Whipped Peppered Maple Flavoured Ricotta

This is a fabulous spread to serve with any toasted sweet loaves or fruit breads (like banana bread, brioche scrolls, etc.), or with such delights as pancakes, not too sweet with a hint of seasoning that is unexpected but delicious.

The spread also works well as an icing on a cake that is going to be eaten in one sitting, such as a family gathering, as it won’t hold up to being left out of the fridge for long periods. Perfect spread over apple cakes, ginger cakes, in fact anything with a little spice. So keep the spread in the fridge and ice the cake 10 to 15 minutes before serving, then drizzle with a little extra maple syrup … do I need to say more?

It is important to use a firm ricotta for this recipe, not one that is in a tub with lots of whey around it ... if that is all you have access to, then you will need to drain the ricotta (over a bowl lined with a muslin cloth), so that you end up with 500g of firm ricotta at the end.

You can prepare this recipe the day before you need it, but it does not keep too long ... it all depends on the freshness of the ricotta that you purchase, but I have had this for 4 days in the fridge and used it up in that time. For this recipe I bought the ricotta from a reputable Italian deli that received fresh supplies daily, and they told me that fresh ricotta will keep for up to 5 days if stored correctly in the fridge. You can of course make your own ricotta, but when time is short then a good quality bought ricotta is great.