One of our favorite breakfast menu items at The Original Pancake House is our Crepes with Cherry Kijafa Sauce. Our version includes three delicate crepes filled and topped with Montmorency cherries simmered in our Kijafa sauce and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. But what exactly is Cherry Kijafa sauce? Let us tell you all about it!
Cherry Kijafa is a type of fortified cherry fruit wine that is produced in Denmark from cherries with added natural flavors. A fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, is added. Like a cordial, or sweet desert wine, Cherry Kijafa packs a punch with 16% ABV. Cherry fruit wine is produced from cherries, usually tart cherries that provide sufficient acid. Made in much the same way as a traditional grape wine, cherry fruit wines are often slightly spiced. This Danish favorite is exported to many countries in Europe and North America.
For our Cherry Kijafa Sauce recipe, we simmer Montmorency cherries in the Cherry Kijafa wine until the flavors of the wines are absorbed into the cherries and the sauce becomes thick and syrupy. Because Montmorency cherries are naturally tart, the sweet wine sauce balances the flavors so you have a lovely cherry flavor that is not too sweet and not too tart.
In our mind, you can’t find a better topping for a crepe than Cherry Kijafa! The next time you are out for breakfast in Denver, be sure to order the Cherry Kijafa Crepes. Your taste buds won’t be disappointed!