Spuma di ricotta alle pesche sciroppate (Whipped Ricotta with Peaches in Syrup)

Frank8 July 2017dessert/dolci38 Comments

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. As I’ve mentioned before, dessert at home usually consists of a piece of fresh fruit, served au naturel. When we do feel like something a bit more elaborate, it’s likely to be something like this simple spuma di ricotta: ricotta whipped with sugar and enriched with a bit of mascarpone and topped with peaches which have been steeped in simple syrup, with some chopped almonds on top for crunch.

While not exactly a spur of the moment dish—since the ricotta needs to chill in fridge for a spell—, a spuma di ricotta takes minimal effort. It looks elegant and inviting, and tastes sumptuous.

Ingredients

For each serving:

For the whipped ricotta:

100-125 g (1/4 lb) ricotta cheese, well drained
2-3 heaping Tbs powdered sugar (or to taste)
2-3 Tbs mascarpone or Greek yogurt

For the candied peaches:

250 ml/1 cup water
200g/1 cup sugar
1 or 2 peaches, peeled and cut into wedges

Toppings (optional):

Chopped almonds or walnuts
Pine nuts

Directions

Make the whipped ricotta: Whisk the ricotta and sugar together in the bowl until soft and creamy. Add the mascarpone or Greek yogurt and whisk again briefly, just until smooth. Place the fridge for a good hour to set, or until you’re ready to serve.

Make the candied peaches: Simmer the water and sugar together in a saucepan until the sugar has completely melted and the liquid has formed a syrup. Add the peach wedges and lower the heat to a minimum. Let the peaches steep for 5 minutes or so, then turn off the heat entirely. Let the peaches come to room temperature.

Assemble and serve: When you are ready to serve, place a few good dollops of the whipped ricotta in each serving bowl. Place some peach wedges on top, along with a spoonful of their syrup if you like. To serve, sprinkle with some chopped almonds or walnuts, or some pine nuts.

Notes on spuma di ricotta alle pesche sciroppate

As heretical as it may sound, I think Greek yogurt makes a fine substitute for the mascarpone for making a spuma di ricotta. It’s much easier to find in supermarkets and costs a fraction of the price. And while you could make your spuma with nothing but ricotta and sugar, the mascarpone or yogurt add both a mild tang and creaminess that smooths out the slight graininess of the ricotta.

If you’d like fluffier spuma di ricotta, you can fold in some whipped cream. Take a cup of heavy cream, whipped until it forms peaks. Now take a dollop of the whipped cream and mix it thoroughly with the ricotta, which you will have already prepared as indicated above. Then gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a spatula until you have a smooth mixture.

For a richer version of whipped ricotta more like an mousse, see this post.

I have played a bit fast and loose when I call these pesche sciroppate. The true recipe has you can the peaches in simple syrup and put them up for at least a month before serving. But this quick approach—which I ‘stole’ from Ada Boni’s recipe for pesche alla crema, provides a fairly convincing simulacrum. And of course, store-bought peaches in syrup will do in a pinch—although as you can see, they are really simple to make yourself. Other fruits that can be made sciroppati include apricots, cherries, strawberries and pineapple, peeled and cut into chunks.

For a different approach to the fruit, you can marinate them with lemon and sugar as for making a fruit salad (macedonia di frutta), perhaps laced it with a bit of liqueur if you like.

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