Many years ago when I was giving cookery lessons at Johnny Walker’s Sydney bistro, we had someone make little cast-iron crêpe pans. They were only 18 centimetres in diameter, with five millimetre straight sides that made turning pancakes and crêpes much easier. We recommended purchasing two at a time to help speed up the making of crêpes. I still treasure mine. You can buy good non-stick omelette pans today, but make sure they are heavy so that the crêpes don’t burn.

These pancakes make a special breakfast or dessert. As with sandwiches, pancakes offer a field day for the creative cook to add imaginative touches; for example, figs that have been sugared and lightly grilled could replace the fig jam, as could lightly sugared berries.

Ricotta pancakes with fig jam and cream

Ingredients

Method

Whisk the ricotta, sugar and egg together in a bowl. Stir in the milk, then the flour until well combined. Pour batter into a jug.

Brush a non-stick frying pan with some melted butter over a medium heat. While tilting the pan, pour in enough batter to make a 12-cm pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on surface, about 2 minutes, then flip over using a metal spatula and cook until golden. Stack pancakes and keep warm. Wipe the pan with paper towel and cook remaining batter.

Serve the pancakes warm with fig jam and whipped cream.

TIP

Because these pancakes are made with self-raising flour there’s no need to let the batter stand before cooking. That would cause the raising agent to fizz out, making the pancakes heavier. A plain-flour batter needs to stand for around 30 minutes so that the starch cells have time to swell with the moisture. They will then burst on contact with the heat, making the pancakes light and fluffy.

Recipe courtesy of Cooked.com.au

This recipe first appeared in Margaret Fulton Favourites.