Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Again?

When Food Wishes was first getting started, and funds were scarce, I did some freelance video production for various outlets, and apparently lemon ricotta pancakes was one such recipe. I know this because I got a request for ricotta pancakes recently, and when I tried to refer them to the blog link, I realized there wasn’t one.

I’m looking at you, About.com. Anyway, as it turns out, this is a new and possibly improved recipe, featuring…water? Yes, I tried this recipe once, with water instead of milk, and I actually liked it more. Or I thought I did, which is really all that matters.

Most lemon ricotta pancake recipes call for the eggs to be separated, and the whites whipped to give the pancakes more “lift.” Feel free, but if these pancakes were any lighter, they’d float off the plate. Speaking of lightness, I prefer using self-rising flour for this, but if you can’t, I’ve explained below how to make your own. Either way, I really do hope you give these delicious lemon ricotta pancakes a try soon. Enjoy!


Makes 2 large or 4 small portions:
3/4 cold water, or milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon lemon zest (just the yellow part of the skin)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons *self-rising flour, or as needed to achieve very thick batter

* To make your own self-rising flour (2 cups worth): Sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, with 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon fine salt.

26 comments:

Vic said...

These are on my list to try this weekend. Bec I'm 58% Italian, I'm going to use Fiori Di Sicilia instead of vanilla. Thank you for all the great recipes.

JoeD said...

Hey Chef John,

They look beautiful! How long would this batter last for in the fridge?

Cheers,

Joe

SarahA said...

Hi Chef John,

Just want to say first of all that your blog is a great resource for me when I'm trying new recipes or styles of cooking. I use it at least 2-3 times per week, every week.

I have a friend who is just starting to get into cooking - and by "just starting," I literally mean "she picked up a chef's knife for the first time ever about a week ago." I wanted to recommend her to your blog - but it occurs to me that most of your recipes are going to be too advanced for her ability level, since you tend to assume that people viewing your videos know how to dice and use a whisk, whereas she basically knows how to scramble an egg and use a toaster and that's it. She's expressed frustration to me that most "Easy" cooking recipes feel over her head as they use terms she doesn't understand which aren't easy to look up anywhere, which in turn makes it difficult for her to try anything.

My friend doesn't have a lot of money for fancy cooking lessons and I live too far away to give her the basics in person - so I was wondering how difficult it would be for you to collect the articles and videos you've done on basic things, like soft-boiling eggs and how to dice vegetables, and collect them as part of a "The Very Basics" category? Would that be doable?

Thanks for your time!

Unknown said...

3/4 cold water, is it 3/4 of a cup?

Unknown said...

maple serp?

GFK said...

Because of all the baking powder and baking soda you might mention that this recipe has 1600mg of sodium in it just from those. And then you have the cheese...

Sibbie said...

Hi Chef John...I hope you had a wonderful vacation.
My husband has been craving pancakes...making these for his supper tonight.
I have been cooking for 60 years and thought I was pretty good, but I've learned so much from your videos.
Thanks for another great recipe and for teaching me how to do it correctly...AND FOR MAKING ME SMILE!

Unknown said...

Hey Chef John!
So I thought it would be pretty amazing to have you come up with a Shawarma recipe! I've always wanted to make it but I can't find any recipes that don't feed an army. Seriously, Every recipe wants you to build a giant food log.. Like a redwood. I can't eat a redwood sized piece of meat. And I don't allow my girlfriend to. Though lord knows she might be able. But I digress.. Shawarma! So great! But you don't HAVE to. Because remember... You are the king of your camera. And the emperor of your edit. But it would be nice. Thanks for your consideration!

- The Shawarmaless Swami

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John!

These look awesome! I will be making these. Some things I may do different will be to double up on the eggs and make the batter a touch thinner. Also would clotted cream be too much on this? BTW I can't find a clotted cream reference on your blog, so if you are bothering with making your own 'creme fresh' then you ought to do a clotted cream video maybe with scones and milk tea. :)

NITE OWL said...

After all, you are the Ricki Lake of your lemon pancake...

Alex in Shanghai said...

So, these were amazing. And the breakfast for dinner suggestion was spot on; everyone *does* enjoy that

Anonymous said...

My food wish: Once a month, have an About.com (or an ancient Food Wishes video) revision day.

NITE OWL said...

After all, you are the Ricki Lake of your lemon pancake...

Unknown said...

Hands down the best pancakes EVER made! So simple with an incredibly sophisticated flavor! My 6 and 5 year old said I could be a pancake chef now. Haha. Thank you for sharing so much great goodness and inspiring us over the years. I hope you are just as inspired to carry on as we are to follow! 😊

Bethany said...

Thank you! Would other cheeses be acceptable substitutions? Goat cheese? Or cream cheese?

Eli said...

Chef John, hello from Spain, I follow you and love your recipes, but.. is it possible to have them in grams also? Flour, sugar, etc. are easy to mesure for mi with a cup, but butter, ricotta... how to mesure solids with a cup ¿? a truly mistery for me. Thank you!!

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John.In this recipe is 3/4 of water... 3/4 of what measure??

Unknown said...

Food Wish: Mango Sticky Rice!!!

Gnominator said...

Favorite pancakes ever! I am glad they freeze because I can make enough to use a whole container of ricotta!

Unknown said...

Tried these this morning and they really are the best pancakes I have had at home. We only used the lemon zest and not the juice and the flavor was great. Moist light and delicious, exactly what you want for breakfast.

Unknown said...

Amazing technique! I have try it and success. It is really delicious to eat. Everyone must love it. The cauliflower increase the taste of this recipe. As usual the recipe was stunning that inspire me to give a try.

Jagdish Chander said...

To whom it maybe relevant, it's 3/4 "cup" of water. More importantly, don't skimp on the lemon zest or the vanilla. This recipe as-is produces rather subtly flavored pancakes. Next time, I'll double the sugar and lemon zest.

Tom_MacIver said...

Thanks, Chef! How much of my 5 pounds of self rising flour should I use?
Also, I just wanted to say: you are after all, the Deborah Harry of your whatever berries!

Unknown said...

Great recipe, as always and as always you are a great hit in my family. Thanks for sharing and thanks for let us make our bellys happly ever after.

Unknown said...

I just made these for the 2nd time. They are so good!

Athena said...

Maple surp? That’s a new one on this old bird.