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
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Ingredients
- Ricotta Hotcakes
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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
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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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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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.
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