In my Northeast life, pancakes are for icy winter mornings, the snow is piling up on the pine trees outside, my windows are steaming up from the coffee. Hot off the grill, they warm up against the cold. During the same season in Los Angeles, my hometown, the sky is atypically clear, so the sun feels close and soft. Eating a stack of pancakes outside under that glow is as magical as the smell of orange blossom in the air.
Regardless of the setting, pancakes taste like comfort, especially when made right. There are many different types of breakfast pancakes, but the one thing they should always be is soft. The easiest way to make sure? ricotta.
While the addition of ricotta to pancake batter isn’t a new concept—it’s now a much-loved concept—it often involves folding egg whites that have been beaten into stiff peaks. You can skip that rush and instead just beat whole eggs and use baking soda in the batter. With that combination you won’t get cloudy puffed pancakes that come from whipped egg whites, but you will get a fluffiness that also feels creamy. And by keeping the proportion of flour low and stirring gently until just incorporated, you avoid a chewy, rubbery texture.
To get lightness and at the same time get a golden brown crust, it is important to start with a griddle or pan with the right temperature. Too cold and the batter will flatten before rising. Too hot and the outside will burn before the inside is cooked. They sink from the fire and are inedible due to the raw cores.
Start heating a griddle or pan over medium heat when you start mixing the batter and it will be evenly hot at the right temperature when you’re ready to cook. To see if the surface is ready, sprinkle a little water over it: the droplets should jump steadily. Once they’ve evaporated, run a thick pat of butter over the flat top and spoon your circles of batter into the frothy wake.
Once the circles turn golden brown on their undersides and their tops are bubbling, it’s important to flip them over as gently as possible to avoid popping those air bubbles. Slide a spatula under a pancake and lift it just high enough to place an opposite edge down, then remove the rest of the pancake from the spatula.
Texture is crucial for good pancakes, but taste is also important. Lemon goes well with ricotta, so to emphasize the floral taste of the fruit, the zest is gently rubbed in sugar and then whipped with fragrant vanilla. Butter emphasizes the milky taste of ricotta and buttermilk introduces a faint tartness.
Taken together, the ingredients make up a breakfast with enough creamy sweetness to eat on its own. A dash of blueberry syrup is welcome, but these delicate pancakes are perhaps most comforting when eaten warm, by hand, off the stove, anywhere in the world.