Cherry and Ricotta Pancakes with cherry almond syrup and vanilla ice cream by Dominique Rizzo

Cherry and Ricotta Pancakes with cherry almond syrup and vanilla ice cream

by Dominique Rizzo

Myself and my second chef Jodie Neilson came up with this recipe as a special for our breakfast menu during Christmas and new year to take advantage of the fantastic fresh cherries. If fresh cherries are not available then frozen will just be as good. Or you can substitute any other fruits.

It is really the flavour and texture of the cherries in the pancakes and the rich colour of the syrup on the plate that I love. The base of this pancake recipe is from my has become a favorite in the kitchen and from our customers it produces light fluffy and really high pancakes.

Serves 2-3 people with healthy serves

  • 6 organic eggs, separated
  • 250ml organic milk
  • 150g sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 350g organic plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tblsp yoghurt
  • 200g fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted and roughly chopped
  • 100g firm ricotta, crumbled

For the syrup

  • 300g fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted and cut in half
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 cups water

For the Pancakes

Mix the yolks with the sugar, milk and vanilla until sugar has dissolved, add in the yoghurt, combine the flour with the baking powder and gently fold the flour through the milk, eggs and sugar, whisk the whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold this through the mix.

Heat and grease a fry pan or use a non stick pan and spoon in an amount of pancake mix to the desired size. Cook for a few minutes until bubbles appear, the edges are golden and the top starts to set. Flip over the pancake and cook for a further 2 minutes until golden. Set aside until all the mix is cooked.

Serve the pancakes with the cherry syrup and a large scoop of vanilla ice cream

For the syrup

Combine the brown sugar, white sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan over moderate heat, stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the syrup toi the boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the cherries, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the almond essence and simmer again for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.