son proclaimed this dish: “The BOMB!” He really meant it exploded with flavor and soft pleasurable texture, but the cool name stayed with us.

The BOMB! is 4 recipes combined into one: un-fried but filled blintzes that bake into a lightly sweetened custard. I won’t lie, dear readers: a great deal of loving effort goes into making this dish. May the words of Molly Katzen cheer you on: “Hold onto your chair while consuming Blintz Souffle, or you may find yourself transported out of this realm and into Blintz Heaven.”

May I also encourage that for all your efforts dear readers, double the recipe and freeze away half of for a future dairy feast down the road. If, however, you are intending to feed a large group, use a larger baking pan and go two layers deep with the filled crepes. By doubling the custard and crepe recipe, you can make both fillings so the casserole can use half of each (alternate the blintzes) when you lay them in the pan. You can also simply use half of the crepes for THE BOMB, and save the others in the freezer for a rainy day.

If you don’t have all day–or all night as I have done this many a time–to stand in the kitchen for this labor of love, break up the steps. Make part one and part two in advance, and refrigerate until you are ready to go on to complete parts three and four.

PART ONE: PREPARE THE FILLINGS (these a quick)

–SWEETENED CHEESE FILLING–

1 lb cottage cheese or package of farmer’s cheese, 1 beaten egg, 2 Tbs sugar, 3 Tbs flour, ¼ tsp salt, dash white pepper. Mix ingredients together well. Refrigerate in a bowl or plastic tub until ready to fill crepes.

–FRUIT FILLING–

3 cups fruit [whole blueberries, OR whole pitted cherries, OR sliced peaches, OR a combination of black berries, raspberries, cherries, peaches, strawberries, etc.], 1 Tbs lemon juice, 3 Tbs flour, 3 Tbs sugar (white or brown). Optional is one tsp of cinnamon.  In a saucepan, place the fruit with lemon juice. Sprinkle in the flour after 4-5 minutes. Stir without scorching the pan and cook for another 10 minutes, Remove from heat. Cool. Refrigerate in a bowl or plastic tub until ready to fill crepes.

PART TWO: THE BLITZ CREPES [This makes between 14 and 18 crepes]

In a large non-reactive bowl combine 3 large eggs, ½ tsp salt, ¾ cup unbleached flour, 1-1/3 cups milk, 2 Tbs melted butter. Using a wisk, beat these together, or cheat and use a blender. I’m OK with that! Here you can stop in advance and refrigerate the batter until you area ready to move ahead with assembly.

To make the crepes: put on some music to dance around with and motivate to. Heat a seasoned 8” cast iron skillet, or 6” non-stick omelette pan over medium heat. Brush a small amount of melted butter (you only need to do this for the first few crepes) over the entire cooking surface on the pan. Ladle a small amount of batter into the center of the pan, tilt the pan around until the bottom of the pan is coated. Cook batter until the edges pull away from the pan. Take a spatula and turn out the pancake, cooked side up, on a large plate. Repeat until batter is gone. Cover the stack with a clean tea towel.

PART THREE: FILLING THE BLINTZES

To fill, use 1 heaping teaspoon of filling per blintz. Like a burrito, place the filling on the bottom third of a crepe. Fold over tightly once, fold the sides in to cap it, then roll it up cigar style.

**If you are going to fry these up individually because you chickened out on The Bomb!, place them on a platter until you can transfer them to a heated, heavy skillet to be fried in butter on both sides until they are crisped and brown; serve right away with sour cream & applesauce. Or you can freeze them for another day.

***If you are making The BOMB! place the filled blintzes right into the selected baking pan prepared for making the soufflé in the next step.

PART FOUR: BLINTZ SOUFFLE AKA: THE BOMB!

¼ cup melted butter

2 cups sour cream

6 eggs

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

18 unfried, filled blintzes

Coat the bottom of a 9”x13” rectangular pan with melted butter (If you are doubling the recipe, you will either coat a second pan, or you will want a single 11”x15” pan). Arrange the blintzes side by side in the pan (2 rows wide). If you have doubled up the blintzes, and are using a larger pan, you can place your second layer on top of the first.

Beat together the sour cream with eggs until light and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients, Pour the custard over the blintzes and bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350F (375F at high altitude). Serve hot, with applesauce and sour cream, or fresh fruit. It’s OK to eat this warm and at room temperature, too. Don’t worry about a hot plate.

That’s it. Plate up and appreciate your hard work. Don’t gulp, enjoy.