Nalysnyky z syrom

The story

Nalysnyky are thin crêpes wrapped around a filling, and the sweet version here uses syr, the fresh curd cheese that American stores sell as farmer's cheese. Ukrainian cooks also fill them with meat, cabbage or fruit. Pancakes of this family, mlyntsi, were adopted as standard festive food for Masnytsia, the week before Orthodox Great Lent that Ukrainians also call Maslyana or cheese week. Ukrainian food sites still publish whole Maslyana menus of pancakes, crêpes and varenyky for that week. In 2027 cheese week runs from March 8 to 14, and Lent begins on Clean Monday, March 15. Volodymyr Yaroslavskyi, a judge on the Ukrainian MasterChef, works melted butter and oil into the batter so the pan needs no greasing between crêpes, and an old newspaper recipe republished by Novyny.LIVE sweetens the curd with powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon zest, adds raisins, then bakes the rolled crêpes in layers of butter at 350°F for 20 minutes. Both the crêpes and the filling can be made a day ahead, so on the day only the baking remains; serve them warm with sour cream or a spoonful of cherry preserves.