Fantastically fluffy and marvellously moist lemon mascarpone pancakes. That’s what you get when you add a luxuriously creamy element like mascarpone to your pancake batter.
And lemon? Well, lemons are tangy and delicious. Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes are an elegant, perhaps even slightly elevated, variation to the usual Sunday morning pancakes.
Also, it’s a great excuse to add mascarpone to your shopping list (unless you already buy it regularly. In which case your shopping list is, well, different to mine)! And if that weren’t enough, we’re going to top it off with a divine berry compote.
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Recipe Video
What are Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes
Quite simply, lemon mascarpone pancakes are pancakes made using lemon and mascarpone cheese – they are similar to lemon ricotta pancakes (which are a favorite at many brunch spots!). I find that the mascarpone creates a slightly richer result than the ricotta. The technique for making both types of pancakes are very similar.
You can check out the Lemon Mascarpone Pancake recipe video on YouTube too!
Ingredients
Lemon Mascarpone Pancake Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- White Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- Lemon Zest
- 1 Egg, separated
- Milk
- Mascarpone Cheese, room temperature
- Vegetable Oil
- Pure Vanilla Extract
Mixed Berry Compote Ingredients
- Mixed Berries
- Water
- White Sugar
- Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes – Instructions
Start this recipe like any other pancake recipe – by sifting all the dry ingredients together (flour, 2tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt). Add the lemon zest and mix well.
In a separate bowl, add milk, mascarpone, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk together to combine. Add mixture to the dry ingredients mixture, and whisk till mostly combined.
Common Sense: Take your mascarpone out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature to allow for easier whisking. I say this because common sense isn’t very common. Okay… fine! I admit it. I keep forgetting this part!
Whisk your egg white separately to form stiff peaks. Add this to the batter, and fold gently to incorporate. The whipped up egg white just adds a heavenly lightness to the pancakes - somewhat similar to what you’re aiming for when making a very light mousse or a soufflรฉ.0.
Optional: Allow the batter to sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes – a little time to let the ingredients in your batter really incorporate, resulting in even fluffier pancakes. I use this time to start washing up, and to prepare the berry compote.
Heat a non-stick pan (ideally, a heavy-bottomed one for a more even distribution of heat) over a medium heat and coat it with oil. Using a ยผ cup measure to drop dollops of the batter into the pan to create nice even pancakes. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and there are a few bubbles forming through the top. Flip and repeat. Adjust the heat as necessary. Serve with the compote.
Do as much of the washing up as you can while you’re cooking."
– One of the best things my mother ever taught me.
How to make mixed berry compote
I’m pairing the pancakes with a mixed berry compote. You can easily swap this out for honey or maple syrup but I LOVE berries. And this compote is something special - ridiculously simple, but delicious enough to make you scoff at any restaurant-made compotes!
Try it, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up using this compote recipe for all your berry compote needs! I usually make this while I let the lemon mascarpone pancake batter rest.
In a small pot, combine 3 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and mixed berries. Bring the mixture to a slow simmer, occasionally stirring to help breakdown the berries and reduce the mixture. Add the balsamic vinegar. Stir, and let the compote cook for a few minutes more. Balsamic vinegar just elevates the compote to a whole other level. Give the compote a gentle mash with a fork if your berries still look too solid.
The thickness of the compote is to your preference - some like it runny, some like jam in a pan. I prefer a viscous, slightly viscid (bet you didn’t expect to read that word today!), syrupy consistency.

Other Pancake Recipes to Try
- Fluffy, Fluffy Pancakes
- Lemon-Raspberry Dutch Baby Pancake
- Dutch Baby Pancake
- Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes
- Fluffy Japanese Pancakes

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Is this Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes recipe more work than some other pancake recipes? A little. Does it take more time? Maybe a tad more. But if you’re looking for an elegant twist to your standard pancakes, it’s worth it.
The result is a delicious and versatile pancake recipe that works as both a feel good brunch, and as something to impress your weekly brunch bunch with. Feel free to mix it up! Some days I’ll stir fresh blueberries straight into my batter (before folding in the egg white) because life is too short not to put blueberries in your pancakes.
What do you think? What’s your favourite pancake variation? Leave me a comment below ๐
๐ Recipe
Lemon Mascarpone Pancakes
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4–6 Pancakes 1x
Description
A recipe for fantastically fluffy and marvelously moist lemon mascarpone pancakes. An elegant twist to the classic pancake breakfast.
