Lemon soufflé pancakes with macerated strawberries from Pucker cookbook

Image for Lemon soufflé pancakes with macerated strawberries from Pucker cookbook

It's the start of Calgary Stampede, and that means 10 days of pancakes coming your way. These lemony, light and fluffy pancakes from the Pucker cookbook by Gwendolyn Richards are like cousins to soufflé.

Tip: prepare the strawberries and set aside in the fridge until the pancakes are ready. 

4 eggs, separated
1 cup ricotta
3 tbsp sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
butter, for pan

Heat a pan or griddle over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ricotta, sugar, zest of the whole lemon, juice of half the lemon and salt. Stir in the flour.

Using a mixer, whip the egg whites until they hold medium peaks -- the mixture will stand up on the beaters or whisk but the tip will curl slightly over.

Take about 1/3 of the beaten whites and fold into the egg yolk-ricotta lemon mixture. Add the rest of the whites and gently fold them in with a spatula, scooping lightly from the bottom and folding it over until the batter is just mixed.

With the pan hot, add a bit of butter to coat the surface, letting it bubble up a bit. Using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, ladle the batter into the pan. Let the pancakes cook until they're cooked at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip. Let cook another minute or two.

Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Serve with strawberries spooned over top. 

Macerated strawberries

1 pint strawberries
1 to 2 tbsp sugar

Hull and dice the strawberries. Add the sugar -- more for tarter strawberries, less when they're perfectly in season -- and stir together. Refrigerate until the pancakes are cooked.

Yield:
12 to 16 pancakes