Mother's Day

Ricotta Hotcakes with Maple Butter

by:
March 29, 2012
4.6
5 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

I spent six months in Sydney, Australia back in 2003, and my absolute favorite restaurant, which I still recommend to visitors headed to the best city ever, is bills. (Not Bill's. bills). Famous for its scrambled eggs, it also boasts incredible coconut bread, sweet-corn fritters, the best hot chocolate of my life, and ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter.

When I returned to school after that semester of Sydney bliss, I couldn't find (or afford) the fresh honeycomb used at bills, but this maple alternative, with a hint of almond, is quite nice. The hotcake recipe is cobbled together from a variety of my favorite methods, with a touch of lemon to keep things interesting. —MeghanVK

Test Kitchen Notes

WHO: MeghanVK is a TV programmer who prefers salty to sweet.
WHAT: Three-bite pancakes topped with blueberries and a creamy maple butter that melts ever so slightly atop the warm pancakes. (We mean that in a good way.)
HOW: The maple butter has just three ingredients -- can you guess what they are? -- and the pancake batter isn't much harder: just dry ingredients into wet, plus folding in some whipped egg whites for extra fluff.
WHY WE LOVE IT: You wouldn't think maple and blueberries were meant for each other, but you'd be wrong. And these pancakes are the fluffiest around -- we love the tiny size, too. —Food52

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Ricotta Hotcakes
  • 2 cups ricotta
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon butter, plus more as needed
  • 2 cups blueberries, for serving
  • Maple Butter
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (I prefer grade B, but it's up to you)
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or to taste)
Directions
  1. Make the maple butter first: dump the softened butter into a bowl, add the maple syrup, and mash together thoroughly with a fork. Add the almond extract and continue mixing until everything is combined. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside or refrigerate if not using within the hour.
  2. Onto the hotcakes: Whisk together the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, and sugar. Sprinkle over with the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until just combined. Stir in the lemon zest.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites for as long as your forearms will let you, through the foamy stage until they start to form peaks (you can use a mixer for this, but for me, breakfast and electronics don't mix). Gently fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture. Add a little milk if the batter looks dry - this will depend largely on the quality and freshness of your ricotta.
  4. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Plop in about two tablespoons of batter per hotcake and cook for two minutes, until the undersides are golden, adjusting the heat as necessary. Flip and cook another two minutes or so, until cooked through, and remove to a plate. Continue until you have a pile of hotcakes. Serve with maple butter and blueberries.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • sydney
    sydney
  • Stephanie Fishkin Dark
    Stephanie Fishkin Dark
  • leftoverquiche
    leftoverquiche
  • MeghanVK
    MeghanVK
  • Greatfallsdeb
    Greatfallsdeb

34 Reviews

Diana April 15, 2018
I carefully separated the eggs and then forgot to beat the whites and fold them in! Never missed them. The cakes were delicious with just the yolks. In my household, would feed 4 handily. I don't know about 6 people, that's how good they are.
 
sydney January 1, 2017
Had been searching for a ricotta loaf-type cake and hadn't found one I liked. Wanted a recipe that used as much ricotta as possible but maybe wouldn't be dense and 'door-stoppy'. Saw this and it's rare to see this much ricotta required. Gave it a whirl (without zest, blueberries, or maple butter) and it's a KEEPER. Easy to throw together and WORKS. Delicious and I suspect it's versatile. You get a light, airy cake with the 'meatiness' of the ricotta. Perfect and easy.
 
Stephanie F. April 11, 2015
Added Lemon juice, vanilla, & and cinnamon to the batter, and put blueberries in batter to cook inside rather than on top.
 
Raya March 20, 2014
These are seriously amazing! I made them for breakfast and the kids gobbled them up. I used whole wheat pastry flour since that's all I had on hand. The batter was very dry before I added the egg whites so I did add some extra milk to soften it up.
 
leftoverquiche March 9, 2013
Just made these and they are amazing! I used the lemon zest of 1 whole lemon (might even go for more, but I love lemon). Had some blackberries on hand, so I cut up small pieces and put in the cakes. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
 
MeghanVK November 27, 2012
Hey y'all! In case you're thinking of making these, I recently made the maple butter with a different brand of almond extract, and it... wasn't great. The maple-butter flavor was there, but it had an eau de rubbing alcohol thing going on. So as a PSA, unless you have a great brand of almond extract available, you might want to leave it out.
 
lorelu October 7, 2012
So delicious. We had them this morning topped with bananas. What a treat.
 
MeghanVK November 14, 2012
Glad you liked them! The cafe where I originally had them served them with bananas - I personally am not a banana fan so I left them out here, but looks like great minds think alike :)
 
Greatfallsdeb May 5, 2012
Just catching up on my reading...I will be making these tomorrow morning. They look and sound delic!
 
Greatfallsdeb May 5, 2012
Just catching up on my reading...I will be making these tomorrow morning. They look and sound delic!
 
EmilyNunn April 29, 2012
Mmmmmmmmmm! Congrats!
 
Felnr April 29, 2012
These were a big hit at my house today. We didn't have blueberries, so we topped them with strawberries instead and it worked perfectly. Now a question for you: I have some leftover maple butter. Can you think of any other ways to use it?
 
MeghanVK May 1, 2012
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! The butter is great on pretty much any baked good - scones come to mind, or even just spread on toast (maybe with some salt sprinkled on top?).
 
TheWimpyVegetarian April 28, 2012
Gorgeous!! They sound delicious! Congrats on your win :-)
 
fiveandspice April 26, 2012
Congratulations on the win! These really look like beauties!
 
Bevi April 26, 2012
Congrats on the win!
 
EmilyC April 26, 2012
Congrats on your win! I made these for dinner last night and really enjoyed them -- great flavor and texture! I added a bit more lemon zest (probably 1 T) and tucked in frozen blueberries to the hotcakes immediately upon adding the batter to the griddle. My butter and maple syrup didn't come together all that well (guess my butter wasn't at the ideal temperature for mixing) but it was delicious all the same.
 
mary B. April 20, 2012
Can't wait to make these-love your recipes!
 
mary B. April 20, 2012
Can't wait to make these-love your recipes!
 
ree1956 April 20, 2012
these look delish.....your mom suggested I make these after one of my 60 mile runs....I noticed the recipe serves 6, just right for only me.....
 
Madhuja April 19, 2012
I want these for my weekend brunch! Congratulations on becoming a finalist!
 
mrslarkin April 19, 2012
Congrats, MeghanVK! These sound so delicious. Super excited to be a finalist with you.
 
MeghanVK April 19, 2012
Thanks mrslarkin! I've always wanted know how to make scallion pancakes... your recipe looks fantastic.