Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Cinnamon Poached Pears

I cant tell you how excited I am that the weekend is finally here. I spend the working week by myself at home, mostly online looking for work, doing phone interviews, hitting the gym and all that jazz.. My husband and I moved from Melbourne to Sydney, in October last year. The move has been good so far, though we do miss Melbourne and our friends there. Sydney seems to have agreed with us and we are both quite happy and excited to be here. The only downside being I still haven't found a job. I am an Architecture buff and an Interior designer by profession and well I don't have a job yet. I blame my long holiday to India last November for it, I think it made me a little slack! The upside of this situation is that I finally started my food blog. I had been thinking about it for years but never got down to it - you can call me the queen of procrastination :-)

So coming back to the weekend, its great to have the hubby to myself and also indulge in some outdoor activities that have to revolve around food - but of course! Trips to the fresh food markets, trying new restaurants and trying new recipes and one appreciative husband rubbing his belly - Weekends are good :-)

This Saturday was Pancakes day - I missed the actual Pancakes Day so I think I over compensated for it with three different pancake toppings. I couldn't make up my mind so thought will make all three fruity sides. I will put all three recipes as separate posts otherwise it may get both confusing and overwhelming, for me anyways.Its safe to say we wont be having lunch or dinner (umm lets not get ahead of ourselves now :P) This is the lemony ricotta version with beautiful poached William Pears that are in season now. All I can say is YUMM! You wont regret this :-)

Recipe

(Pancake batter recipe adapted from Food Babbles)

yields 10-12 Pancakes

Ingredients

Pancakes

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

250 g ricotta cheese (do not substitute fat-free)

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 Tablespoon canola oil, or vegetable oil

11/2 cups light milk (you may you less, just add enough to get a batter of manageable consistency)

Some Cinnamon Sugar for dusting

Poached Pears

1 pear for every 2 pancakes ( Peel the skins off if you prefer and also core them)

2 Cinnamon stick 

4 Star Anise

 6 tbsp sugar

1 litre boiling water

4 tbsp honey for every pear

4-5 cloves

Method

In a pot boil a litre of water, add the sugar and cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves into it to infuse. Place the cored whole pears into the water and let it cook till they are soft to touch and cooked through. Once they are softened take them out and keep it aside. Take about a cup of the liquid in which the pears were cooked add 2 tbsp of honey and let it reduce till it gets syrupy. Let it cool.

To make the pancake batter, take a medium bowl and add all the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and give it a good mix.

In another bowl mix the wet ingredients, ricotta, egg whites and egg, canola oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and milk (add enough to get a batter of manageable consistency). Give it a good mix and fold it into the dry ingredients. Mix so that everything is well combined.

Heat a non stick skillet and brush with a tsp of canola oil. Add about a quarter cup of batter on the skillet and flatten with a spoon and make it into a round. Once the underside is golden brown and cooked flip it and cook the other side. This will take another two minutes Repeat the process for the rest of the pancakes.

To serve place two pancakes on a plate, place the poached pear by the side. Drizzle the cinnamon honey syrup on the pear and the pancakes. Also sprinkle some cinnamon sugar and add a drizzle of honey on the pancakes for that extra sweetness. Add a dollop of lightly whipped cream to dunk into, if desired. I didn't but hey there's always next time :-)

Enjoy!