No-Bake Ricotta Dessert

Incredibly tender, melts in your mouth — perfect for a holiday table! This no-bake ricotta dessert is a recipe for a delicious treat that's easy and simple to make without an oven. Chilled, it tastes a lot like ice cream — moderately rich, not too sweet, with a wonderful strawberry aroma.

MariaAuthor avatar
Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:
Translation table of volumetric measures
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 15 % 7 g
Fats 33 % 16 g
Carbohydrates 52 % 25 g
369 kcal
GI: 16 / 64 / 20

Cooking method

  1. Step 1:

    Step 1

    How do you make a no-bake ricotta dessert? First, make the shortbread base. Gather the ingredients for it. Use any shortbread cookies, such as plain tea cookies. Buy good-quality, natural butter with no vegetable additives. Take it out of the fridge ahead of time so it softens well.

  2. Step 2:

    Step 2

    How do you make the base? Grind the cookies into crumbs in a blender. If you don't have a blender, put the cookies in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

  3. Step 3:

    Step 3

    Add the cocoa and softened butter to the crumbs. Natural cocoa is best; a drink mix like Nesquik won't work.

  4. Step 4:

    Step 4

    Work the ingredients together with your hands. You should get a moist crumb.

  5. Step 5:

    Step 5

    Press the crumb into round molds the same diameter as your cream molds, packing it down well. The bottom of a glass works nicely for this. Refrigerate the base.

  6. Step 6:

    Step 6

    Meanwhile, make the cream. Gather the ingredients for it. Use the richest cream you can — at least 33% fat. If the dessert is for kids, leave out the liqueur; you can use syrup instead.

  7. Step 7:

    Step 7

    How do you make the cream? Wash and dry the strawberries and remove the stems. Cut the berries into small pieces and blend them into a purée.

  8. Step 8:

    Step 8

    If you like, pass the purée through a sieve so there are no strawberry seeds in the finished dessert.

  9. Step 9:

    Step 9

    In another bowl, beat the ricotta with the powdered sugar, vanillin, and strawberry liqueur.

  10. Step 10:

    Step 10

    Add the strawberry purée to the ricotta a tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition. Save a little purée for garnish.

  11. Step 11:

    Step 11

    Whip the cream to stiff peaks.

  12. Step 12:

    Step 12

    Gently fold the whipped cream into the ricotta.

  13. Step 13:

    Step 13

    Spoon the strawberry cream into molds (mine are silicone), smooth the top, and put them in the freezer for 1–2 hours.

  14. Step 14:

    Step 14

    Once the cream is set, unmold it and place each piece on a cookie base. Drizzle the dessert with the reserved strawberry purée and garnish with fresh strawberries and mint. Serve. Enjoy!

  • You can make this dessert in individual small portions or in one large mold.
  • You can roll the cookie crumb between two sheets of parchment and chill it in the freezer, then cut out circles or other shapes of the right size before assembling.
  • How do you whip cream properly? It's important that the cream is rich, at least 33% fat. The bowl and the cream itself should be cold — keep them in the fridge for at least 1–2 hours. Beat with a mixer on low, gradually increasing the speed. How do you know when the cream is whipped enough? The creamy mass should hold its shape and not spread. Stop whipping at that point — otherwise the cream will turn to butter.
  • For the difference between vanilla, vanillin, vanilla extract, and vanilla sugar — and how to use and substitute them correctly so as not to spoil a dish's flavor — see this article.
  • Powdered sugar is best for whipping cream. The cream whips up fast enough that granulated sugar may not dissolve in time. Add the sugar or powder gradually, once the cream is already a bit whipped (when the whisk starts leaving soft peaks on the surface). If you add it all at once or before you start whipping, the cream may not whip up.

Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish

  • Buttermilk - 36  kcal/100g
  • Cream 20% fat - 300  kcal/100g
  • Cream 10% fat - 120  kcal/100g
  • Cream - 300  kcal/100g
  • Strawberries - 30  kcal/100g
  • Frozen sweet strawberries - 44  kcal/100g
  • Butter 82% - 734  kcal/100g
  • Unsalted sweet cream butter - 709  kcal/100g
  • Unsalted farmhouse butter - 661  kcal/100g
  • Salted farmhouse butter - 652  kcal/100g
  • Clarified butter - 869  kcal/100g
  • Cocoa powder - 374  kcal/100g
  • Cherry liqueur - 299  kcal/100g
  • Baileys liqueur - 327  kcal/100g
  • Liqueur - 327  kcal/100g
  • Vanillin - 288  kcal/100g
  • Powdered sugar - 374  kcal/100g
  • Ricotta - 174  kcal/100g
  • Shortbread cookies - 716  kcal/100g

Similar recipes