The weird thing is that I've made lemon pancakes before. When I made them, they were so tart that I spent more time with my mouth puckered than I did with a mouth full of pancake. I wanted to really like them but the best I could say was that they were just "okay". I'm still not totally certain I'd make that recipe again, but I will say they were really bright. Not just in color, but in taste. I'm still not so sure that real lemon pancakes were my favorite, but they weren't bad.
Yesterday, I saw this recipe on the food network for Meyer lemon pancakes. Every time I'd seen a recipe for Meyer lemons I just substituted regular lemons, thinking that there wasn't much of a difference.
For the record? Don't do that. Meyer lemons make SUCH a difference. I never knew! (I'd never even seen one until yesterday, either). I read up on them and found out they were more similar to an orange-they even look a little bit like them. Much more orange than yellow, much more circular than...well, whatever shape a lemon is...and much more subtle than a regular lemon.
Last night I threw together the batter (I totally recommend that by the way, if you're making a lazy breakfast), made the syrup (which I've made before and will touch on later) and this morning, clad in my new feety pajamas I got for Christmas (thanks to my brother in law for those!) I used my new pancake batter dispenser (thanks Christie!) and made a whole mess of Meyer lemon pancakes, which were then doused in fresh raspberry syrup.
These were so good that A and I both went back for seconds. I thought about going back for thirds until I remembered that the rest could work for breakfast tomorrow.
These had a very mild lemon flavor, and they were incredibly light. Although the batter isn't something that's that quick to do (whipping egg whites, what?), it's not hard-just has extra steps! It's worth it, in my opinion-having whipped egg whites in a pancake batter really changes the texture of the pancake. I loved them.
This pancake recipe came with a strawberry coulis recipe to go on top. I decided to scrap it and use a tried and true raspberry syrup that I loved (and, ironically, went with the earlier version of lemon pancakes that I wasn't the biggest fan of.). It's a pretty simple recipe-put frozen raspberries in a pot with some sugar and lime juice concentrate, and let it boil and thicken, then strain out the raspberries to get a nice smooth syrup.
As A so aptly declared: 'tis good. Yes, yes it is.
Meyer lemon pancakes (recipe from Anne Burrell and foodnetwork.com)
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
4 eggs, separated
1 heaping c. ricotta cheese
3/4 c. milk
2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced
Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, ricotta, milk and lemon zest and juice, and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter. If you are making this for the next day, feel free to stop here and cover the bowl and refrigerate until the next morning. If not, continue forward.
Spray a griddle with nonstick spray or put a pat or two of butter down, and turn the heat to medium high. Test the readiness of the griddle by flicking a bit of water from your fingers; if it dances across the pan, it's hot enough. If it just sits there, wait! When the pan is ready, ladle the batter onto the griddle. Let it cook for about three minutes, or until bubbles pop through the batter. Once it bubbles, flip the pancake and cook for approximately three minutes or less on the other side. Drench pancakes in syrup and go to town. :)
Raspberry Syrup (recipe from Nantucket Recipes from the Fog Island Cafe, by Mark and Anne Dawson)
4 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. frozen lime juice concentrate
Combine all ingredients in a pot and cook over a low heat, stirring often. Let the sauce cook until the berries are soft and the sauce is thick. This could take up to 20 minutes, but has for me sometimes taken a half hour.
Take the pot off the heat and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer. Then refrigerate until you are ready to use it. This should get you roughly 1.5 cups of syrup.
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