Ricotta hotcakes with banana, sheep milk yoghurt and palm sugar

I am not much of a breakfast eater, mainly because I am not a morning person at all. That is one of the downsides of working in the restaurant industry. When I have time, like on weekends, I sometimes treat myself with this lushly decadent breakfast.

This dish is fairly simple to prepare and if you have just woken up with someone you really want to impress, you could do a lot worse than cook these pancakes. The addition of ricotta cheese adds a creamy richness to the hotcakes and sheep milk yoghurt has a sensual mouthfeel coupled with tantalizing acidity. The whole lot is brought together with the palm sugar, which has a wickedly deep and mysterious sweetness. In other words, this is breakfast heaven.

Use any seasonal fruits that you like and are spankingly fresh. If sheep milk yoghurt is proving difficult to locate, use regular yoghurt instead. Do try however, to use palm sugar. Its flavour really makes this dish shine. At a pinch, substitute soft brown sugar.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 cups self raising flour

125 gm (1/4 lb) fresh ricotta cheese, crumbled

Milk

1/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup sheep milk yoghurt

1/2 cup palm sugar

Butter

Icing sugar (confectioners sugar), optional

Method

In a large bowl mix together the flour and caster sugar. Add the eggs and enough milk to make a thick batter, start with 1 cup of milk and mix well. Use more milk if necessary. Add the ricotta and stir until it is incorporated into the batter. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the other ingredients.

Grate or chop the palm sugar and add half to a small bowl. Mix well with the yoghurt until it has dissolved and it tastes nice and sweet. Peel the bananas and slice into nice thick wedges. Place the remaining palm sugar in a fry pan with 2 Tbs of water. Bring to the simmer and add the bananas. Stir well and coat in the glossy palm sugar syrup.

In a second fry pan melt a little butter and ladle in some hotcake mix. Make them about 10 cm (4 inches) across. Cook over medium heat until small bubbles appear on the surface and they begin to puff up. Flip them over to cook the other side. Keep warm while you cook the remaining hotcakes. When all are done, divide between warm plates, top with drizzles of sweet yoghurt, then the bananas. Dust with the icing sugar if you are using it - it does add a nice spunky presentation to the dish.

Serves 2 really hungry, love struck people or 4 regular people