Baked cottage cheese filled crepes were one of my favourite desserts when I was growing up. So I’m pretty excited to have made a vegan version of it. There were quite a few challenges with recreating this dish. One was how to make delicious vegan pancakes, another was how to make a rich and flavourful vegan cottage cheese and the third one was how to make a vegan version of the custard that is poured over the pancakes. My goal was to make this dish taste exactly how I remember it from my childhood.
For pancakes the trick was to add my homemade soy yogurt to the batter which made them taste so delicious that I could eat them on their own without adding any filling. You can also use a store bought soy yogurt instead of making your own.
For the filling I used my vegan cottage cheese which I also use in my börek. I substituted the eggy custard with a mixture of soy yogurt, silken tofu, vegan butter and coconut cream. The custard was especially hard to figure out but in the end I can truly say that it tastes just like I remember it.
Making these crepes does take time and effort but it’s so worth it. I hope you give it a try.
Baked Crepes with Vegan Cottage Cheese (V)
Ingredients
Crepes:
- 120 g all purpose flour sifted
- 200 ml (3/4 cup + 4 tsp) unsweetened soy milk
- 40 ml (1/6 cup) sparkling water
- 40 g vegan butter melted
- 10 ml (2 tsp) maple syrup
- 64 g (1/4 cup) unsweetened soy yogurt I make my own at home
- pinch of salt
- a very small pinch of turmeric powder for colour
For making crepes:
- 0.6 tsp vegan butter divided
Filling:
- 200 g vegan cottage cheese
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut cream* just the cream part from a can of coconut cream (without water)
- 20 ml (4 tsp) maple syrup
- zest 1/4 lemon
- 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp vanilla powder
- pinch of salt
- 20 g raisins soaked in water for a couple of minutes
Custard:
- 150 g (1/2 cup + 4 tsp) unsweetened soy yogurt I make my own at home
- 15 g silken tofu (I used extra firm silken tofu)
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) coconut cream* just the cream part from a can of coconut cream (without water)
- 30 g vegan butter melted
- 10 ml (2 tsp) maple syrup
- a very small pinch of turmeric powder for colour
To decorate:
- 1/4 tsp powdered sugar
Other ingredients:
- olive oil to grease the baking dish
Instructions
- Make vegan cottage cheese 24 hours before you start making crepes. You will need a little less than 3/4 of the recipe.
- If you are making homemade soy yogurt you have to make it 12 hours in advance. You will need a little less than 1/3 of the recipe.
Crepes:
- Sift the flour then add all the ingredients for the crepes into a food processor and blend. Transfer the mixture into a bowl.
- Melt 1/3 tsp of vegan butter in a non-stick pan over medium heat and spill 1/4 of the crepes mixture over it. Rotate the pan with the handle so that the mixture spreads evenly around the pan.
- Wait until the top of the crepe is no longer wet then flip it over. After the other side is cooked, flip it once more and cook for a little bit. Transfer crepe to a larger plate.
- Turn the heat to low, add 1/8 tsp of vegan butter and rotate the pan so that it spreads evenly around. Add the second 1/4 of the crepes mixture. Rotate the pan with the handle so that the mixture spreads evenly in the pan. Turn the heat back to medium high.
- First side of the second crepe will be cooked much faster than the first side of the first crepe because the pan is much hotter. When there are no more wet patches on top of the crepe flip it over and cook the other side. Transfer crepe to a larger plate.
- Repeat the process another two times so that you get 4 crepes overall.
Filling:
- Mix together all ingredients and spread the mixture equally on all four crepes. Roll all crepes and place them in a greased baking dish (I used 23×22 cm) side by side.
Custard:
- In a food processor blend together soy yogurt, silken tofu, maple syrup and turmeric powder. Over low heat melt coconut cream and vegan butter, then add them to the other ingredients in the food processor and blend again. Pour the mixture over crepes so that the top of crepes is all covered in the dressing.
Baking:
- Bake at 180 °C for 35-40 min.
Decorating and serving:
- Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
- Wait for crepes to cool before serving them.
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