Monday, January 18, 2021

Heljdopita - Buckwheat Crepe Cake

Every year I focus on a different region of the world for one of my reading goals, and find myself cooking and baking dishes from those countries as well. I recently read the first book for my Europe 2021 goal, a book from a little country called Montenegro. I did a bit of research on recipes from Montenegro, and found a few tourism/travel videos. Many of the dishes are also known in Serbia, of course, since they used to be the same country. It is only very recently that the language of Montenegrin has started to grow more distinct from Serbian as they start to declare their identity. One recipe that came up was what looked like a crepe cake, but the description of it was savory - heljdopita.

I consulted several cooks on the internet. One person made buckwheat crepes and stacked them in a pan to bake, another used a buckwheat type pastry (translated to "buckwheat bark"), and another made more of a dough than a batter, and rolled each piece out separately. I knew I didn't want to have to roll anything out "thin enough" because I never get there. The second person made a lasagna shaped buckwheat pie (referred to as "Perfect and Adorable Buckwheat Pie") but added spinach between the layers, which I liked. So I adapted the first person's recipe, brought in elements for the filling from other recipes, and added spinach between every other layer when I put it together. The recipe videos were all in Serbian and some ingredients are not quite the same, or maybe even measurements, so I did my best!

Heljdopita (aka Adorable Buckwheat Pie)

Ingredients for crepes:

150 g buckwheat flour (I used 1 cup + 2 tbsp)
250 g whole wheat flour (I used 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, but 1 1/2 may have been better)
3 eggs
One and a half deciliters of milk (I used 5 oz)
Three and a half deciliters of sparkling water (I used 11.75 oz, or 1 cup + scant 1/2 cup)

Filling:

200 g cheese (I used 8 oz feta, they use feta or another sharp crumbly cheese)
200 g cream cheese (I used sour cream since others did, I think the "cream cheese" references is really farmers' cheese, or some other mild soft cheese)
2 eggs
100 ml plain greek-style yogurt (1/3 cup)

Whisk eggs, stir in milk and water. Stir in buckwheat flour; stir in whole wheat flour half at a time. Make crepe like pancakes (medium heat, ladle in just enough to cover bottom, flip when edges start to curl, cook just a few seconds on the other side.)

Mash cheese, stir in sour cream (or cream cheese), eggs, and yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a springform or dutch oven, layer a crepe with a spoon or so of filling, enough to spread around but does not need to fully cover. Add spinach if so desired, fresh baby leaves fine.

Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes.

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