Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and mix all the dry ingredients (flour, soda, powder, salt, and sugar) together.
Add the 1 tbsp of lemon juice to the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Then, whisk in the melted and (cooled) butter and the optional lemon zest (if using) with the rest of the ingredients. By adding lemon juice to the milk, we’re getting a ‘cheat’ buttermilk. The lemon juice also helps activate the baking soda and gives the pancakes a subtle lemon flavor.
Add the wet ingredients (from step 2) to the dry ingredients (from step 1) and fold gently to combine the two. Some lumps are okay. Don’t overmix the batter – if you overmix, the pancakes will not rise well.
To a hot frying pan/skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 tsp unsalted butter to the center of the pan. Once the butter has melted, add a full 1/3 cup of pancake batter and a few blueberries on top, pressing the blueberries into the batter. Cook the pancake until the bottom is golden-brown and the top has air bubbles on it and the edges are drying (see the pictures in the article). Flip and cook until golden on the other side as well. Adjust the heat, if necessary, to medium-low so as not to burn the pancakes. Repeat with the remaining batter. You should get about 8 pancakes.
Add the mascarpone, pecans, cream, maple syrup, and cinnamon to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Serve the pancakes with the mascarpone cream, fresh blueberries, and extra maple syrup (to taste).
