The ricotta ice cream is a fresh and delicate dessert, great to serve as a snack or at the end of a meal, on its own or accompanied by other flavors of homemade ice cream, like chocolate ice cream, stracciatella ice cream, or coconut ice cream. With its creamy and velvety texture and aromatic flavor, ricotta ice cream is a very popular flavor here in Rome, also because it brings to mind the many ricotta desserts present in the Roman culinary tradition. Making homemade ricotta ice cream is very simple, and if you have an ice cream maker, it’s also very quick. Without an ice cream maker, ricotta ice cream still comes out well, but it will require a bit more time to stir the mixture every 45 minutes, manually simulating what the ice cream machine does. Ricotta ice cream is excellent as it is, but it can be flavored in various ways: for example, I used a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of rum!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 5 People
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
- Energy 298.24 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 27.11 (g) of which sugars 23.71 (g)
- Proteins 8.67 (g)
- Fat 17.52 (g) of which saturated 6.85 (g)of which unsaturated 3.03 (g)
- Fibers 0.11 (g)
- Sodium 74.84 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 140 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for about 700 g of ricotta ice cream
- 14 oz sheep ricotta (or cow's milk ricotta)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup fresh liquid cream (unsweetened)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 oz glucose (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon rum (optional)
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
Tools
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Hand Blender
- 1 Ice Cream Maker
How to Make Homemade Ricotta Ice Cream
To prepare creamy ricotta ice cream, start by putting sugar, milk, and glucose in a saucepan; you can substitute glucose with honey. Place on low heat and mix well(1). Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, without bringing the milk to a boil (2).
Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Then add the ricotta, cream, and, if desired, a pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of rum (3). Mix briefly with a spoon (4).
Now take a hand blender and blend thoroughly until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture (5). Cover with a sheet of cling film and let it cool in the coldest part of the refrigerator for 2 hours. After the resting time, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker (6).
Set a program for about 45 minutes (7). At the end of the program, you will obtain a creamy and consistent ice cream (8), which you can serve immediately.
To prepare ricotta ice cream without an ice cream maker, prepare the mixture as indicated previously, up to step 5. Then pour it into a wide container, preferably stainless steel, cover it with a sheet of cling film and put it in the freezer for 45 minutes. Every 45 minutes, stir it well with a spoon and put it back in the freezer. Repeat this operation at least 3 more times until you reach a creamy consistency.
Storage
Ricotta ice cream can be stored in the freezer for about 3 weeks but should be taken out of the freezer about 10 minutes before serving to return to optimal consistency.
Tips and Variations
Instead of rum and/or cinnamon, you can use the seeds of a vanilla bean to add to the initial milk and sugar mixture. You can then garnish the ricotta ice cream with sour cherries or syruped morello cherries.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Which ricotta is best to use for the ice cream?
I recommend using sheep ricotta because it gives the ice cream its characteristic ricotta flavor. Even with cow’s milk ricotta, you will get great ice cream, but with a more delicate flavor. If you’re looking for an even more intense flavor, try replacing all or part of the sheep ricotta with buffalo ricotta.
