Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Whipped Cream

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Whipped Cream

By Victoria Abbott aka Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Maple Whipped Cream

I love to see Chef Christine Cushing on television. She’s a Canadian chef with fresh foods, healthy cooking and delicious taste. She brings a European sophistication to the process. I’ve decided I really need one of her cookbooks. This is an adaptation of her recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. I’ll confess I made a practice batch and they were so good that I ate them for dinner. Please don’t report this to the food police!

You will need:

½ cup of all-purpose flour

2 tbsp of flax meal

1 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

½ cup 1 % milk

2 eggs at room temperature, separated

1 cup ricotta. We used extra smooth

Grated zest of one lemon

1 tbsp sugar

Melted butter for frying pan

PLUS:

Vanilla yogurt and berries for serving (optional)

Or ½ cup whipping cream

Combined with 2 tablespoons maple syrup and fruit

All you do is:

Zest the lemon.

Combine all of the dry ingredients including zest in a medium bowl and stir to blend.

In another medium bowl, stir together the milk, egg yolks and ricotta until smooth.

In a medium bowl whisk the egg whites until peaks begin to form.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently stir with whisk - the mixture will be a bit lumpy, but blended. Do not over mix.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or you could use a griddle or crepe pan). Add 2 tsp of melted butter to the pan and spread over pan (I used a silicone brush to spread). Wipe out any excess.

Pour the batter onto the pan ½ cup at a time and cook on medium-high until the top bubbles. Depending on the size of your pan you may need two batches.

Flip and cook the other side for about one minute.

Repeat with the remaining batter. I love my handsome new pancake flipper!

Meanwhile, whip whipping cream with maple syrup until thick.

We did find that the whipped cream ‘melted’ while I was preparing the fruit, so have that ready and your fork too. Top the pancakes with whipped cream, add fruit and dive in!

The next morning, I tried the old trick of reheating leftover pancakes (fresh or frozen) in the toaster and served the leftovers with the vanilla yogurt and blueberries. There was no leftover maple whipped cream for some reason.

Happy eating, friends!

Victoria Abbott is the mysterious collaboration between the artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and her mother, the mystery writer, Mary Jane Maffini.

Wait! That's us! Strangely enough, our three book collector mysteries, The Christie Curse, The Sayers Swindle and The Wolfe Widow all contain lots of food. No wonder we love it here at Mystery Lovers Kitchen, on our day and on everyone else's day.

By the way, we're still celebrating this cover for The Marsh Madness. We think it looks good enough to eat. We do try to keep dogs off the table in our kitchens, but you know, covers are a world of their own.

The Marsh Madness is due out in September 2015.

BUT

YOU CAN PRE-ORDER IT HERE!