ORANGE RICOTTA PANCAKES

I don’t even know where to begin. It’s been a month since I last posted a new recipe and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve (every single person on this planet) all been living an ongoing nightmare since then. I am, unfortunately, not writing this post sitting in my new apartment in Portland, Maine… our move, which was supposed to be on April 1st, got pushed back indefinitely and we’ve been staying at my mom’s house in Orange County for the time being. I don’t want to get into anything heavy or speak of my personal struggles because that’s not what I want to remember when I look back at this post years from now (nor do I want you guys to read yet another thing related to COVID-19), but I just want to say that I hope you all are well and that you’re in my thoughts every single day. If you want to privately message me, I’m here for you.

I’ve noticed online that a good amount of people have been taking this time of isolation as an excuse to pick up a new language, learn how to play an instrument, take an online course to get certified for something, or read as many books as humanly possible. And I’d like to let it be known that I am not one of these people. Besides exercising, baking, and watching as many random movies as I can, the only thing that I’ve “learned” is that my love for eating pasta has grown tenfold. And I feel no shame about it! I just want people to know that everyone deals with things differently and if you want to sit on your butt every day and do nothing meaningful or productive, then that’s perfectly fine. For example, I could have been hard on myself for not taking advantage of the extra time the past few weeks to post new recipes every other day, but I didn’t have the mental capacity or desire to! I honestly just wanted to bake for myself (and my family) and return to older recipes of mine that I didn’t have the time to remake. I baked my funfetti sugar cookies, chocolate sorbet, coffee toffee ice cream, etc, etc. - and it’s been making me SO happy. So why would I change that? I also didn’t feel comfortable with posting a recipe with ingredients that you may not have and I don’t want anyone going to the grocery store because of me!

But after about three weeks of being on an emotional rollercoaster, I finally found myself wanting to write and share something new with you and I landed on the breakfast/brunch staple that are pancakes. And not just plain old pancakes, but ones riddled with fresh orange zest/juice and creamy ricotta cheese. If you’ve been around, you know that my love for ricotta runs deep - I have a recipe on how to make homemade ricotta along with ricotta ice cream; I have the most beautiful citrus ricotta bundt cake with pistachios; and finally, I have the adorable individual apple ricotta tarts with homemade caramel drizzled on top.

The addition of ricotta to pancakes isn’t so much about changing the flavor but more so about getting a fluffier and creamier texture. On top of this, the number of eggs added - three- makes the pancakes even more decadent and custard-like since normal pancake recipes usually call for only one egg. You’re probably thinking that these additions to the recipe would mean that they’ll be too heavy or rich, but after eating a stack of four for lunch the past two days, I can attest that they’re just perfect. A big part of what helps cut through the creaminess from the ricotta and eggs is the addition of citrus (orange in this case) via the juice and zest. The citrus really brightens up the pancakes and prevents you from feeling like you’re being filled with too much dairy.

A couple of tips for when it comes to making these perfect pancakes: 1) if you have the time, have all the ingredients - namely the eggs, milk and ricotta - be room temperature. This ensures a smoother incorporation of the batter and therefore a better textured pancake. 2) Speaking of ingredients, make sure that your baking powder isn’t expired. I know a lot of people who don’t bake too often and when they finally do, the recipe fails and it’s usually since they’re baking powder (or soda) is months over the expiration date. 3) Do not over mix the batter! This is a given in almost every recipe for baked goods but is probably the most important when it comes to making pancakes. 4) After the pancake batter is finished, allow it to “rest” for about 15 minutes so that the flour can be properly hydrated and the leavening agents (baking powder and soda) can be evenly distributed.

So, if you have all of these ingredients in your fridge right now - don’t forget that you can make your own ricotta cheese with only 4 ingredients (milk, heavy cream, salt and lemon juice) - by all means, go ahead and make these this weekend for Easter brunch and try to have a fun and joyful holiday. And if you don’t have the ingredients, just remember to pick up some ricotta and oranges the next time you’re able to safely make it to the grocery store, and make a batch of the pancakes on a random weekday. Trust me, having these babies on a Tuesday morning will definitely brighten your day and I know we could all use that right now,

Orange Ricotta Pancakes

Yields 12-13 pancakes

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp. orange zest

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 3/4 cup ricotta (full-fat or part skim), homemade or store bought, room temperature

• 1 cup milk (whole or 2%), room temperature

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice

• 1 tbsp. butter, melted and slightly cooled

Directions

1. In a large bowl, using your hands or a whisk, massage/mix the sugar and orange zest together until fragrant (this helps release the oils in the zest). Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk until combined.

2. To a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the ricotta, milk, eggs, vanilla extract and orange juice. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking at the same time (just in case the butter is still too warm from being melted).

