There is nothing in the world like a bag of sweet juicy cherries and their loud welcome to the start of the summer fruits, it’s like having a hug from your Nonna who you haven’t seen for a while, dribble goes all over the place but you don’t have a care in the world about it.
Welcome blue skies and toasty weather arrived back in Abruzzo today as well as the gift of a large bag of sweet cherries from our veggie girls; although I adore cherries, with the rise in temperature I thought it may be perhaps better turning them into healthy[ish] cherry ice-cream using Abruzzo’s finest ricotta as its base; the resulting dense but creamy texture will appeal to all lovers of Southern Indian Kulfi ice-cream to which it is very reminiscent of.
For anyone with any sort of guilt complex about eating cherry ice cream, this one is a little bit healthier than the usual; it cuts out the cream & sugar, ricotta is high in Omega fatty acids, which is great for fighting heart disease, as well as using the smallest amount of honey. A different sort of dribble is evoked by a spoonful, equally delicious as the original fruits, and confirms summer’s arrival!
Ratafia & Ricotta Ice-Cream
Ingredients
- 300 gm Ricotta
- 340 gm Sweet Cherries pitted
- 1/4 Zest from 1/4 Unwaxed Organic Lemon
- 2 tbsp Cherry Ratafia (alternatively another cherry liqueur that you prefer)
- 2 tbsp Acacia Honey or alternatively a light high quality honey (you don’t want to drown the taste of the cherries)
Instructions
- Add the ricotta into your food blender and whizz till it’s broken down into a thick paste.
- .To the ricotta add lemon zest and blend in the cherries slowly, don’t add too many at a time otherwise the skins won’t break down.
- Add honey and the Ratafia give a final whizz together then pour into a plastic container, cover with a lid and put into the freezer.
- Once every hour break up the ice-cream crystals return into the freezer repeating 4 times. (Obviously if you have an ice-cream maker you can leave churn & do it all for you ...).
- Serve with a sprinkle of toasted crushed almonds and a glass of Ratafia.
If you’re in Abruzzo the first weekend of June don’t miss Raiano’s Cherry Sagra
Author: Sam Dunham
Sam is a freelance SEO content creator and IGCSE Geography and English teacher at Istituto Cristo Re in Rome. She also runs the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, sharing stories and insights about this captivating region.
Alongside raising a teenager, Sam hosts guests at her family’s traditional home, the Little House of the Firefly in Abruzzo, offering a warm welcome and insider tips on local culture, food, and hidden gems.
