Orange Ricotta Pancakes #SundaySupper

For someone who hadn´t made pancakes in, I don´t know, say twenty years, I´m kind of catching up with it this week. First pumpkin chocolate and now the most wonderful orange ricotta pancakes.

When I first read this week´s theme for Sunday Supper, which is All Things Orange, hosted by the creative Pam of The Meltaways, I literally thought we had to use oranges, as in the fruit. I´m slow like that sometimes. So I settled for this pancakes and then, as I read the already posted titles, I realized we were supposed to use the color orange! But I´m sticking with my first choice, and I love it.

I don´t care much for celebrations, the horror I know, but please don´t write me off the food blogosphere. It is slowly changing, since your company makes celebrating so much fun, not to mention giving me an excuse to bake, bake and bake. I tell friends and family that having a food blog is like a job, so they would leave me alone and not be appalled at the amount of food I cook every week, for no aparent reason. That is after I explain what a food blog is, which is not a five word explanation here, as in `I have a food blog´. But that´s another story.

Back to our orange concerns, calendar celebrations are all about the food for me, not about gathering with the ones I love. I try to celebrate with them year round, whenever the need to see them strikes me. So october doesn´t mean pumpkin any more than november or july does. But if you give me an orange theme, which is one of my absolute favorite colors, I´m all for it. So oranges it is, both the fruit and the color.

I´m a bit biased when it comes to candied orange skins. I´m mad about them, not at all rational. So these pancakes, which include whipped ricotta and syrupy candied oranges are at the top of my list of wonderful pancake recipes. They are fluffy, with the distinct flavor of orange zest.

Ricotta is wonderful in any kind of pancake, and so is beating egg whites separated from the yolks, and adding them at the end. This recipe has both. Lucky you.

By the way, since I already made a confession I might as well make another one that will surprise you even more: I don´t care for homemade cookies. There. You can write me off completely from your list now. 

ORANGE RICOTTA PANCAKES

a bit adapted from April Bloomfield via Food & Wine, Annual Cookbook 2011

Ingredients

Orange syrup:

1 orange

¼ cup sugar

Whipped ricotta:

1 cup fresh ricotta

3 Tbs cream

1 Tbs sugar

Pancake batter:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup almond meal (or very ground almonds)

2 Tbs sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs, separated

½ cup fresh ricotta
Zest of half an orange

Slivered almonds, toasted

Confectioners´ sugar

Directions

For the orange syrup: 
Peel the zest of the orange in wide strips, with as little white part as possible. With a sharp knife, cut each piece in thin strips. Add orange strips to boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds, drain and repeat process one more time.

Juice the orange. Measure it and put the juice, same amount of water and ¼ cup sugar in a small saucepan. Add blanched orange strips and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until thick and syrupy. Let cool.

For the whipped ricotta: In a small bowl beat all ingredients until smooth. Keep refrigerated.

For the pancakes:
Mix flour, almond meal, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda in large bowl. Add buttermilk, egg yolks, zest and ricotta. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Add to flour mixture with a spatula. Don´t over mix.

Heat a pancake skillet. Add a tiny bit of butter. Add pancake batter using 1/3 cup measure. Cook over medium heat for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes per side.

Arrange on serving plates, add a dollop of whipped ricotta and some orange strips with syrup.

If desired, sprinkle with toasted almonds and confectioners´ sugar.

Serve immediately.

Makes about 12 pancakes.

Just look at all of the fabulous dishes being offered up this week by the Sunday Supper group:

Sunrise  (Breakfast and Brunch)

Erin from Dinners Dishes and Desserts is baking up some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Heather from Girlichef is bringing Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Buttermilk Glaze

Nicole from Daily Dish Recipes is making Pumpkin Donut Puffs

Patti from Comfy Cuisine is bringing  Classic Orange Marmalade

Sunithi from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz is making Spiced Pumpkin Ricotta Muffins with Craisins and Walnuts

Wendy from The Weekend Gourmet is cooking up some Pumpkin Maple Oatmeal

Jamie from Mama Mommy Mom is bringing Butternut Squash Butter

Chelsea from Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence is bringing Pumpkin Spiced Donuts with Chai Icing