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just barely incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX. Allow the batter to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes,

4. Preheat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake and cook on the first side until the edges appear set and bubbles appear on the top surface, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the pancakes are golden brown. Repeat until all batter is used up.

5. Serve immediately with maple syrup, powdered sugar and/or lemon curd, Enjoy!

CITRUS RICOTTA BUNDT CAKE W/ PISTACHIOS

And we’re back! After taking some time off from The Vivid Kitchen, I am more than excited to be here with my (tiny) community and start 2019 with fresh content. I kind of abruptly stopped posting new recipes about halfway through December because I had to focus on baking for real life events (I baked 4 different kinds of cookies to pass out as Christmas gifts - including these and these) and then after Christmas, Alex and I went out of town to Scottsdale, Arizona for 5 days to celebrate NYE. When we returned home on the 1st, I got sick for the first time in years and now that I’m finally feeling better, here we are!

P.S. I might do a photo diary/city guide of some sort for Scottsdale soon, even though all we do when we visit is hike and cook at the house we stay at.

For Christmas, I was very lucky to be gifted a handful of kitchen/baking-related items that I’ve been obsessing over since opening them. Some things I received were: a Shun chef’s knife (Shun is my favorite knife brand), a Hamilton Beach waffle maker that I’ve already used a couple of times and yes, there will be waffle recipes in the future, a marble phone holder for my kitchen when I’m baking and my hands are full, and a few other things. I also got a new macro lens for my Canon camera (thank you, dad!) that is incredible and is the lens that I used to shoot this recipe.

Another gift I received was a new bundt pan from Nordic Ware, and I didn’t know it was possible to be in love with a baking pan, but I guess it is! The mold is so beautiful and makes every cake look like a piece of art, but it is also just as functional as it is pretty - I had no problems with the cake sticking to the pan. This is my first pan from Nordic Ware and it’s safe to say that I will continue to buy from them in the future.

Since we’re getting into citrus season, my favorite time of year, I wanted to make a bundt cake highlighting the season’s bright flavors. After about a month straight of eating cookies and chocolate, I didn’t want to make a very heavy or overly sweet cake, and this citrus ricotta cake is anything but those things. Olive oil and ricotta make the dish light yet super moist; the cake is sweetened with a blend of granulated sugar and honey; and the lemon/orange zests and juices brighten the cake and give it such a fresh flavor. This is actually one of the few cakes that you could eat for breakfast and not feel any guilt about it. Side note: I used my favorite orange variety, Cara Cara, for this recipe, which I highly recommend, but any orange variety will be perfect as well. You could even try using grapefruit, which I’ll probably do next time I make this cake.

If you remember, I did a post last year about making your own ricotta cheese for ricotta ice cream (still one of the best ice creams I’ve ever made) and today's recipe is pretty much the cake version of that. The flavors of citrus and pistachios work so well with the creamy ricotta cheese, so I knew that they both needed to be front and center in this cake. And of course, if you want to make your own ricotta cheese for this recipe, please do so, since it’s SO easy! But, if you don’t have the time or cheesecloth, then by all means, store-bought is A-OK with me. I recommend reaching for the whole-milk variety though.

As for how to finish the cake, the choice is yours to make! (I did not plan that rhyme, I promise). There are a number of options: 1)a standard dusting of confectioners’ sugar, 2) a simple citrus glaze (2 cups of confectioners’ sugar whisked with 3-4 tbsp. of fresh lemon or orange juice), and/or 3) a mix of chopped pistachios with honey sprinkled all over the top. As you can see from the pictures, I chose a dusting of confectioners’ sugar as well as the pistachio/honey mixture and I thought it was perfect.

Citrus Ricotta Bundt Cake w/ Pistachios

Yields (1) standard bundt cake

Recipe adapted from Fraiche Nutrition

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese, homemade or store-bought

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup honey

• 3 tbsp. lemon zest

• 2 tbsp. orange zest (I love Cara Cara oranges)

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 2 tbsp. fresh orange juice

• 2/3 cup shelled and toasted pistachios, finely chopped (mixed w/ 1 tbsp. of flour)

• Confectioners’ sugar, chopped pistachios mixed with honey, lemon glaze, to finish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray the bundt pan with cooking oil spray (or you can butter and flour the pan).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a separate smaller bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, honey, zests, and juices. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and without lumps.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together using a spatula. Before the batter is fully combined, mix in the pistachio/flour and finish mixing the batter.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Allow the cake to cool for about 5 minutes before inverting onto a plate or cooling rack. Finish the cake whichever way you’d like! The cake will last in an airtight container for about a week.