Orange Rosemary Pancakes w/ Lavender Honey Whipped Cream

Pancakes...Pancakes...Pancakes. I love PANCAKES! And who doesn't? I really thought about any imperfections of these particular recipe, but...no...they are perfect to me. Fluffy, with nice smooth texture, not sweet too much, and lavender whipped cream immensely balance all the flavors. Neither more nor less.

Actually, I rarely have time in the morning for cooking. Usually I end up with overnight oats, sandwich or yogurt with granola. So pancakes are the best weekend breakfast for me. When there is no need hurrying to work, university, school or anywhere else you have to go every day. Hah...Weird, but one of the most popular variant of breakfast in the world turned out to be an utter holiday in my family. From now on the fist weekend of August will be my Pancake Day ;) But in fact, there is no certain season for pancakes, they are definitely an all-the-year-round food.

To tell the truth, my personal Pancake Day appeared because of the killing heat (this summer is killing me!) and inability to turn on the oven. More than 40 degrees centigrade in shadow!!! I don't know if I will survive this summer. So I think at least the next two weeks will be no-baking.

Okay, back to our pancakes. In view of ~~uhhhh "lovely warm" weather~~, I was looking for some no-bake recipes. I had millions of ideas...But yeah, you know, when you are already a walking medium (medium well) steak, doubtfully you will have a vast desire for cooking. Pancakes seemed to satisfy my requirements - easy, quick, no-bake (only a few minutes by the frying pan), beautiful (I eat first of all with my eyes!) and of course delicious. Believe, these pancakes are to die for!

Talking about the taste. I had some rosemary leftovers in the fridge (after Eggplant & Mushroom Spread) and a few oranges waiting to be used for more than a week. And I thought, why not to give those flavors to the pancakes? Bingo! But what makes these pancakes really special - is the Lavender Honey Whipped Cream. Delicate herbal and honey notes perfectly match pancake citrus notes. Oh....Heavenly. You have to try it to understand exactly.

Note
Start making the Lavender Whipped Cream night before or at least two hours before serving.
Makes 10 pancakes.
Inspired by this recipe from Two Red Bowls.

Orange Rosemary Pancakes w/ Lavender Honey Whipped Cream

for lavender honey whipped cream

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp lavender flowers

1 tbsp honey

for the pancakes

1/2 cup milk

2 springs fresh rosemary

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup ricotta

2 large eggs, separated

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp orange zest

for serving

orange zest

powdered sugar

To make the Lavender Honey Whipped Cream: In a small sauce pan mix lavender and cream, place on a medium high heat and just bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, let cool for 15 minutes. Stir in honey, until dissolved. Sieve to remove lavender flowers. Chill overnight or for at least 2 hours, the cream should be completely cold to whip.

Once you are ready to make the pancakes, whip the cream in a chilled bowl of your mixer (you can also use a hand mixer - as I did). Cover and put in the fridge, until serving.

To make the pancakes: Heat milk and rosemary springs until it starts to simmer. Let cool for 15 minutes. Remove rosemary springs from milk, strain if needed.

Whisk together dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl whisk ricotta, egg yolks, orange juice and zest. Fold the dry ingredients in the wet, just until incorporated and small lumps remain.

In a separate bowl whip egg whites with hand mixer to form medium peaks. Gently whisk in the batter, leaving whips of egg whites visible.

Heat the buttered pan, fry until the small bubbles appear on the pancake, afterwards fry for 1 minute on the other side.