Banana and Ricotta Hot Cakes

Yesterday was Australia day. Its hard to define Australian food unlike say Indian food or Italian food. For me Australian food means an emphasis on seafood, fresh, light ingredients and often an Asian influence given Australia's location and immigrant population. Putting all of this aside, when thinking of something to cook for Australia day the first thing that came to mind was some fabulous banana and ricotta hot cakes that I had for a lazy Sunday brunch one morning at Bill Granger's sunny cafe in Sydney. I couldn't find Bill's recipe so this is my own tried and tested version. The hot cakes are light and fluffy and the inclusion of banana makes them feel almost virtuous. Try it on one of these cold grey winter mornings and I hope it brings a little Australian sunshine into your day.

Ingredients
250g ricotta
125ml milk
2 large eggs separated
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Salt to season
Splash of olive oil
2 bananas - mash one and slice the other for serving
Maple syrup to serve

1. Put the ricotta, milk, mashed banana and egg yolks into a bowl and mix to combine. Next stir in the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine.

2. Whisk the egg whites in separate bowl by hand until they become fluffy and then fold into the rest of the hot cake mixture.

3. Spoon the mixture into a frying pan over medium heat. I like to make my hot cakes a little larger than a saucer in size. Cook until golden. A good way of telling that a pancake is ready to flip is when small bubbles start to appear in the surface of the pancake.

4. Serve topped with chopped banana and maple syrup.

If you were inspired by this why don't you try: this recipe for home made crunchy muesli or my tips for top breakfast spots in London.