Week 1 - Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Lemon Curd

September 29th - I became inspired by an episode of The Chew.  The theme of the episode was breakfast food and they showed this pancake which peaked my interest.  I checked out the recipe online and found I had a lot of the ingredients already on hand.  I was actually looking for recipes that would use up some ricotta I had leftover from a recipe earlier in the week.  So this was perfect!

I was pretty excited to try this recipe out as it was different than any other pancake I had tried before.  So excited that I prepared the batter the night before.  I actually couldn't wait to get up in the morning and make these.  I whipped out my skillet and started pouring the batter.  It was a pretty thick batter and honestly I was worried the ricotta cheese would make the pancakes heavy.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find them to be very light and fluffy.  And tasty!  I have never used lemon curd before, but it was great in place of your typical syrup.  The berries on top also provided a nice contrast to the sour taste of the lemon.  Plus, it looks pretty.  And if you know me or anything about my cooking, you know that I like a nice presentation.  It's just that extra step that gives you that wow factor.  Although, above all else, it's that taste that counts.  I don't care how pretty something looks, if it doesn't taste good, I'm not going to eat it.  I remember telling my Mom that when I was younger.  Sometimes when she cooked a meal, it didn't always look pretty.  But the taste would be out of this world.  I would always remind her that how it tastes is much more important that what it looks like.  Besides, it all ends up in the same place, right?  So, if the pictures of my pancakes aren't exactly pretty, either because they aren't that pretty or fell victim to my poor photography skills, don't judge until you try the recipe!
Jó étvágyat! (Hungarian way to say Bon Appetit!)

   As I mentioned earlier, this recipe came from The Chew by Ruth Sottile, a woman who presented the pancake on the show.  (For a direct link to the recipe: The Chew - Lemon Ricotta Pancakes )

Ingredients

• 1 cup Cake Flour (I used all-purpose flour)
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 pinch Fresh Ground Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 4 tablespoons Sugar
• 1 cup Ricotta
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Whole Milk (I used skim milk)
• 1 Lemon (zest and juice)
• Melted Butter (for griddle)
• 1 jar Lemon Curd
• Fresh Berries
• Powdered Sugar

Directions:

• Combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and sugar.  I like to whisk together my dry ingredients to make sure they are mixed well.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the ricotta, eggs, milk, and lemon zest and juice. Mix wet ingredients with dry until combined.
• Mix wet ingredients with dry.
• Melt butter on a hot griddle or skillet and cook pancakes until brown on both sides.
• When all pancakes are cooked, warm lemon curd and drizzle over pancakes. Garnish with fresh berries and dust with powdered sugar.