Cream-Filled Crepes with Blueberry Sauce

Sundays aren't included in the forty days of Lent, so I've been using blueberries frozen and hoarded from last summer to make special breakfasts. Even I think I erred on the side of sweet this past Sunday. We ate these for breakfast, but in the future, I think I'll reserve this recipe for guests, fancy brunches, or dessert. (Ha! Like I've EVER hosted a fancy brunch...)

Growing up, I always made, and still make, what we Johnsons called "Swedish Pancakes" for breakfast. We'd drown them in syrup or spread them with jam and eat them all rolled up in a coil. It turns out that our "Swedish Pancakes" were essentially other people's crepes, which are used for breakfast dishes and-- you guessed it-- desserts.

So, here's a sweet-lover's breakfast meal or a sourpuss's dessert. Either way, it's pretty decadent.

Cream Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used light)
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (almond or lemon could be substituted)

Blend well and set aside.



And here's the Johnson recipe for Swedish Pancakes, or, if you're fancy, crepes. I doubled this amount to make about 8-10 pancakes of medium thickness.

3 eggs
1 and 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk eggs and milk together. Sift dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Whisk until well-blended. Alter the amount of flour or milk depending on your desired consistency. Heat a lightly greased pan and add batter. The amount of batter you add depends on how thin you want your crepes/pancakes. For very thin pancakes, use 2 tablespoons batter for an 8-inch pan. I usually use more because they're easier to flip and handle for impatient people like me when they're a bit thicker, but don't make them so thick that they turn into rubbery regular pancakes. Lift and tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom with batter. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 15-20 seconds longer for thin pancakes. Keep warm in a slightly heated oven.

When the pan-crepes are finished, spread a dollop of the cream cheese mixture in the center and fold from each side until the folded pan-crepe is rectangular in shape. If not serving immediately, place seam side down in a lightly greased baking pan and return to the warm oven, otherwise place on a plate and serve immediately with blueberry sauce spooned on top.

* A few alterations I may make next time:
The filling was quite rich and sweet. Don't misunderstand me; it was good, and we smacked our lips through breakfast, but next time, I might substitute half of the cream cheese with cottage cheese to lighten it up.

* I also might use less sugar in the berry sauce, to taste, but by then my sweet tooth could have adjusted in response.