Jack Johnson single-handedly changed my perception of pancakes, more specifically, banana pancakes. What used to be a sugary treat I never really craved as a child has become the epitome of a slow, relaxing Sunday morning that I yearn for week after week.
In a recent Instagram post, Oprah Winfrey said she “walked 4 miles” to try the ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter and bananas from Bills in Sydney, Australia. She was actually following a suggestion by the Aussie native, Hugh Jackman, and after that first bite, she was left speechless. The first words she could muster were, “You told the truth.” She even had to go back again to get another round of cakes before leaving the country.
Obviously, I had to see if The Greatest Showman’s rec would also leave me at a loss for words.
How to Make Bills’ Ricotta Hotcakes
After a bit of internet sleuthing, I found the recipe for the restaurant’s ricotta hotcakes in the Australian Food cookbook. The book was written by the restaurant’s late owner and chef, Bill Granger, aka the “godfather” of avocado toast.
For this recipe, you’ll need a kitchen scale. (Did I buy one just to make these ricotta pancakes? Sure did.) You start off by preparing the honeycomb butter that will top your pancake stack. You could use store-bought honeycomb, but I decided to go all out and make my own.
To make the honeycomb, heat up caster sugar and golden syrup in a pan for around 15 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes a dark amber caramel color. You’ll then add baking soda into the caramel-colored mixture, and it’ll immediately expand and puff up. Make sure not to overmix! Transfer the expanded sugar mixture into a greased pan, where you will let it cool and harden for a few hours before breaking it into small pieces.
Add half of your honeycomb pieces into a food processor with softened butter and some honey. Then transfer your new butter mixture onto cling wrap, roll it into a log, and leave it to chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Now onto the actual pancake mixture. In a bowl, use ricotta, milk, and four egg yolks. In a larger bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Then, combine your ricotta mixture with the dry ingredients. Next, you’re going to whip your four egg whites until stiff peaks form (in a clean bowl!)l. Once stiff, gently fold them into your batter in two parts.
Heat up a nonstick frying pan with some butter and make sure to channel every bit of patience you’ve got because it’s time to start cooking and flipping your pancakes. Once your hotcakes are golden brown, take them off the heat and serve ’em up with your chilled honeycomb butter, powdered sugar, and sliced banana.
My Honest Review of Bills’ Ricotta Hotcakes
Let me just start with the texture. I mean, seriously, these ricotta hotcakes are the fluffiest, lightest, and airiest pancakes I have ever eaten. They didn’t feel super rich and dense while eating, so I felt like I could eat one after the other.
As far as the flavor goes — just, wow. The ricotta adds a deep level of creaminess and richness to these pancakes that I’ve never tasted before, but I also normally just use boxed mix (don’t judge me!) I was worried the ricotta might make the pancakes taste cheesy, but that was not a problem at all.
The only slightly negative tasting note is that the pancakes definitely have an eggy taste. I didn’t think that it was that profound a flavor that you couldn’t enjoy the hotcake. But maybe dial it back by one yolk if you’re worried. I will definitely be whipping up these pancakes again in the future, especially since I’ve got a large amount of honeycomb butter stocked in my fridge now.
So go on. Channel your inner Jack Johnson and pretend like it’s the weekend, so you can make these Oprah-approved pancakes STAT.
