ricotta pancakes with honey glazed plums

Cooking and baking is always an adventure. Inspiration is all around you if you are open to it. There's no real explanation for why or how ideas come together but I can honestly say that frequently it's a matter of "oh gosh there's X in the fridge and I better use it up." Then I make something using that ingredient. Most of the time I make tried and true recipes, either my own or those from trusted cookbooks. Sometimes the inspiration is something I ate elsewhere that I really liked and have been given the recipe. Other times the recipes find me but I somehow can't help playing with them a little bit.

Such is the case with today's breakfast. The inspiration was a click-through twitter post that brought me to Almost Bourdain's (AB's) blog, which I just discovered and like a lot. He credits his inspiration for this recipe to Bill Granger, I credit my inspiration to him. It's kind of neat how that works, we're all connected by this idea of ricotta in pancakes but we each put a slightly different twist to it; all of them, I'm sure, very delicious.

My changes came about because I am trying to work more with gluten free recipes lately. These are for a few people I know who are faced with gluten sensitivity. It's also, as always, inspired by what I have on hand. AB's version calls for bananas and honeycomb. I didn't have enough bananas but did have plums. Didn't have any honeycomb either (and I miss my friends from CT who used to supply me with it) but I did have honey. Together with some breakfast sausage this made a great meal and is definitely on the repeat again list. I hope you like it too.

Ricotta Pancakes with Honey Glazed Plums

For pancakes:

1 1/3 C. ricotta cheese

3/4 C. buttermilk (for a little tang to offset the honey glazed plums)

4 eggs separated

1/2 C. fresh ground oat flour

1/2 C. fresh ground brown rice flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

pinch salt

beat egg whites until peaks form, set aside

mix ricotta, egg yolks, vanilla, and buttermilk together until well blended

mix together flours, baking powder and salt

gently add flours into ricotta mixture

gently fold egg whites into mixture until just blended

drop by 1/4 C. measure into medium hot, greased pan

after 2 minutes flip to cook other side

For honey-glazed plums:

2 plums

2 T. honey

1/2 t. cinnamon

2 t. butter

cut plums into bite sized pieces

toss with honey and cinnamon

in a medium-hot pan melt butter

add plum mixture and stir until plums begin to soften just a little (about 7 minutes)

serve pancakes with plums on top

Honestly these were fabulous. I would even consider serving them as a dessert by making the pancakes smaller and putting a dollop of creme fraiche on top with a dusting of cinnamon.