CHEESE CREPES
Serves 6
This dish was born from an episode of Future Food called “French Evolution.” We were competing against Chef Jacqueline Pfeiffer to create a French cheese out of French desserts. Richie, Chris, Ben, Darryl, and I came up with this dish. We made fresh crepes, pureed them, and set them in molds. Then we dipped them into a raspberry puree and voilà—French “cheese” made from crepes. We then took it one step further. By alternating layers of crepe puree with squiggles of blueberry puree, we created a “blue cheese” that looks remarkably convincing and is delicious.
CREPES:
95 grams half-and-half
45 grams (about 1 large) egg, lightly beaten before weighing
30 grams all-purpose flour
7 grams confectioners’ sugar
1.25 grams salt
CREPE PUREE:
150 grams cooked Crepes
250 grams half-and-half
10 grams sugar
2 grams salt
BLUE CHEESE (OPTIONAL):
100 grams water
20 grams freeze-dried blueberries (see Sources, here)
3 black cardamom pods, seeded
2 grams salt
RASPBERRY COATING:
50 grams freeze-dried raspberries (see Sources, here)
500 grams water
15 grams sugar
5 grams agar (see Sources, here)
2 grams salt
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Liquid nitrogen (see Sources, here; optional)
CREPES:
Put the half-and-half, egg, flour, sugar, and salt in a blender and puree on low speed for 1 minute to form a smooth batter. Transfer the batter to a pitcher, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature to let the flour hydrate.
Set a wire rack on a sheet pan and have it near the stove. Set a medium nonstick sauté pan over medium-low heat and spray with cooking spray. When the pan is hot, pour 30 grams of crepe batter in the pan, turning it in a circular motion to spread the batter in a thin layer coating the bottom of the pan. You’re going to puree these, so they don’t have to be perfect, but the more even the layer, the more evenly the batter will cook. Let the crepe cook for 1 minute, until just set. Use a small offset spatula to flip the crepe and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. Transfer to the rack to cool. Continue to cook crepes, spreading them out on the cooling rack, until you’ve used all the batter. Reserve until ready to puree.
CREPE PUREE:
Put the cooked Crepes, half-and-half, sugar, and salt in a blender and puree for 1 minute, until smooth.
CREPE CHEESE:
Put the sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water to bloom. Once they are soft, after about 5 minutes, remove the sheets from the water, squeeze out the excess, and reserve in a small bowl.
Put 300 grams of Crepe Puree into a medium saucepot set over medium-low heat. Use a silicone spatula to stir the mixture as it heats so that it doesn’t scorch on the bottom. Once the puree has come to a boil, remove it from the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and add the gelatin to the hot Crepe Puree. Stir to dissolve the gelatin.
Wrap the bottoms of six 2-inch ring molds with plastic wrap, securing it with rubber bands around the rings, to create a mold for the cheese. Set the molds on a sheet pan.
RED CHEESE:
Pour 50 grams of hot Crepe Puree into each of the molds and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to set up. Place the set Crepe Puree in the freezer to freeze. Hold in the freezer until ready to dip in the Raspberry Coating to make Red Cheese.
BLUE CHEESE (OPTIONAL):
Put the water, freeze-dried blueberries, cardamom pods, and salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a squeeze bottle until ready to use.
Pour 10 grams of hot Crepe Puree in the bottom of each mold. Pour some liquid nitrogen on top of it to set it, or allow to set for 1 hour in the freezer. Squeeze out 15 grams of blueberry puree in a random pattern to create the blue mold in blue cheese. Pour some liquid nitrogen on top of it to freeze it, or allow to set in the freezer. Repeat this layering process 4 times until you have 50 grams of Crepe Puree in the mold. Put the “blue cheese” on a sheet pan and repeat to fill the 5 remaining molds. Put the tray of blue cheese in the freezer.
RASPBERRY COATING:
Put the freeze-dried raspberries in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Put the raspberry powder in a blender with the water, sugar, agar, and salt. Puree on high speed for 1 minute, until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and transfer the puree to a small saucepot. Set the pot over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Line a sheet pan with a silicone mat. Take the Crepe Puree molds out of the freezer and slide the cheese out of the molds. Take a wooden skewer and drive it into the center of the frozen Crepe Cheese. Use the skewer to dip the frozen Crepe Cheese into liquid nitrogen, if using, for 20 seconds, then dip it into the hot raspberry puree, then back into the nitrogen to set the gel. Otherwise, dip the frozen Crepe Cheese into the warm raspberry puree to coat completely and then slide it off the skewer onto the silicone mat. Repeat with the 5 remaining Crepe Cheeses and place the sheet pan in the refrigerator to allow the Red Cheese to set and temper.
TO FINISH:
Cut a wedge of the Red Cheese and place on the plate. Cut a wedge of the Blue Cheese, if using, and place on the plate. Serve immediately.
