The Little Nell’s Lemon Soufflé Pancakes

Pancakes are a breakfast staple that can sometimes fall into the ho-hum category. Often, instead of being light and fluffy, they’re dense and heavy.

That is not the case at Element 47 in Aspen. The restaurant in the Little Nell hotel folds whipped egg whites and house-made ricotta into a buttermilk batter. The kitchen then sweetens the deal with nutmeg and lemon zest, plus a garnish of raspberries and toasted pine nuts. The result: heaven.

You can travel to Aspen for these crowd-pleasers (served during brunch daily), or you can make them at home.

The Little Nell’s Lemon Soufflé Pancakes

Dry ingredients:

1 cup cake flour

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

dash nutmeg

zest of 2 lemons

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup ricotta cheese

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup butter, melted

1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, separated

For Garnish:

powdered sugar

fresh raspberries

toasted pine nuts

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

Combine all dry ingredients together in one bowl, all wet ingredients in another.

Gently mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Do not over mix batter or pancakes will be dense. Gently fold batter into egg whites.

Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium and grease. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter onto the skillet and cook until bubbles have formed. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with fresh raspberries and toasted pine nuts.

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—Photo courtesy of Jeremy Wallace/The Aspen Times