BREAKFAST IN BED - Mrs Nightingale's Valentine Recipe for Love

Orange Ricotta Hotcakes with Passion Fruit and Honeycomb Butter

Dear Reader. With romance and Valentine’s Day on my mind, let me tell you about the moment that I fell hopelessly, head over heels in love.

I walked into a café in the Darlinghurst district of Sydney in desperate need of sustenance, specifically a satisfying breakfast. The prawn porridge served on the Korean airline that transported me across the world had (unsurprisingly) not tantalised my taste buds and I was starving.

I was approached by a waiter; a handsome, sun kissed Adonis. Tongue tied, unsettled by his good looks and ravenously hungry, I begged to be fed. “It’s got to be the Ricotta Hotcakes” I was told. Thus began a never-ending love affair with these addictive fluffy little clouds of breakfast heaven.

The café was called Bill’s, the iconic establishment run by the renowned chef, Bill Granger. His definitive hotcake recipe is the best I have ever tasted, the benchmark in breakfast pancakes; lighter than many American recipes, more substantial than a European crêpe.

In Australia, these wonderful breakfast pancakes are a staple on almost every brunch menu. Back at home in Blighty, I usually have to make my own but I’m delighted to report that they are straightforward to prepare. I like to put my own spin on classic recipes, and for this occasion there is no more appropriate ingredient than Passion Fruit. Cotswold Stylists may recall that I provided a recipe for honeycomb (December issue) which you will need for the butter, but you can cheat and use a Crunchie with the chocolate removed.


Ingredients
Hotcakes (x8)
225g ricotta cheese
170 mls milk
4 eggs separated
1 small orange, zested
150 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
50 g butter
2 Passion fruits
Icing sugar


Honeycomb butter

150 g butter
50 g honeycomb – crushed
1 tablespoon of honey


Method

First make the honeycomb butter. Place ingredients in a processor and blitz. Shape into a log in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a bowl and incorporate. Sift flour, baking powder, orange zest and salt into another bowl. Add to the ricotta mixture and combine.

Beat egg whites in a clean dry bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites through batter in two batches, with a large metal spoon.

Grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of the butter and drop 2 tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan (don’t cook more than 3 per batch).

Cook on low/medium heat for approximately 3 minutes each side until set and golden. To serve, drizzle the flesh of the passion fruit, add a little honeycomb butter and dust with icing sugar.

So why not treat your loved one to breakfast in bed on February 14th. Score extra Cupid points with a breakfast tray adorned with a flower, a card and the promise of more Passion Fruit pancakes to come.

NB: To the person that asked if the pink tulip was edible on the Facebook Speakeasy page, it's made of spun sugar, unicorn horn, and fairy kisses !!!!