Oranges and lemons, starting with the lemons.

Post pancake day I seemed to be left with a couple of odd lemons to use up so I decided to make some post pancake day pancakes.  I have seen a few recipes for pancakes involving ricotta cheese and was curious to try them.  Whilst making these I did wonder whether it would be worth all the extra effort, but we all agreed it was, as the lemony ricotta in the middle of each pancake was delicious (reminded me of cheesecake) and the whisked egg whites made the pancakes puff up. Definitely making these again!

Lemon ricotta pancakes (Gluten free and low sugar version)

Ingredients - makes around 12 pancakes

• 250ml ricotta cheese
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 120g gluten free self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 whole eggs
• 375ml milk
• 2 egg whites

1. In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, lemon zest, agave nectar and ground almonds.
2. In another bowl sieve together the flours and bicarbonate of soda, then whisk in the whole eggs and milk to form a smooth batter with the consistency of thick cream.  
3. In a third bowl whisk the egg whites until they reach the firm peaks stage, then fold carefully into the batter so as not to lose the air you have whisked in.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan, wiping it with a little oil between pancakes.  Add two dessert spoonfuls of batter to the hot pan spreading slightly with the back of the spoon to make a pancake around 10cm / 4 inches across.   Then working quickly add a dessert spoonful of ricotta mix to the centre of the pancake, flatten slightly, then add another spoonful of batter over the top of the ricotta to cover,
5. Cook for around 2 minutes until the underside of the pancake is a pale brown colour then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side.
6. Keep the pancakes wrapped in a teatowel to keep warm, whilst you use up the rest of the batter and ricotta mix.
7. Serve as they are or with a squeeze of lemon and a very light dusting of icing sugar.

My rough estimate of carbohydrates is 12g per pancake, assuming you get around 12 pancakes from your mix.