Buttermilk Ricotta Hotcakes with Warm Blueberry Compote

March is a strange month for a brunch. The snow is grey at the edges of the road, the sap buckets are out, and everyone wants something warm and a little celebratory on the table. These hotcakes are my answer. They are buttermilk pancakes made tall and tender with ricotta in the batter and whipped egg whites folded through it, so they rise in the pan like small soufflés and stay soft in the middle. A warm blueberry compote, bright with lemon zest, goes over the top, and in a month when fresh fruit is thin on the ground, good frozen blueberries do the job beautifully.

The method has one more step than an everyday pancake, separating the eggs, and it pays for itself. Below are the decisions that matter, the recipe for four, and a plan for feeding twelve or more without anyone standing at the stove the whole morning.

What the ricotta and egg whites do

Ricotta adds moisture and a gentle richness without making the batter heavy, and it keeps the hotcakes tender for an hour after cooking, which matters when you are holding them for a crowd. Use whole-milk ricotta and drain it in a sieve for 15 minutes if it looks wet; watery ricotta makes a loose batter that spreads instead of rising.

Buttermilk gives the tang and reacts with the baking powder for lift. Shake the carton well, because the thick part settles. If you have none, stir a tablespoon of lemon juice into a scant cup of whole milk and let it stand 10 minutes.

The beaten whites are what make these hotcakes. Whip them with the sugar to firm, glossy peaks that stand up when you lift the beater but do not look dry or clumpy. Fold them into the yolk batter in two additions with a wide spatula, cutting down through the middle and turning the batter over, until only a few white streaks remain. A few streaks are fine; they cook in. Overmixing knocks out the air you just whipped in.

Resting, and when to fold

Pancake batter improves with a short rest, because the flour hydrates and the gluten relaxes. Here the trick is to rest the yolk base, not the finished batter. Mix the ricotta, yolks, buttermilk and dry ingredients, then let that sit for 15 to 30 minutes while the griddle heats and the compote cooks. Whip and fold the whites only when you are ready to cook. Folded batter holds well for about 30 minutes before it starts to sink, so for a large batch, fold the whites into half the base at a time.

The griddle

Medium-low heat is the rule for a thick, airy pancake. Too hot and the outside browns long before the center sets. A griddle is ready when a few drops of water skitter and evaporate in two or three seconds. Brush it lightly with butter, scoop about 1/3 cup of batter per hotcake, and leave them alone until the edges look dry and set and a few bubbles have opened on top, about 3 minutes. Flip once. The second side takes 2 to 3 minutes; the hotcake will puff noticeably and spring back when pressed lightly in the center.

From the recipe box

Buttermilk ricotta hotcakes with blueberry compote

About 12 hotcakes, serves 4

Prep

25 min

Cook

25 min

Rest

15 min

Total

1 hr 5 min

Show amounts in

US cups & spoons metric

Blueberry compote

• 3 1/2 cups500 g fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup50 g granulated sugar
• 11 lemon, zest finely grated and juiced
• 2 tbsp6 g chopped fresh mint (optional)

Hotcakes

• 1 cup245 g whole-milk ricotta, drained if wet
• 4 large4 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup180 ml buttermilk, well shaken
• 1 cup125 g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp6 g baking powder
• 1/4 tsp1.5 g fine salt
• 1/4 cup50 g granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup75 g fresh or frozen blueberries, for the batter
• 3 tbsp42 g unsalted butter, for the griddle, plus more for serving

Method

1. For the compote, put the blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring gently, until the sugar dissolves and some berries begin to burst, 3 to 5 minutes; stir in the mint off the heat and keep warm.
2. Heat the oven to 200°F (95°C) and set a wire rack on a sheet pan inside it.
3. Whisk the ricotta and egg yolks in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in the buttermilk.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the ricotta mixture and stir just until no dry flour remains; let the base rest 15 minutes.
5. Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until foamy, then add the sugar gradually and beat to firm, glossy peaks.
6. Fold the whites into the base in two additions until only a few streaks remain, then fold in the 1/2 cup blueberries.
7. Heat a griddle over medium-low heat, brush with butter and scoop 1/3 cup batter per hotcake, leaving room between them.
8. Cook until the edges look dry and a few bubbles open on top, about 3 minutes, then flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until puffed, golden and springy in the center.
9. Move finished hotcakes to the rack in the oven in a single layer while you cook the rest, buttering the griddle between batches.
10. Serve with the warm compote spooned over and a small pat of butter on top.

Notes from the kitchen

• The compote keeps 4 days in the refrigerator; rewarm it gently with a spoonful of water.
• Frozen berries go into the batter straight from the freezer so they do not bleed.

The compote, made ahead

The compote is quick, and it is the part to make first. Cook it only until the sugar dissolves and a third of the berries have burst, leaving the rest whole and glossy; long cooking turns it to jam. With frozen berries, allow an extra couple of minutes and expect more juice. If you want it thicker for a crowd, stir a teaspoon of cornstarch into a tablespoon of cold water and simmer it in for 30 seconds.

It keeps four days in the refrigerator and reheats in a few minutes over low heat. Add the mint just before serving, since it darkens as it sits.

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Brunch for a crowd

The secret to pancakes for a crowd is the low oven. Hotcakes stacked on a plate steam and go limp; hotcakes in a single layer on a wire rack at 200°F (95°C) stay crisp at the edges and tender inside for 30 to 40 minutes. Use two griddles or a large electric griddle if you have one.

Here is a worked example for twelve guests, figuring three hotcakes each.

And a morning timeline for an 11:00 brunch:

• The day before: make the compote, measure the dry ingredients into three bags, drain the ricotta overnight in the refrigerator.
• 9:45: separate the eggs; whites in one large bowl, yolks with the ricotta.
• 10:00: mix the yolk base for all three batches, then let it rest. Heat the oven with racks on two sheet pans.
• 10:15: whip and fold the whites for the first half of the base and start cooking.
• 10:35: fold the second half and keep cooking. Rewarm the compote.
• 10:55: bring the sheet pans straight to the table or the buffet, with the compote in a warmed bowl.

Serving and variations

Warm the plates in the oven alongside the hotcakes. A little pure maple syrup on the side is welcome in sugaring season, though the compote is sweet enough on its own. Raspberries or a mix of berries can stand in for blueberries, and a pinch of nutmeg in the batter is lovely in late winter.

For the rest of the brunch table, a small chocolate dessert like the chocolate goat cheese cheesecake works for a shower or late brunch, and more ideas for the season are under the seasonal table and cakes and baking.

A perfect hotcake, cut with the side of a fork, shows an even, open crumb, flecked with purple where the berries burst, and no wet line through the middle.