The ricotta ice cream is a fresh and delicate dessert, great to serve as a snack or at the end of a meal, either alone or accompanied by other flavors of homemade ice cream, such as 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 ricotta ice cream at home is very simple, and if you have an ice cream maker, it’s also very quick. Without an ice cream maker, the ricotta ice cream turns out just fine, 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: 5Servings
- 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 1.5 lbs of ricotta ice cream
- 14 oz sheep ricotta (or cow's milk ricotta)
- 0.5 cup whole milk
- 0.5 cup fresh liquid cream (unsweetened)
- 0.4 cup sugar
- 0.9 oz glucose (or honey)
- 1 tbsp rum (optional)
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
Tools
- 1 Pan
- 1 Immersion Blender
- 1 Ice Cream Maker
How to make homemade ricotta ice cream
To prepare creamy ricotta ice cream, start by placing sugar, milk, and glucose in a pan; you can substitute glucose with honey. Place over low heat and stir well(1). Cook until the sugar has completely dissolved, without letting the milk come 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). Briefly mix with a spoon (4).
At this point, take an immersion blender and blend thoroughly until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture (5). Cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap 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 get 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 previously indicated, up to point 5. Then pour it into a wide container, preferably made of steel, cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 45 minutes. After 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 it should be taken out of the freezer about 10 minutes before serving, so it returns to optimal consistency.
Tips and variations
Instead of rum and/or cinnamon, you can use the seeds of a vanilla pod to add to the initial milk and sugar mixture. You can then garnish the ricotta ice cream with sour cherries or syrupy cherries.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Which ricotta is best to use for ice cream?
I recommend using sheep ricotta, as it gives the ice cream its characteristic ricotta flavor. With cow’s milk ricotta, you will also get an excellent ice cream, but with a more delicate taste. If you are looking for an even more intense flavor, try replacing the sheep ricotta with buffalo ricotta, in whole or in part.
