At birthday parties and the like, my mom used to make these pancakes, and they ruined me for all other pancakes (well, except for one buttermilk pancake recipe that requires frying in a fair amount of butter to make it perfect). For me, pancakes are generally just a conduit for eating the fruit and whipped cream on top, and I only eat the bare minimum of actual pancake to not appear rude or weird.
My mom told me if she had containers of ricotta with a little more than a cup in them, she’d just use all of it. But I think she probably had 12 oz containers, (which is not just a little). But this means you can make the texture of the pancakes very different just by changing the amount of cheese. With just the required amount of ricotta, the pancakes are light, with an odd but incredibly pleasing creamy fluffiness. With more ricotta, they’re dense and can break in half to reveal the cheesy inside.
I also think these pancakes could be really interesting with a blend of all purpose flour and something nuttier and with more bran. I haven’t worked out the appropriate ratios yet, though.
Ricotta Pancakes
adapted from the Joy of Cooking cottage cheese pancake recipe
Whisk in large bowl:
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/4 t salt
Whisk in another bowl:
1 c milk
1 c ricotta cheese, or slightly less than a half cup of mascarpone and then ricotta to make a slightly heaping cup. Or, if you want the denser version, somewhere between a cup and a cup and a half of ricotta cheese.
3 T butter, melted
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and gently whisk together, mixing just until combined. Beat to hard peaks and fold in
2 egg whites
Batter will be thick and bubbly, like cake batter. Spoon 1/3 cupfuls into a greased pan. Cook until top of each pancake is starting to dry around the edges. Flip, cook til other side is lightly browned, then serve immediately. If necessary keep warm in 200 degree oven.
As a topping treat, whip a pint of whipping cream, a teaspoon of vanilla, sugar to taste, and the mascarpone left over from a small package until just before stiff peaks. The mascarpone will help the whip cream stay whipped, so if you somehow manage to not eat it all, you can store it in the fridge.
Slather the pancakes with chopped fruit and whipped cream (or with nothing at all). Eat copious amounts.
These really are dehicious. Thank you for reminding me about them.