Coconut & Passionfruit Pancakes

Happy long weekend! 

It seems to me that here in Australia, we love nothing more than a good long weekend. So to celebrate, I am posting this recipe for coconut and passionfruit pancakes. Mostly because, if you can’t take some time making a leisurely breakfast on the long weekend, when can you? 

If you don’t like the thought of doing all the preparation and cooking in the morning, you can prepare the passionfruit syrup and the batter (up until the egg whites stage) the night before. Before whipping up the egg whites and adding them to the mixture, just make sure the batter has been out of the fridge for a little bit. 

This recipe comes from Bill Granger. I have consciously attempted to lessen the amount of his recipes that I make and blog about on here. At one stage, a few months ago, I had made so many of his recipes from various books, that it was going to look like I wasn’t capable of doing anything else. While I think that is a compliment to Bill, I thought that variety was also probably a good idea. 

I went about making these pancakes, firstly because I had frozen so much passionfruit pulp it would really be ridiculous not to use it, and I had been following the hype surrounding Bill’s new restaurant opening in Bondi. I figured if I couldn’t get to Bondi to eat at his restaurant, I would just have to make a recipe of his myself. 

Luckily for me, a week or so after making these pancakes, I got to visit bills in Bondi. I absolutely loved it. There were so many great options to chose from on the lunch and drinks menu, I had real difficulty making a decision. It is definitely a must visit if you are in Bondi or nearby. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/3 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

3/4 cup coconut, desiccated or shredded

pinch of salt

4 eggs, separated

1 cup milk 

1 cup coconut milk 

50 g butter, melted

butter, for cooking

banana slices, to serve

Ingredients for the Passionfruit Syrup:

1/2 cup caster sugar 

1/4 cup passionfruit pulp

Method: 

To make the passionfruit syrup, mix the sugar and pulp in a saucepan. Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool until needed. 

To make the pancakes, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and coconut in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, coconut milk and milk. Whisk until combined. Add this mixture, and the butter, to the flour and mix lightly until just combined. 

In the bowl of a electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. 

In two batches, gently fold the egg whites in to the batter. 

Using a large fry pan, heat some of the butter. To cook the pancakes, place heaped tablespoons of the batter, on to the pan and cook for about two minutes a side. The first side will be cooked when the surface of the top side of the pancake has formed small bubbles. Don’t overcrowd your pan with pancakes. If you can only do a couple at a time, turn the oven to a low heat and place cooked pancakes on a tray to keep warm. 

Serve pancakes with slices of banana and the passionfruit syrup. 

Original recipe from ‘Bills Open Kitchen’ by Bill Granger (2003, Murdoch Books), p. 23. 

bills in Bondi can be found at 79 Hall St Bondi Beach, NSW.

Originally Posted October 3, 2014.

All baking, styling and photography for this post by Kathryn Vincent of Kulinary Adventures of Kath.

Granger & Co London and Ricotta Hotcakes with Banana and Honeycomb Butter

Before eating at Granger & Co, I had experienced Bill Granger’s restaurants only one other time. At the time, the trek into Surry Hills for breakfast was far to daunting to do on an empty stomach, and I therefore had to eat something before I left. This unfortunately meant I wasn’t super hungry once I arrived in Surry Hills, and thus only ate coconut bread. I realised my mistake when my breakfast companion ordered the Ricotta Hotcakes with Banana and Honeycomb butter, and it looked amazing. My coconut bread, as nice as it was, seemed to pale in comparison. 

Coconut Bread at bills, Surry Hills. 

About a year after this first experience, I was lucky enough to find myself in London, where Bill Granger has opened a restaurant in Notting Hill. I was absolutely determined that we go there at least once. It might seem odd to go to a restaurant in another country that serves similar if not the same food to the one at home. But after my previous experience, I thought that the opportunity to go there was not to be missed. Not only because the food is excellent, but the distance to get to Notting Hill was a lot less than the distance to get to Surry Hills at home! Thus more achievable on an empty stomach! 

On our first full day in London (yes, I was THAT keen), Mum and I caught the tube to Bayswater Station and took the short walk along Queensway and Westbourne Grove to reach Granger & Co. We were seated immediately, despite the restaurant being very full. Which was lucky, as I was obviously starving at this point! I had already decided I was going to order the Ricotta Hotcakes, and Mum ordered the Sweetcorn Fritters. Both meals were great, and according to Mum, the coffee ended up being the best she had on our whole holiday. 

Ricotta Hotcakes with Honeycomb Butter at Granger & Co, London.

Once we were home I ended up finding the recipes for the Ricotta Hotcakes and the Sweetcorn Fritters. Both recipes work really well and are just as nice as eating them in one of Bill’s restaurants. The Ricotta Hotcakes are quite a decadent breakfast with the honeycomb butter, and would definitely be worth making for a special occasion.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups ricotta 

3/4 cup milk

4 eggs, separated

1 cup plan flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

unsalted butter,  for cooking

bananas, to serve

Ingredients for the Honeycomb Butter 

250g unsalted butter, softened

100g honeycomb, crushed

2 tbsp honey 

Method: 

To make the honeycomb butter, place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Using plastic wrap, shape into a log and leave to chill in the fridge. 

For the hotcakes, mix the ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a small bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a larger bowl. Mix the ricotta mixture with the flour until just combined. 

Using an electric mixer and a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Using a large metal spoon, fold the egg whites into the batter in two batches. Be gentle whilst doing this otherwise the egg whites will go flat. 

Using the butter, lightly grease a fry pan. On a medium to low heat place two tablespoons of the batter per hotcake, and cook for about two minutes on the first side. The first side will be cooked when it is golden in colour and the top side shows some small bubbles. Cook on the other side and continue until all the batter is cooked. Whilst cooking the hotcakes, you might want to preheat an oven to about 100 degrees Celsius and place cooked hotcakes on a tray, to keep them warm. 

Serve hotcakes with cut up banana and a slice (or two!) of honeycomb butter. 

Makes about 10. 

Original recipe can be found in ‘bills Syndey Food’ by Bill Granger (2000), p.22.

Granger & Co can be found at 175 Westbourne Grove, London. 

Granger & Co London.

bills in Sydney can be found at 359 Crown St Surry Hills and 433 Liverpool St Darlinghurst.

*Update 11/10/14 - new bills Sydney location at Bondi Beach (79 Hall St). 

bills, 359 Crown St Surry Hills, Sydney. 

Originally Posted May 25, 2014