High Noon (Soups, Salads and Sandwiches)

Renee from Magnolia Days is serving up some Butternut Squash Soup

Beate from Galactopdx is bringing her Carrot Ginger Soup

Jen from Juanita’s Cocina is making some Curried Sweet Potato Salad With Cranberries and Pecans

Megan from I Run For Wine is making Skinny Roasted Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Soup

Sarah from What Smells So Good is filling our bowls with some Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Alice from Hip Foodie Mom is coming with her Roasted Carrot and Red Quinoa Salad

Susan from The Wimpy Vegetarian is making Cider – Spiced Sweet Potato Soup

Tora from Tora’s Real Food is bringing Butternut Squash and Tomato Soup

Melanie from From Fast Food to Fresh Food is making Monty’s Pumpkin Soup

Lyn from The Lovely Pantry is bringing Roasted Pumpkin & Coconut Soup

Kim from Cravings of a Lunatic is whipping up some Mandarin Chicken Salad

Sunset (Dinner and Main Dishes)

Sarah from Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends is offering up some Pumpkin Ravioli

Shelia from Pippis In The Kitchen Again is serving her Roasted Squash and Ricotta with Honey

Pam from The Meltaways is making Spooky Stuffed Peppers

Patsy from Famfriendsfood is bringing her Carrot Souffle

Laura from Small Wallet Big Appetite is bringing Chicken and Sweet Potato Fritters

Mehereen from Chattering Kitchen is making Sichuan Orange Glazed Chicken with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Tammi from Momma’s Meals is making Hearty Pork Stew

Kristin from Kwistin’s Favorites is making Orange Chicken

Soni from Soni’s Food For Thought is cooking up some Rigatoni with Pumpkin Ricotta Sauce

Shelby from Diabetic Foodie is cooking up some Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Dara from Generation Y Foodie is bringing Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Brandie from Home Cooking Memories is sharing a DIY Baked Sweet Potato Bar

Amber from Mama’s Blissful Bites  is bringing Rice and Fig Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

By The Bonfire (Sweets, Snacks and Sips)

Carla from Chocolate Moosey is making Pumpkin Tiramisu with Pumpkin Butter Caramel Sauce

Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks is offering up some Pumpkin Cake Truffles

Shelia from Cooking Underwriter is bringing Sweet Potato Bacon Beet Salsa

Anne from Webicurean  is making some Drunken Pumpkin Bread

Karen from In The Kitchen With KP is making Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Leslie La Cocina De Leslie is making Sweet Potato Atole

Seet Fei from My Trials in The Kitchen is bringing Sweet Potatoes Mini Balls

Tara from Noshing With The Nolands is bringing Oranges En Suprise

Susan from The Girl in The Red Kitchen is making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scone with Pumpkin Glaze

Conni from Mrs. Mama Hen is making Orange Glazed Poundcake

Isabel from Family Foodie is baking up Moist Pumpkin Bread

Cindy from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings is baking up a Vegan Pumpkin Orange Cake

Brenda from Meal Planning Magic is whipping up some Creamy Pumpkin Dip

Laura from Family Spice is making some Unprocessed and Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Kathya from Basic and Delicious is baking up Butternut Squash and Carrot Bread

Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake is serving up Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Stephanie from The Cookie A Day Challenge is whipping up some Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches

Katie from She Like Ruffles, He Likes Truffles is bringing Pumpkin Harvest Cookies

Nancy from Gotta Get Baked is baking up some Orange Macadamia Dark Chocolate Cookies

Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  is bringing Orange Soda Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

Katy from Happy Baking Days is bringing Carrot Cake with Orange Glaze

Sandra from Midlife Road Trip is bringing Orange ya glad it’s fall! Hungarian Apricot/Walnut pastries

Please be sure you join us on Twitter throughout the day during #SundaySupper.

We’ll be meeting up at 7:00 pm(Eastern) for our weekly #SundaySupper  live chat where we’ll talk about our favorite recipes featuring our favorite fall color.

All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag, or you can follow us through TweetChat.

We’d also love to feature your easy go to recipes on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board and share them with all of our followers, too.

Come hungry!