Every once in a blue moon on a Saturday morning, my mom would do something special and make Ricotta Pancakes. She really didn’t fancy using ricotta cheese for breakfast, but when she did, no one ever slept in.
There is just something about the spring that reminds me of my mom’s Ricotta Pancakes.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had Ricotta cheese left over form her Easter Pies, but it seemed to be the only time of year she made them. I don’t have her recipe unfortunately, as with many of Gracie’s treats she often just winged it, but I did find some suggestions online and decided to give it a whirl this weekend.
My mom’s pancakes had a lemon zing to them and the recipe I found that seemed to come the closest was from the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen. One suggestion I recommend
Ricotta Hotcakes with lemon curd, strawberries and raspberry coulis – Replete Providore (Photo credit: avlxyz)
is that you move the Ricotta cheese to a strainer and let drain of any moisture for a few minutes. You don’t need the extra water and if using fresh Ricotta, this is a must.
Ricotta Pancakes really do melt in your mouth and I suggest you have some fresh berries on hand to top them off.
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs, separated
- ¼ cup sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1½ cups cake flour
- 1 Tbs. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice until smooth. Sift together the flour, baking powder and ⅛ tsp. of the salt over the ricotta mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- In another large bowl, using a whisk beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the remaining ⅛ tsp. salt and continue beating until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold one-third of the egg whites into the ricotta mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites.
- Preheat a griddle over medium heat. Spray the griddle with nonstick cooking spray. Ladle ⅓ cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until bubbles form on top and the pancakes are golden underneath, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer to a warmed plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Makes 12 to 14 pancakes.
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