“I was making pancakes the other day and a fly flew into the kitchen.  And that’s when I realized that a spatula is a lot like a fly-swatter.  And a crushed fly is a lot like a blueberry.  And a roommate is a lot like a fly eater.” -Demetri Martin, American Comedian & Smarty-Pants Polymath

Ok, so I’m nowhere near as talented as Jim when it comes to pancakes (or even Pee Wee Herman, for that matter), but, you know, I try.  My Daddy taught me to make pancakes when I was a little girl, using this completely retro electric griddle gadget thingy that had, in lieu of numerical temperature values, a dial that could be set to “eggs” or “fish” or, of course, “pancakes.”  It was like something from a television infomercial.  Despite such arbitrary thoughtless nonsense, that’s what we used for weekend breakfast-making in my family.  And because it’s also the machine that my Daddy used to teach me how to cook sunny-side-up eggs in rendered bacon fat, I will always remember it fondly.

These days, pancakes aren’t something I indulge in very often, but every once in a while I’ll get that little nostalgic hunger pain for them.  (As for the electric griddle, I think it’s safe to say that it shall remain safely in my memory, where it undoubtedly belongs.)  As a kid, I could wolf down a full stack or a Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity like nobody’s business, but since I refuse to admit that my 32-year-old metabolism is starting to slow up on me, I am instead convinced that my stomach must’ve shrunk instead, and that this must be the reason I could barely make a dent in that pancake tower you see in the photograph above.  (Ahhh, the powers of delusional deductive reasoning…..) It certainly was not because of the pancakes themselves that my tummy couldn’t fight to the finish line.  These were truly some of the best I’ve ever had.

I was first introduced to the idea of including ricotta cheese as part of the pancake batter from regular Sunday brunches at Oak Café, a fantastic little gem of a wine bar across the street from my old apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  A brilliant modification, to be sure, which adds just the right degree of creaminess, tang, and flavor.  Delicious.  But, that didn’t really take care of the most quintessential of pancake dilemmas:  the fluffiness factor.  In asking around for tricks of the trade, I heard some really interesting and creative suggestions.  My Mom suggested adding a bit of club soda to the batter to add lift.  I read that you should let the batter rest for 15 minutes before cooking.  Someone on a blog I was perusing suggested adding a bit of cream to the batter, which would theoretically “steam” as it cooked, thus providing some extra fluffiness.  But then a one Sara Moulton introduced me to the concept of a “Souffléd Omelette,” and I just knew that this technique could apply successfully to pancakes as well.  Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

Flavor-wise, the whole lemon and poppyseed thing really just spoke of summer to me.  But if you’re going to eat a bunch of pancakes and then walk right out into the likes of the recent New York City heat wave, think again.  Park that booty back on the sofa and wash it down with a nice, cold mimosa first.  Give yourself a good 15-20 minutes to digest, and then carry on with running through the sprinkler/biking over the bridge/dancing the day away at PS1, knowing you are sufficiently, as my Daddy would say, “carbed up.”

Ingredients:

1 cup ricotta cheese  (NOTE:  I highly recommend making this yourself, because it’s really, really easy and the results are next-level.  If using store-bought, though, check the cheese section first to see if they have fresh ricotta.  If not, stick with whole or part-skim versions of the store-bought stuff, because the fat free kind is flavorless and, well, gross.)

4 large eggs, separated carefully into yolks and whites

1 cup buttermilk

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

4 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. poppyseeds

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Butter & neutrally-flavored oil, such as Vegetable or Canola, for cooking

Instructions:

1.  In a non-reactive work bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and poppyseeds with a small whisk until evenly incorporated.

2.  In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and kosher salt.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while stirring.  Make sure all of the dry ingredients are completely dissolved into the wet mixture.  You should end up with a typical pancake batter consistency, but without any lumps.  (Yay for sifting!)  Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, in a clean non-reactive bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric hand mixer until they are nice and fluffy and form soft peaks.  (There is a nice tutorial video here.)  Gently fold all of the egg whites into the batter until evenly incorporated.  (NOTE:  Don’t over-do it here.  The whole idea of the “gently fold” part here is that we don’t want to deflate the beautifully-whipped egg whites.  They’re what give these pancakes the “souffléd” quality, and it really does result in wonderfully fluffy results.  If you’re unsure about proper folding technique, there’s a nice tutorial video here.  Be patient with folding – it takes a bit longer than just dumping and stirring, but it’s worth it.)  Once folded, you’ll now notice that the batter has a noticeably different texture.  It’s frothier and thicker, sort of like cappuccino foam, from the beaten egg whites.  This is good.

4.  Heat a griddle or a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add about 1 tbsp. each of oil and butter.  (Oil for heat tolerance, butter for flavor…..)  Once the butter is melted, gently pour a 4 oz. ladle’s worth of the pancake batter onto the griddle.  (NOTE:  Try to pour the batter onto the griddle/into the pan without moving the ladle around.  By pouring in one place, the batter will evenly distribute into lovely circle on it’s own.)  Leave alone until you notice little air bubbles popping up all over the surface of the pancake, and then flip to finish cooking on the other side.  Repeat this process for the rest of the batter, adding more oil and butter when necessary.  Serve immediately with butter and warm maple syrup (fresh blueberries would be delicious too!), or keep warm in a 250ºF. oven wrapped in foil until ready to serve.  (NOTE:  Expect that these pancakes will have a slightly different consistency than what you may be used to.  Specifically, the interiors will be much lighter, softer, and creamier than usual.  I think this is a good thing, personally, but I’m also aware that I’m messing around with a tried and true weekend breakfast here, and people can be sensitive about stuff like this.)

Yield: It’s always the same with pancakes, isn’t it?  The first one or two always suck, and then they start to get good.  That said, I wound up with about 6 good pancakes out of this recipe (provided you use a 4 oz. ladle like I did), plenty for 2 people.  If you need more, just multiply the recipe accordingly.