Ricotta Hotcakes with Banana, Honeycomb Butter and Maple Syrup

I first saw Bill's Granger's recipe for Ricotta Hotcakes over at Kitchen Wench. I had already decided that I would give them a try as I love pancakes. Before I even got round to making them, I saw them again at Totally Addicted To Taste. Well considering two of my favourite dessert blogs in Kitchen Wench and Totally Addicted To Taste had made them, I immediately made them the next day.

So here is the result.


As you can see, I styled my pancakes more like Adski's at Totally Addicted to Taste. Ellie at Kitchen Wench put a slight twist on it and wanted a lighter combination so omitted the butter and served the pancakes with strawberries. Her presentation is amazing and much more superior to mine.

So what do I think of the pancakes? They're fantastic. I didn't think ricotta would work, but it does. The pancake is light and fluffy and there isn't a strong cheese taste at all. My favourite part is the combination of flavours. I was going to be lazy and not make the honeycomb butter since I didn't like honeycomb that much. But then I decided I should taste what the original recipe is like before I go changing it. I'm glad I did that since the honeycomb butter tastes beautiful. I use the leftover on generic Coles pikelets and toast and it just lifts those things so much. Maple syrup and banana always go great with pancakes and the whole thing just blends so well. I recommend you make them for a special breakfast or brunch. I wouldn't want to be making these every weekend as they are a bit more involved than the usual pancakes. I had about three large bowls going since the whites and yolks needed to be beaten separtely.

Ricotta Hotcakes with Banana, Honeycomb Butter and Maple Syrup

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups ricotta
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
50g butter

To SERVE
banana
honeycomb butter, sliced (below)
icing sugar for dusting

HONEYCOMB BUTTER
250g unsalted butter, softened
100g sugar honeycomb, crushed with a rolling pin
2 Tbs honey

METHOD

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.

Place egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites through batter in two batches, with a large metal spoon.

Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of butter and drop 2tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan (don't cook more than 3 per batch).
Cook over a low to medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hotcakes have golden undersides. Turn hotcakes and cook on the other side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and quickly assemble the other ingredients.

Slice one banana lengthways onto a plate, stack three hotcakes on top with a slice of honeycomb butter. Dust with icing sugar.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Shape into a log on plastic wrap, roll, seal and chill in a refrigerator for 2 hours.