strawberry ricotta pancakes with salted caramel sauce

these were fabulous! they do use quite a few bowls and implements in the making and you need to be careful as you flip them to avoid breakages, but i think they are worth the effort – light fluffy pancakes, rich salted caramel sauce plus fruit and yoghurt to lighten everything up and create an illusion of healthiness! i think a raspberry version will be on the cards in this house at some point (very) soon.

strawberry ricotta pancakes with salted caramel sauce (makes 8-10)

400g strawberries, hulled

150g self raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons light muscovado sugar

250g ricotta

zest of a lemon

3 large eggs, separated

2 tablespoons milk

butter and oil for frying

200-250g greek yoghurt, to serve

40g nuts, toasted and chopped (i used pistachios)

for the sauce

150g light msucovado sugar

100g butter

a few drops vanilla essence

a pinch of crushed salt

to make the sauce, put all the ingredients in a pan and heat, stirring. bubble for 1-2 minutes until glossy then remove from the heat and set aside.

chop 6-8 of the strawberries into small pieces and set aside; slice the rest.

beat the ricotta, lemon zest, egg yolks and milk, using an electric whisk. sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add the sugar, mix and then add to the ricotta mix and beat together along with the chopped strawberries.

in a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and then fold this into the ricotta mix.

melt a knob of butter in a non-stick frying pan, along with a tablespoon of oil. using 2-3 spoons of batter per pancake, cook the pancakes in batches over a medium heat, giving them 2-3 minutes on each side. transfer the cooked pancakes to a warmed plate as you go (i kept this in a warm oven).

layer the pancakes with the sliced strawberries and greek yoghurt, using 2-3 pancakes per person. drizzle with the salted caramel sauce and sprinkle with the nuts