Ingredients
- ยฝ cup + 2 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 3 tbsp White Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 Egg, separated
- ยฝ cup + 2tbsp Milk
- โ cup Mascarpone Cheese, room temperature
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ยผ cup Mixed Berries
- 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Sifting all the dry ingredients together (flour, 2tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt). Add the lemon zest and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, add milk, mascarpone, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk together to combine. Add mixture to the dry ingredients mixture, and whisk till mostly combined.
- Whisk your egg white separately to form stiff peaks. Add this to the batter, and fold gently to incorporate.
- Optional: Allow the batter to sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Prepare Compote: In a small pot, combine 3tbsp water, 1tbsp sugar, and mixed berries. Bring the mixture to a slow simmer, occasionally stirring to help breakdown the berries and reduce the mixture. Add 1tbsp balsamic vinegar. Stir, and let the compote cook till desired consistency is achieved.
- Heat a non-stick pan (ideally, a heavy-bottomed one for a more even distribution of heat) over a medium heat and coat it with oil. Using a ยผ cup measure to drop dollops of batter into the pan
- Cook until the bottom is golden brown and there are a few bubbles forming through the top. Flip and repeat. Adjust the heat as necessary. Serve with the compote.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Breakfast & Brunch
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Marti
So tasty! Going to make this for my new girlfriend on Sunday!!
Riz
Hope she enjoys it! Thanks for your comment!
Dan
We’ve tried a few different versions of this pancake. And this is the best one by far. We recommend doubling the sauce.
Maryam
Extremely delicious and fluffy. I used melted coconut oil as the choice for vegetable oil and did not have any issues with a runny batter. Leaving it to sit for 20-30 minutes also pleasantly made the batter more doughy and bouncy. I definitely recommend doubling the recipe because you’ll be wanting more!!
Moira
AMAZING!!
So light, fluffy, puffy, and delicious. I added some gorgeous fresh giant blueberries from the farmers market… didn’t make the berry compote but some powdered sugar and a dab of maple syrup … HEAVEN!!
Thanks Riz! I wish I could include the photo!
Riz
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it, Moira!
Feel free to share the photo on Instagram and tag me @yamisohungry or #chocolatesandchai ๐
Riz
Kris
Just made these this morning! Iโm happily eating my plate now. The taste is delicious, the pancake has great lift and while the outside is crispy, the inside is very chiffon-like. I didnโt quite make it exactly like the recipe. I doubled it, first of all, and then I didnโt whip up the whites. Unfortunately, if I can get away with less dishes to wash I would take it :-/ I also used the whole egg with the yolk (waste not heh) and I basically scrambled the eggs with the mascarpone first to get the cheese liquefied before adding to the rest of the liquids. I saw above that someone had problems with the batter being too liquid. Mine was the same (the cheese plus oil plus eggs plus milk is just way more than the flour โ the ricotta pancake I make has less milk to account for the added ricotta) so I ended up adding 1/2c of extra flour (1/4c if you didnโt double the recipe.) And actually I grabbed the wrong flour the first 1/4c so that one was cake flour (but the second 1/4c was APF.)
But even with all these substitutions, the pancake is delish! And very soft inside. (Iโll have to make it again to see if the small portion of cake flour made a difference.)
Thank you so much for the recipe! Itโs my first mascarpone pancake ๐
Riz
So glad you enjoyed them, Kris!
Judy
I just made your decadent lemon marscapone pancakes. I added the yolks to the wet ingredients. These pancakes have an incredible flavour. I used frozen blueberries. I 2Xโd the recipe and adding 1tsp. cornstarch to 2tsp. of water and stirred in when berries were soft. Just gave the sauce a little thickening.
Riz
That’s great to hear, Judy! I’m so glad you liked them!
Andrei
Amazing recipe, very tasty. But it would be amazing if you could write the quantities in grams/miligrams and milliliters, for us normal European people too. It’s a genuine pain to have to google all those quantities every time I try to make it…
Riz
Hi Andrei,
So glad you enjoy the recipe! Finding a good way to convert the quantities is something I’m working on – there is an automatic converter already set up in the recipe card, but it unfortunately doesn’t work for every recipe. I’m a one-person team so bear with me, but know that this is definitely something I consider a priority!
Riz
Katie
Delicious recipe! I had to add a little extra milk, but they were so fluffy and light. Thanks!
Riz
So glad you enjoyed them, Katie!