Bill Granger put the ricotta hotcake on every brunch menu in Australia in 1993, and the recipe has been quietly copied and re-copied in every cafe with a chalkboard ever since.
Why you are cooking this tonight
Bill Granger put the ricotta hotcake on every brunch menu in Australia in 1993, and the recipe has been quietly copied and re-copied in every cafe with a chalkboard ever since. They are lighter than a pancake, denser than a soufflé, and they come with fresh banana, honeycomb butter and maple syrup because Bill said so.
The secret is whipped egg whites folded through the ricotta batter. The whites lighten the whole thing and the ricotta adds a subtle tang you do not get from any other breakfast cake. Use fresh ricotta from the deli counter – not the supermarket tub – if you can find it.
Notes on method
Honeycomb butter: good unsalted butter, crushed Crunchie bar or honeycomb pieces, softened and stirred together. Keep in the fridge until hotcakes hit the plate.
What to pour with it
A glass of cold Tasmanian sparkling for Sunday brunch. Or, a long black with it.
The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Beat softened butter with honey and crushed honeycomb until combined. Scrape onto cling film, roll into a log, refrigerate 20 minutes.
- Whisk ricotta, milk, egg yolks and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Fold through.
- In another bowl whisk egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold into batter in two batches. Keep as much air as you can.
- Heat a heavy frypan over medium-low. Melt a little butter. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter, 3 per pancake. Cook 90 seconds each side until golden and just cooked through.
- Serve hotcakes stacked with sliced banana, thick slices of honeycomb butter, and extra maple syrup.
Nutrition
Two things that go wrong
You overbeat the egg whites.
Stiff peaks fold into the batter like wet concrete. Beat to soft peaks only, they should bend over when you lift the whisk. Soft peaks fold smoothly and trap air for that famously airy hotcake.
You used the wrong ricotta.
Supermarket tub ricotta is too watery and too smooth. Get fresh ricotta from a deli counter, it’s drier, grainier, and gives the hotcake structure. If you only have tub ricotta, drain it for 30 minutes in a sieve lined with cheesecloth first.
Variations worth knowing
Lemon and blueberry
Add the zest of a lemon to the batter and fold 100g fresh blueberries through with the egg whites.
Spiced apple
Fold in 80g grated apple and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Top with stewed apple and yogurt instead of banana.
Chocolate and orange
Fold in 50g cocoa powder and the zest of an orange. Serve with raspberry coulis and crème fraîche.
Leftovers and make ahead
Hotcakes go from glorious to sad fast, they’re meant to be eaten the moment they leave the pan. If you have leftovers, refrigerate them and reheat in a buttered pan over low heat the next morning. They’ll be a fraction of their best self but still good with maple syrup and bacon.
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