Ricotta Pancakes

Is there any better way to start the weekend than with decadent yet light-on-the-tongue blueberry pancakes? If you answered an enthusiastic "no!," then you're in for a treat (and let's be friends 8p). I confess, I knew little about Bill Granger before other than a vague recognition of his name. But if ricotta hotcakes are anything to judge a man by, we need to get up close and personal!

This recipe came together fairly quickly. Beating the egg whites separately is probably the fussiest part, but turns out to be pretty easy with a handheld mixer. It's also crucial to the result, since it's what makes these pancakes so fluffy. On the other hand, the cuppa ricotta and 4 egg yolks in the batter lends these a silky richness. With a generous pat of butter and blanket of maple syrup, these are pretty darn perfect.

Now I'd love to know, what breakfast treat lures you out of bed on a Saturday morning?

Bill Granger’s Ricotta Hotcakes [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Bill Granger via Bread and Butter

1 cup ricotta cheese (I used part-skim with no problems)
3/4 cup milk
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
A dash of salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon baking powder
1-2 cups blueberries or other berries, if desired, for pancakes and garnish
Butter or neutral-tasting oil to grease the pan

Pour milk into mixing bowl, and add egg yolks. Mix till just combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix. Add lemon zest and mix.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry peaks form, and gently fold through batter, leaving some streaks of white. Lastly, add ricotta and mix gently. (Take care to not overmix as you want to have chunky bits of ricotta to bite into later on!)

Heat a non-stick or cast iron pan or griddle over medium heat, then grease lightly with butter or oil. (I tend to use a small dollop, and then wipe the excess off with a kitchen towel so it doesn’t get overly greasy.)

Pour 1/2 cup of batter (per hotcake) into the pan. Sprinkle a few berries onto the batter, if using. Cook on one side until little bubbles appear (~2 minutes), flip over, and cook on the other side for about 1 minute. (You can keep cooked hotcakes warm in a low heat oven as you fry up the rest.)

Serve with a generous sprinkle of icing sugar, maple syrup, and/or whatever fruits you like.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup

My partner-in-crime and food-taster-in-chief, Patrick, has a job that gives him Thursday and Friday off instead of the regular weekend. This makes Wednesday night great, of course. But he's often a little down on Friday, as he anticipates entering the work week before everyone else. The least I could do to start things off right was a surprise of homemade pancakes for breakfast.

One thing you gotta know about me is that I hate waste, especially relating to food and during this economic downturn. (It's probably got somethin' to do with my Chinese upbringing that emphasized not wasting even a single grain of rice. There's even a poem about this -- no joke.) So no surprise that I chose pumpkin pancakes to use up the pumpkin puree and cream cheese frosting left over from cupcakes I made earlier.


This recipe produces fluffy yet moist pancakes with a pumpkin flavor that really shines through. And cayenne powder (just a pinch or 2) has become a regular in my spicy sweets ever since I made those ginger cookies. But the kicker has got to be the syrup. The tanginess of cream cheese, milky richness of sweetened condensed milk, and decadent creaminess of both. My breakfasts don't usually sound so much like dessert, but with the colder weather upon us, I don't mind this indulgence one bit.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Cream Cheese Syrup [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from Martha Stewart via Baking and Books
Makes about 8 4-inch pancakes

XIAOLU'S NOTE: To save time in the morning, you can separately mix the dry and wet ingredients the night before. The next morning, just let the wet mixture warm up for a bit. Then combine with the dry mixture and cook as directed below.

Pancakes
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon wheat germ
(I forgot to add this but I'm sure it adds great texture and nutty flavor)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of cayenne powder
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned)
1 cup buttermilk (I substituted 1% milk plus 1 teaspoon vinegar)
vegetable oil for the pan

Cream Cheese Syrup
3/4 cup cream cheese frosting (any kind but I used extra from this recipe)
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk, or more to taste

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, wheat germ, baking power, baking soda, and spices. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the egg until thoroughly combined, then add the oil, molasses, sugar, pumpkin, and buttermilk. (Cover and refrigerate the liquid mixture at this point if making ahead.) Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until the batter is mostly mixed but still contains small lumps. Let batter rest while pan heats, at least 5 minutes.


XIAOLU'S NOTE: My gas stoves always run hot, so I never turn the heat above medium and more often than not, it's lower than that.

Heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a few drops of oil and spread it over the bottom of the pan. Pour pancake batter onto hot griddle approximately 1/4 cup at a time. When the edges start to dry and bubbles appear on top, flip to cook the other side. Keep pancakes warm in an oven heated to 275 degrees as you repeat the process to cook the rest of the batter.

To make the syrup, simply mix all the ingredients together until smooth. You can play around with the proportions to get the perfect sweetness/thickness for you.