pancake cake for p.k. (a special tribute cake)

sauce / syrup :

• in a small casserole, combine all the ingredients for the sauce/syrup except for the maple syrup and honey (to be added later) and bring to a boil then lower heat to medium-low and let simmer for 10 minutes, remove from heat, let cool down and strain all solids (reserve the coffee beans and cinnamon sticks)
• add the maple syrup and honey to the strained sauce, bring to a boil again, lower heat to medium-low and let simmer down 5-10 minutes until thickened (stir occasionally)

note : if the syrup over-thickens, add some more maple syrup or water and whisk together to blend well and for a stronger coffee flavor, you can add 1/4 tsp coffee extract !

• let cool down and store in a jar.

frosting :

• combine the ricotta, mascarpone, icing sugar, scraped vanilla seeds and the orange zest and use a mixer to beat until smooth
• cover and reserve in the refrigerator.

pancakes :

• in a large frying pan, add the flour and heat to medium heat and keep whisking for 5-7 minutes until you smell a slightly toasted aroma, empty into a large mixing bowl and let cool down for 5 minutes

note : toasting the flour is optional but it gives a deeper malted & toasted flavor to the pancakes which goes well with the cocoa and coffee flavors !

• in the large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together (flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee granules, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda) until well combined

note : a minimum of 6 tbsp sugar is enough for the pancake batter, but you may prefer 9 tbsp of sugar because the cocoa and coffee add a bitter note to the pancakes, but the sweet frosting and syrup balance the bitterness later on, when everything is assembled, you decide (the pancakes should be slightly sweet)

• add the buttermilk and eggs to the dry ingredients and whisk until well combined, then pour in the melted butter and vanilla extract and mix well (use immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours)
• brush a griddle (or frying pan) with vegetable oil and heat to medium heat (or slightly hotter) until hot enough 

note : the electric plancha-style griddle (that I used) or the frying pan is hot enough when a spoonful of pancake butter sizzles immediately when dropped in !

• pour ¼ cup of batter (2 or 4 panckaes at a time) on the hot griddle (or frying pan), let cook for 2 minutes until bubbles appear on the top surface and the edges start browning, then carefully flip over with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes
• set aside on a rack and proceed with the rest of the batter

note : I used four 10 cm rings (brushed with oil too) on my oiled griddle to create 10 cm perfectly round pancake disks and removed the rings about 1 1/2 minutes after the batter had set and cooked for another 30 seconds and then flipped them over. I made 16 pancakes total, measuring 10 cm in diameter and 1 cm thick …

• let the pancakes cool before adding the frosting and the garnish

assembly :

• stack 4 pancakes with frosting in between each layer, apply frosting on the top surface too and on the sides and scrape the excess frosting off the sides (to slightly  reveal the several layers of pancakes)

note : if you place the pancake cakes on smaller less wide bases to raise them higher than your work surface, this will make the frosting and scraping easier !

• garnish with the candied fruit, sprinkle with some shaved chocolate or coca nibs, some orange zest and some syrup-infused coffee beans and cinnamon sticks (that were used for the syrup)
• serve the frosted and garnished pancake cakes on a bed of sauce/syrup drizzled onto each plate, place each cake in the middle on top of the sauce/syrup and serve chilled …