have it all: lemons, strawberries and chocolate

Having well pulled away from our days of ails, I plotted for a lovely breakfast for us on Sunday, especially since it is the morning after R came back to town after being away from us for a few days. Our lemon tree is still spewing lemons and my palette craved for something citrusy, perhaps yearning for the sparkly bright and cheer that it represents. And not far from my mind were the lemon ricotta pancakes I saw on Patent and the Pantry (I love her food photography, and the way she writes).

The recipe seems easy and straight-forward, which is great, as I do not relish starting my day with something complicated and challenging. I love too her idea of serving the pancakes with macerated strawberries, something I often do (except I always add a splash of rose extract), but then I also really wanted to make again some chocolate butter, which I have adapted off a cookbook called "Comfort: real simple food" by Michele Cranston.

Well, sometimes you don't have to choose. Why not have it all?? So I made the chocolate butter on Saturday, and got to work with the pancakes and strawberries not-so-early Sunday morning.

Frilly lemon zest atop a mountain of ricotta, the sea of orange yolks peeking from below

I cut up the strawberries first, then let them macerate with some sugar, a splash of rose extract and about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar (it gives the strawberries a glossy look and adds depth to the flavor). The pancakes were easy. I put the egg yolks, ricotta cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl, then zested the lemons right into the bowl. S helped to mix everything together, then we added the flour and mixed again.

Thankfully, the electric stand mixer took care of the next step of whipping the egg whites till they were stiff enough to form peaks. S always has fun watching the egg whites transform: from a pool of translucent liquid to an ocean of frothy bubbles, then changing into a white swirly mass before it begins to rise into graceful peaks. And once the whites were incorporated into the rich, yellow batter, the pancakes were ready to be cooked. I used rice bran oil with some butter added (rice bran oil has a high smoking point and helps stabilize the butter so it does not brown or burn too easily), and soon enough we were enjoying our pancakes!

I wish I had taken the time to take some glorious pictures of the pancakes, that cooked fast and easy, with a nice brown edge (courtesy of good old butter). They rose pretty high and were so light and fluffy. You can eat a dozen and then eat another dozen. (If you want to see pretty, delicious and mouth-watering pictures of these yummy pancakes, head over here.) The first pancakes were immediately served onto plates for everyone, who immediately dug in. First, we tried just the pancakes with strawberries to savor the marriage of flavors that arise from the nicely tart lemons and the sweet strawberries. Then for the following round, chocolate butter was slathered over the pancakes, and eaten with the juicy strawberries. And that was perfection. If you ever have any doubt that lemons and chocolates do not go well together, this combination of lemon ricotta pancakes with chocolate butter will change your mind within seconds! Of course, you wouldn't want to forgo the strawberries either... ...

Excuse the dirty fork, but it was happy to be smeared with chocolate!

And so, if you don't have the courage to plunge right into lemon-chocolate cookies, this pancakes with chocolate butter may just ease you into it. Below is the lemon-ricotta pancake recipe (which I had doubled, and served our family of five perfectly) followed by that of the chocolate butter. Enjoy!!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Gwendolyn's recipe, which was adapted from the Alberta Egg Producers

• 8 eggs, separated
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (I used full milk)
• 6 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• zest of two large lemons 

1. Place egg yolks, ricotta cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Zest the lemons right into the mixing bowl.
2. Add the flour and mix well together until blended. 
3. Whip egg whites with a mixer until glossy peaks form. Stir about one-quarter of the whites into the ricotta mixture to lighten, then fold in the remaining whites gently.
4. Add about a tablespoon rice bran oil in a skillet or pan. Melt a tablespoon butter over medium heat. Gently pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan, spreading (and flattening) slightly. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.
5. Serve immediately with macerated strawberries and chocolate butter.

 Chocolate Butter
Adapted from "Comfort: real simple food"

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 Tbsp), softened
• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp maple syrup 

1. Place chopped chocolate into food processor, and process until as fine as possible (but it is ok to have bits of chunks, it won't hurt anything!)
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth. There will be bits and flecks of chocolate, it is supposed to be that way. The chocolate bits will melt on the hot pancakes, creating bits of bliss.
3. Scrap butter into a glass container and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Auspicious Strawberry Tart

Lie: It is Chinese New Year and therefore a red strawberry tart is a good and auspicious thing to make and devour eat.

Truth: I just love the custard in this strawberry tart. OK, so it is just your basic Creme Anglaise, but I dream of it. A lot. I fantasize eating a whole bathtub of it. With or without strawberries.  This pastry cream is just the perfect texture: not overly runny, and not too firm. Just a gentle soft bed for the strawberries to lay on, a sweet delicate barrier that you sink your teeth into before it reaches the flaky crust. What's not to love? My kids' verdict on this one: it's yummy good, mommy! Double thumbs-up! Mmmmmmmmmm... ...

See the custard peeking from beneath? That pastry cream is what makes this tart so enjoyable (for me).

Are you seduced now? Be it for auspicious reasons (of course eating red-colored foods for Chinese New Year is a lucky thing to do) or just for the plain love of making something delicious (but not overly complicated), this is the tart for me. Below is the recipe, adapted from Barefoot Contessa's. I make the pastry cream the day before. I love rose-flavored berries and had added rose extract when macerating the strawberries. It adds a subtle, but heady flavor that really adds dimension to the flavors. I also find macerating the strawberries before improves the texture, and gives it a soft, attractive sheen.

Auspicious Strawberry Tart

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 2 cups Pastry Cream (recipe below)
• 2 pints whole strawberries, sliced
• 2 tablespoons sugar + 1 teaspoon rose extract
• 3 tablespoons shelled pistachios, chopped (optional)

Directions

Mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Put the flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the diced butter and pulse until the flour mixture and the butter combine to form a pea-sized mixture. With motor running, add the ice water through the feeding tube and process until the dough comes together.
Dump on a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime: wash, dry and slice strawberries and then toss with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of rose extract. Toss again from time to time to make sure strawberries evenly absorb the rose flavor.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

Roll out the dough and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Run the rolling pin across the top of the pan to cut off excess dough. Butter a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover surface of shell and place foil, buttered side down, on top of dough. Top foil with dried beans or rice. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the beans and foil, prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

Before serving, fill the tart shell with the luscious pastry cream. Carefully remove strawberries from liquid and arrange on top of cream. Sprinkle with pistachios (optional, but adds a nice and pleasing contrasting color and crunch) and serve. Enjoy!

Pastry Cream:

• 5 extra-large egg yolks (at room temperature)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups scalded milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon Cognac (I sometimes also use amaretto)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, or until pale and very thick. Reduce speed to low, and add the cornstarch.

With the mixer still on low, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture. Once incorporated, pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 7 minutes. When the custard slowly comes to a boil and appears to curdle; switch to a whisk and beat vigorously. Cook, whisking constantly, for another 2 minutes; the custard will come together and become very thick, like pudding. Stir in the vanilla, Cognac, butter, and heavy cream. Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until cold.
Yield: 2 cups