Make the lemon curd in advance, so that it has time to cool.

For the curd, combine yolks, zest, juice and sugar in a small saucepan.

Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat and stir constantly, making sure to scrape sides and bottom of pan.

Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring until consistency is smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Allow to cool then refrigerate. You can speed up this process by placing the bowl with the lemon curd in it into a larger bowl filled with ice. This recipe makes about 3/4 of a cup of lemon curd.

For the pancakes, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and espresso powder. Set aside.

In a two cup liquid measuring cup, measure 1 cup of buttermilk. Add eggs and molasses. Whisk until incorporated.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk mixture into the well.

Whisk or stir until incorporated taking care not to over mix.

Add melted butter (it's okay if its still quite warm) and whisk or stir into batter until incorporated.

Let batter rest for 10 minutes. Preheat griddle to 325 degrees F. or if you're using a frying pan, preheat it a few minutes over medium heat.

Spray cooking surface with cooking oil. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto preheated griddle or pan. Make this your test pancake to check your heat levels. This batter has molasses and sugar in it which can burn quickly at high heats. You want a lower temperature for this recipe so that the batter has time to cook before your outsides burn. It should take about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes per side but this will vary greatly based on temperature and your cooking surface. You don't get a lot of bubbles with this pancake. Look for edges that are set, lift up an edge with a spatula to check color underneath, should be a medium golden brown, then flip to the other side. Adjust heat, if necessary, before continuing on with the rest of the pancakes.

Beat whipped cream, and sugar, if using, to stiff peaks. I didn't use the sugar, but you may want to add it if you like a sweeter whipped cream.

Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd leaving streaks of the lemon curd in the whipped cream. There's no need to fully combine. After mixing with the lemon curd, you'll have about 1 3/4 cups of topping.

Serve on top of hot pancakes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.