Ricotta Hotcakes with Rhubarb Compote

One fun family night, the sisterhood decided to discuss our ‘last meal’ options! Morbid I know - but, a bit of fun, and quite revealing - not to mention, a welcome relief from the ‘lets be really honest with each other, and not stop till everyone’s crying’ conversation!

My first choice was Ricotta Hotcakes with Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, and if I had only one meal left, breakfast would surely be it. These pillow like, crispy gems are to die for - at least on that occasion! Accompanied by a generous spoonful of rhubarb, strawberry compote, and a drizzle of maple syrup – who could say no to that?

The next morning, everyone got to sample ‘my last meal’, and that was followed by the ‘lets be really honest with each other, and not stop till everyone’s crying’ conversation. The hotcakes were irresistible, the sisterhood talk was not!!

“I can't imagine how anyone could resist a hot pancake straight from the pan”

- Nigel Slater

Ingredients

Makes 12 hotcakes

4 eggs, separated

250g soft ricotta

¼ cup milk

3 tbsp. caster sugar

½ cup rice flour (you can use plain flour or oat flour)

½ tsp. baking powder

exrtra virgin olive oil for frying

Rhubarb and Compote:

1 bunch rhubarb, washed, leaves removed, ends trimmed, cut into 2.5 cm pieces

1 punnet strawberries, washed, halved

1/4 cup honey or 3 tbsp. caster sugar

1 lemon, juice of

To serve:

100% pure maple syrup

Method

1.    To make the roasted rhubarb preheat the oven to 180˚C/ 350˚F and line a baking dish with baking paper. Add the chopped rhubarb and strawberries to the baking dish, squeeze with lemon juice and drizzle with a generous amount of honey. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before handling

2.    To make the ricotta hotcakes get yourself a large mixing bowl and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Set aside

3.   In another mixing bowl, stir the ricotta, milk, egg yolks, sugar, flour and baking powder together. In 2 batches, gently fold in the egg whites

4.    Heat a medium frying pan with a knob of butter and a little sunflower oil (so the butter doesn’t burn). When the pan gets to a medium heat place heaped tablespoons of batter and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. They should be golden, crisp and slightly puffed

5.    Serve with roasted rhubarb and maple syrup