Ricotta & Buttermilk Pancakes With Honeyed Syrup

from the side - omg - hard to photograph when all you want to do is eat!

batter fluffiness!

The men in my family are pancake lovers. Borderline addicts. Ok, not so borderline addicts. Full-blown pancake addicts. They eat pancakes everywhere they go, yet few ever pass the "delicious" test. I don't know why they don't open a pancake store with the amount of tasting they've done. They sound like Goldilocks and the three bears after every breakfast: "Too heavy, too dense, too sweet, not sweet enough!"  Last weekend, my brother called me in the process of making pancakes. His hadn't turned out the way he wanted, so it got me thinking - how do you make a freaking great pancake? There are lots of theories: sour cream, buttermilk, separated eggs, etc. I like a PC that is fluffy, light, with that slight chewiness that melts in your mouth, and how do you decide between honey and syrup for your topping? So this weekend, I decided to try and make some pancakes. I went with cake flour for lightness, melted butter, ricotta and eggs for fat, and buttermilk vs regular for my liquids. These are amazing. I don't think I will ever make another recipe. But I sure as hell will be making these with different flavors, bananas, granola, blueberries, choc chips etc! Get cooking after the jump!





Ricotta & Buttermilk Pancakes (Serves 4)
You will need:  

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/3 C whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 2/3 cups cake flour
• 1 T granulated sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 C cold buttermilk - well shaken 
• 4 T melted butter

• additional melted butter for the pan (appx 4 T)
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 1/2 cup good quality maple syrup

In a large mixing bowl, whisk vigorously your egg yolks and ricotta and buttermilk. Get those arms going so you can eat a bunch of these pancakes!! This mixture should be foamy and yellow in color. In a second bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour buttermilk mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Using a hand  mixer, beat egg whites on medium high speed until it reaches the soft peaks stage. Fold the egg whites into the batter until just incorporated - you don't want large globs of egg whites in your batter. Pour melted butter in and stir gently to combine.  Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat (I stay between 4-5 on an electric stovetop). Brush with butter. I like a nice 5 inch pancake so spoon 1/2 cups of the batter onto griddle for each pancake. Cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes per side. For the honeyed syrup, combine the honey and syrup in a sauce pan, and warm over low heat, stirring until you have combined. Serve the pancakes with additional butter and the syrup mixture.