Lemon-Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter

Hello lovelies :) I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday morning/afternoon!! It's been a long week and it's going to be an even longer day unfortunately because I have to study for my first Pathophysiology test that's tomorrow morning. I can't wait till I have one exam out of the way. But, here are a few pictures from this weekend. Forsyth Park hosted an end of the year concert in honor of the SCAD seniors. They arranged for the Cold War Kids to do an outdoor concert in the park. It was a lot of fun... I just love when they have activities planned for the weekend, just so much fun.

Me & Clayton at the Cold War Kids Concert at Forsyth Park

Here's My Little Munchkin Helpin' Mama in the Kitchen

Anyway, as most of you know, I love Sundays. Mainly because I love the hustle & bustle of how social Sunday Brunch is here in Savannah. It seems like just about everyone is dressed in their Sunday best, going to all the restaurants that have yummy brunch specials and well, more importantly, bottomless mimosas... um, yum!! Well normally we decide to go somewhere for our meal, but while I was at the Farmer's Market this Saturday, I bought a whole bunch o' blueberries, and I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to make with them, but they just looked so good. So, we ended up wanting to make some blueberry pancakes for breakfast because we happened to watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay this week, and the challenge was Blueberry Pancakes against Clinton Street Baking Co.

Here's Our Breakfast: Lemon-Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes with Turkey Bacon & Home Fries

I really liked both concepts of the pancakes. But I decided to kind of do a hybrid between the two recipes. I used Bobby's pancake recipe as a base, but I kind of tinkered with it a little. Bobby made lemon-blueberry-buttermilk pancakes with a blueberry-cassis relish & blueberry maple syrup. His recipe called for like 8-10 cups of fresh blueberries, which we only had 2 cups... and they were still amazing! We also halved his recipe to make about 10 pancakes instead of 20 (because I cannot let Clayton eat that much, so feel free to double my recipe to feed a family). Bobby also topped his pancakes with a ricotta mixture, but I wanted to do something a little different. I had heard of someone making pancakes with ricotta curds (not the creamy ricotta because it makes the batter too runny), and those sounded delicious. So instead of having a ricotta topping, I wanted to fold it into the batter. However, being in Savannah, you can't always find the "specialty" ingredients that you always want. I have been spoiled by my home city of Atlanta, where you can almost find anything. Because I couldn't find the large, dryer ricotta curds, I decided to get some large-curd cottage cheese. And I know some of you will probably think that adding cottage cheese to pancakes will be disgusting and gross, and I feel you because I am an avid-cottage cheese-hater, as well as Clayton, but just give it a shot. I took the cottage cheese out when i first started cooking, and I put it into a strainer over the kitchen sink and ran cold water (hot water will just melt them) over the curds to remove the creamy mixture holding the cottage cheese together. If you don't rinse the cottage cheese curds, then it will make the pancake batter too runny and your pancakes just won't set right. Surprisingly we really liked the tang that the curds provided; it balanced out the sweetness of the blueberries, syrup, and sweet butter. And the curds melt a little from the heat and turn into little pockets of creamy, cheesy goodness that you otherwise don't expect in just a plain 'ole pancake. It reminded me somewhat of a blueberry cheesecake pancake, and what doesn't sound good about that. If you are able to find the large, dry ricotta curds, then definitely try it because I think it will be a less tangy flavor that some people would probably prefer. When I am in Atlanta next, I'm going to try and find some and make these pancakes again, so I can compare and decide what we think is better. But, I warn you, these pancakes are decadent, and I know that it is a kind of a long recipe with a lot of different components, but it's worth it. I promise. It might not be the breakfast you want to try and whip up all the time, but it will be a perfectly special surprise that will break up the monotony of just your every day kinda breakfast. I'm sure this will hit the spot every time you make it! Ok, ok... I'm sorry I've been rambling, let's just get to the pictures & the recipe already!! Enjoy :)

Lemon-Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter

You See that Right There? That's the Blueberry-Maple-Syrupy-Goodness Just Spilling All Over the Pancakes 

Ahhhh... Glorious Blueberry Maple Syrup Waterfall

For the Blueberry Maple Syrup:

½C Maple Syrup

4T Butter

¼-½C Fresh Blueberries (depending on how much blueberry flavoring you want in your syrup)

For the Blueberry Butter:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Softened

¼t Salt

1 ½T Confectioners’ Sugar

Pinch of Cinnamon

¾C Fresh Blueberries

For the Pancakes:

1C AP Flour

3T Sugar

½t Baking Powder

¼t Baking Soda

¼t Salt

1 Large Egg, Separated

1T Vegetable Oil

½C + 3T Buttermilk

1T Lemon Zest

1T Lemon Juice

½t Vanilla

Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1C Blueberries

½C Ricotta Curds (use a dryer ricotta, such as Gioia) or Cottage Cheese (drained & dried)**

4T Butter, Cut into Tabs

Directions:

1. For the Buttery Maple Syrup: In a small pot, heat the maple syrup on medium heat until warm. Bring the maple syrup to a boil and add in the fresh blueberries. Cook them until the blueberries burst and the syrup starts to turn a purple color, then reduce the heat to let it thicken. Next, Melt 1T of butter while slowly whisking it into the maple syrup (make sure each butter tab is completely incorporated before adding the next). Whisk constantly until all 4T of butter has melted, and then set aside until ready to pour over the blueberry pancakes. It’s better when hot, so keep that in mind. 

2. For the Sweet Blueberry Butter: Combine the butter and the sugar. Mash the blueberries with the butter until the butter is lightly colored from the blueberry skins. You still want to maintain a lot of nice blueberry chunks, so be careful not to over mash. Set aside until ready to spread over the blueberry pancakes (make sure to keep the butter kind of soft, so that it's easy to spread).

3. For the Blueberry Pancakes: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and then set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix together slowly (with a fork) until the flour mixture is just incorporated (do not over-mix, it's ok if the batter is a little lumpy). In another small bowl, using a hand-held mixer, beat the egg white with a pinch of cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter until just incorporated (do not mash). Let the batter sit for 15 minutes. Then gently fold in the ricotta curds (or cottage cheese curds) & fresh blueberries. 

4. To Cook the Pancakes: Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat, and then add a pat of butter and heat until the butter just begins to sizzle. Scoop roughly ¼C of the blueberry pancake batter into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the top surface and the bottom is golden brown (about 1-2 minutes). Flip over and cook until the bottom is lightly golden brown (about 1 minute). Repeat with the remaining batter. I turned my oven on to the warm setting, so that I could keep the already cooked pancakes warm while I finished cooking the others. Serve with the Blueberry Maple Syrup & Sweet Blueberry Butter, then garnish with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar and some fresh blueberries on top. 

5. Devour immediately!!

And We Definitely Devoured These Goodies

**I explained in my introduction to this recipe on what you should do if you decide to use the large cottage cheese curds. Please do not skip this step or your batter will be runny and will not set up right. 

source:bobby's pancakes. blueberry butter.