Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Weather: 14 degrees
What I’m listening to: Bang, bang, clank – a friend doing some car repairs in the garage

A fellow Alaska blogging friend of mine captured this week perfectly in one phrase: Springter – when spring becomes winter. I know we Alaskans aren’t the only ones lately who encountered abrupt snow or rain and chilly temps after eagerly enjoying the first signs of spring. I discovered that Springter is actually a word according to Urban Dictionary and I kinda love it, largely because Springter is about all the spring we get in Alaska. By the time the snow completely melts and the grass turns green, it’ll be summer.

Another combination word that I love is ‘brunch.’ Brunch is such a cool meal. It implies that it’s the weekend, you’ve probably slept in, there’s coffee involved, and you have a breakfast and lunch combination buffet or table spread awaiting you. Now who can argue with that? Every Easter Sunday, our church has a big brunch right before the Easter service. We get all dressed up in our Easter best, sit down together, and enjoy biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, pancakes… and after church, we have an Easter egg hunt. It’s a day we anticipate all year long.

In a nod to springtime and Easter brunch, I’ve made these tender, thin Ricotta Pancakes with a little bit of lemon zest topped with a maple syrup that has been simmered with fresh strawberries until they release their juices and infuse the syrup with their sweetness and acidity. Drool. I’ll happily pass on the Easter basket with jelly beans and marshmallow bunnies for a plate of these.

Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

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Tender, delicate Ricotta Pancakes with a simmered Strawberry Maple Syrup. Panckes adapted from [The Kitchn|http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fluffy-ricotta-pancakes-48085]; syrup adapted from [Ambitious Kitchen|http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/02/fluffy-greek-yogurt-blueberry-pancakes-with-strawberry-maple-syrup/].

Yields: About 8 pancakes

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• zest of 1 small lemon
• For Syrup:
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat (Note: for pancakes I always like to use a non-stick pan, ungreased, for that consistent all-over browning on the cakes as you see in the pictures. If using a pan that is not non-stick, be sure to butter it, but your pancakes will not look the same as pictured, but rather will look more like [these|http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fluffy-ricotta-pancakes-48085]).

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, gently whisk together the ricotta, milk, eggs, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until smooth and combined.

Using a 1/3 measuring cup, pour batter onto the hot griddle. Cook until golden brown underneath, then flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side and cooked through. Repeat until all the batter is used. Serve with butter, Strawberry Maple Syrup, and fresh strawberries.

!For Syrup:

Add the syrup and strawberries to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the strawberries begin to break down and release their juices, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. At this point you can strain the syrup with a fine mesh sieve as I did and serve with fresh strawberry slices, or you can leave the cooked strawberries in the syrup and serve that way, more like a syrup-compote. Serve syrup hot.