You get to the end of a dinner party that you’re hosting and you wonder what to serve your guests. As I explained yesterday I don’t really have a sweet tooth. Sometimes I’ll offer a selection of cheeses with fresh fruit and other times I’ll go all the way and offer a lovely decadent dessert. This idea combines the best of both worlds and is really very easy. A fresh, soft and bland cheese like ricotta marries perfectly with the lusciousness of the honey and the subtle spiciness of the cinnamon.
You may choose to offer it as one big piece in the centre of the table and your guests can pour some of the warm honey mixed with the cinnamon to suit themselves. Or you can easily blend the ricotta into moulds and serve them individually. I tried hard to find “anthotiro”, which is sort of the Greek version of ricotta but I had no luck here in Sydney! So I settled for some fresh ricotta. If I was in Greece I would have used fresh Greek honey and some Greek cinnamon but hey you make do with what you can get!
Again there is no real recipe as such. Just pour some honey in a bowl and microwave for 20 seconds. Don’t over heat it as it will get too runny and not retain any of its thickness. Blend in some ground cinnamon and pour over the cheese! Serve with coffee and your dinner party will definitely end on a high note. Truly delicious and very easy! Really, there is no excuse!
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s a very elegant, and unexpected, finish.
Peter, you would have me eating out of your hands if you served this to me at the end of a dinner! Lovely!
I doubt there is Greek cinammon per se! But you are right, anthotiro would be much nicer as it has a more “farmyard” flavour. Don’t you get Greek honey overe there?
I love the simplicity and elegance of this dessert, Peter. So lovely.
i often translate ricotta as soft mizithra, the kind we have in Crete (mizithra in Crete never refers to a hard cheese – it is like a salty anthotiro).
in crete, we often serve this mizithra as a sweet, wrapped in light pastry, fried and drizzled with honey
i had to laugh when you said there isno recipe as such for ths dessert – sounds very similar to the way i often cook!!
A very elegant and yet simple dessert Peter. Your dinner guests are very lucky:D
How lovely.
I’ve not composed ricotta as a dessert concept before, but I must admit the idea is appealing. That said, it’s the warm honey that really has me in the bag.
What a delightful way to serve ricotta! Really scrumptious and refined tasting!
Cheers,
Rosa
Two sweet treats in a row Peter … keep ‘em coming. This looks very good, such a simple combination of flavors that you wouldn’t so easily think of. Love the way it looks molded.
Peter, this contains all the flavors that I love – cheese, honey, and cinnamon are one of those classically perfect taste combinations. On the cheese, fresh manouri (the soft manouri, not the dried salted stuff) would work really well in this and I’ll bet that you can easily find it down there.
I was eating a bowl of ricotta/local honey and cinnamon as I saw your picture on foodgawker! Beautiful way of presenting it!
Very refreshing…& just my kind of dessert! I was hoping you were including a recipe to make fresh ricotta too…LOL!! The flavours are elegant & wonderful.
Looks so delicious…lovely shots!
Si señor!!! My elegante y delicioso
…. Aaaaahhhh why don’t I like cheese? I would love to try this one Peter 
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Beautiful recipe! It reminds me I should bring in some Ricotta back in my kitchen soon… been a while I havent bought any! And CONGRATS for your DMBLGIT award- well deserved!!
I love ricotta for both savoury and sweet uses. This looks gorgeous.
So I am not the only one who does not really have a sweet tooth! If this were served to me at the end of a dinner party then I would be overjoyed! It sounds absolutely delciious, I love the honey and cinnamon and what a centrepiece too, fantastic.
This is what I’d call a happy ending!!
It sounds unique…
I love creamy dessert like this. I’d love to have them with fruit compote or fresh berries. mmm…!!
Oh man, you know I would love this. I always will take a spoonful out of the ricotta tub, and drizzle some honey over the top. Have you made your own before?
You make cheese and honey look so elegant!
Whoa Peter that is a seriously tempting dessert! Sounds like something I would love!
This looks deliciously beautiful Peter! I love your recipes and your photos! got here from GCCG!:)
I’d like to invite you to share this great dessert with us for the Vegetarian Thanksgiving recipe event!
I always look into your spoons to see if I can catch a glimpse of an unintentional self-portrait, but I never see one. You’re damn good.
I love cheese-as-dessert, and this one is as delicious as it is simple.
Unfortunately, anthotiro is a rare cheese to find outside of Greece, and though ricotta can be used as a substitute, it really does not replace anthotiro in these sorts of dishes. Nice post!