Hearty Boys Cafe Orange Blossom Pancake Stack with Mascarpone Cream and Fresh Berries
Source: Dan Smith, co-owner and chef, Hearty Boys Cafe, Chicago, Illinois
Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs separated
3 tablespoons orange blossom water
Mascarpone Cream
16 ounces mascarpone at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Berries
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup raspberries
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Put the mascarpone in a medium mixing bowl and whip it with an electric
mixer. Slowly add the cream and the confectioners’ sugar. Set aside.
Put all the berries in a large bowl. Add the sugar and orange zest and toss.
Refrigerate.
Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together by hand.
(Don’t USE your hand - use a whisk.) In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg yolks, buttermilk and orange blossom water together. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. It’ll take about a minute.
Next, beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until
they’re stiff - you’ll know by lifting the beaters out of the bowl (turn
the mixer off first for God’s sake!) The egg whites will stand straight up
in a peak. Fold the whites gently into the batter.
Now spray a large heavy bottomed skillet with cooking spray and let it heat over a medium low flame for a couple of minutes. Ladle the batter into the pan (about 1/4 cup per pancake) and cook about 3 minutes per side. Don’t rush it or you’ll wind up with pale, underdone cakes - you want them to be golden. If needed you can hold them on an oven safe dish in an oven set to " warm". You’ll get about 20 pancakes out of the batter.
To assemble, place one pancake on a plate. Add a healthy dollop of the
mascarpone cream and top with a second pancake. Top with another dollop of mascarpone cream and surround that with the mixed berries. Hit it with a shaker of confectioners’ sugar and serve with pure maple syrup.
B-man 