HONEYCOMB
Light-flavoured oil, for greasing
150 gm caster sugar
75 gm golden syrup
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
HONEYCOMB BUTTER
250 gm unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp runny honey
90 gm honeycomb, above or shop-
bought, crushed
RICOTTA HOTCAKES
300 gm ricotta
175 ml milk
4 eggs, separated
125 gm plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
50 gm butter
TO SERVE
Icing sugar and sliced banana
1 To make honeycomb, lightly oil
a 20cm cake tin. Place sugar and syrup
in a heavy-based pan over medium-low
heat. Swirl pan to dissolve the sugar,
then stir with a spatula until all dissolved- this might take 10-15 minutes, so be
patient and do not let the mixture bubble
at this stage. Turn up heat, use a sugar
thermometer if you have one and heat
mixture to 155 ̊C or until a dark amber
caramel. Remove from heat and quickly
stir in the bicarbonate of soda until
golden and foaming. Be careful not to
overstir; you want to retain as much air
in the mixture as possible.
2 Carefully pour into tin. Leave to harden
and cool for about 90 minutes. Break
into chunks and crush with a rolling pin.
If you are making honeycomb butter, you
will need half the amount, so store the
rest in an airtight container at room
temperature for up to 2 weeks.
You can dip it in melted chocolate and
sprinkle over ice-cream. Or make double
the amount of butter and freeze.
3 To make honeycomb butter, blend
ingredients in a food processor until
smooth. Roll into a log, wrap in baking
paper and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
4 To make hotcakes, mix together
ricotta, milk and egg yolks. Sift flour,
baking powder and a pinch of salt into
another bowl. Add ricotta mixture and
stir to combine.
5 Beat egg whites in a clean dry bowl
until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter in
two batches with a large metal spoon.
6 Melt a little butter in a large non-stick
frying pan. Add 2 tbsp of batter per
hotcake, cooking in batches. Cook over
low-medium heat for 2 minutes, or until
golden underneath. Turn and cook other
side until golden and cooked through.
Serve dusted with icing sugar, with sliced
banana and honeycomb butter. ➤
Ricotta hotcakes
with honeycomb
butter and banana
SERVES 6-8
“This is the original fluffy ricotta hotcake,
on the menu at the first Bills, on the first
day. In Japan these were credited as the
start of the trend for the cloud-like
soufflé pancakes described as fluffy
or fuwa fuwa,” says Granger.