Four basic ingredients—ricotta cheese, vanilla, milk and sugar—create a simple, silky, rich base for inventing your own desserts. Recipe and suggestions for experimenting below.

I almost overlooked the recipe that inspired this post. It was tucked quietly into the table of contents pages of the July Gourmet, before you get past all the opening ads and into the big, splashy four-color editorial meat of the magazine. Somehow, that seems appropriate. The ricotta-vanilla cream itself is delicious, but in a very quiet way. It’s made to team up with a host of other flavors, elevating them and offering a creamy counterpoint. Gourmet teamed them with nectarines and pine nut brittle, for example.

We experimented with a couple of different toppings: Fresh peaches and blueberries with lime juice and flavors inspired by one of Marion’s favorite desserts at mado, buffalo ricotta with honey. The fruit worked a little better for us—its slight tartness played against the richness of the cream. But other ideas sprang to mind, even as we sampled these. A slice of pound cake topped with the cream and fresh raspberries. Orange segments [with membranes removed] and shavings of dark chocolate. Even the balsamic peaches from last week, minus the shallots and the pork chops, of course. Continue reading “Cool, creamy blank canvas for summer desserts: Ricotta-Vanilla Cream” →