But ricotta is so versatile: It’s a topper, a binder, a stuffing (cannoli, crêpes, dumplings, pillow pasta), and an ingredient in cheesecake, pancakes, puddings, and more.

This is the first of three tips on ricotta: Enjoy it for breakfast! If you like cottage cheese, you’ll like ricotta; and if you don’t enjoy cottage cheese, you may well like the flavor and texture of ricotta.
 
 
WHAT IS RICOTTA

Ricotta is a fresh (unaged) cow’s milk cheese that’s used extensively in Italian cooking. It’s soft and spreadable like cottage cheese.

Technically, ricotta isn’t a cheese at all, but a by-product of the cheese-making process. The name “ricotta” means “recooked” in Italian (from the Latin recoctus).

Ricotta is been made from the whey left over from making other cheeses. After the curds are coagulated from the milk with rennet, the whey is drained off and the curds are pressed into cheese.

What to do with all the leftover whey had long been a concern with cheese makers. Many simply fed it to their pigs, a practice that is continued today. Famously, the whey drained from making the “king of cheeses,” Parmigiano-Reggiano, is used to feed the pigs that become Parma ham (prosciutto).

Ricotta and honey for breakfast. Delicious! Photo courtesy Murray’s Cheese.

While ricotta in the U.S. is typically made from cow’s milk whey, in Italy it is also made from goat whey, sheep whey, and even water buffalo whey.

Regardless of the whey used, ricotta is the freshest of cheeses and should be consumed promptly. Supermarket brands tend to be stabilized for longer shelf life, but there is nothing like fresh-made ricotta—higher in price, but so worth it. Ask for it at a cheese store or an Italian specialty market.
 
 

Depending on the preference of the cheese maker, fresh ricotta can be the consistency of cottage cheese or slightly less moist. Photo courtesy Caviar Russe.

Ricotta salata is made specifically from the whey of sheep’s milk, but it is not sold fresh like ricotta. It is pressed, salted (salata), and aged into a hard, white cheese. Mildly salty, nutty, and milky, it is an excellent grating and shaving cheese, often used to garnish pasta, salads, and cooked vegetables.

Here’s a photo and more about ricotta salata.

There’s also ricotta affumicata, an aged cheese that is smoked in the early part of the maturing process. Like ricotta salata, it can be eaten with bread or grated over other foods.
 
 
USES FOR RICOTTA AT BREAKFAST

When Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet*, eating her curds and whey, she was having a bowl of cottage cheese: Curds are the lumps and whey is the liquid. That was in England. If she’d have been in Italy, she would have eaten ricotta instead. Here’s how we enjoy it at breakfast:

 
We’re off to enjoy a breakfast of these “curds and whey.” Do you have a favorite way to enjoy ricotta for breakfast? Let us know.
 
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*Have you ever wondered what a tuffet is? It’s a hassock, a piece of furniture used as a footstool or a low seat. Your great-grandmother likely had one that matched the sofa.
 
 

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While your municipality takes care that no disease-producing microbes are in your tap water, you can still have beer for breakfast. Put it in your waffles!

Here’s one of the delicious beer-infused recipes we received from the Craft Brewers Association at CraftBeer.com, contributed by Nicole, author of Dula Notes.

Nicole uses Bell’s Double Cream Stout, one of her favorite local Michigan beers, to add spice and character to homemade waffles.

Try it now: It might be just what you’re looking for for Father’s Day.

And if Dad really likes stout, consider gifting him these stout glasses from Spielgau, or these from Libbey.
 
RECIPE: WAFFLES WITH STOUT

Ingredients

A glass of stout. Photo courtesy Spielgau.

1. MELT the butter in a medium pot over low heat. Add the buttermilk and stout, stir and heat until warm. Turn off the heat.

2. COMBINE the flour, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a large bowl. Whisk to blend.

3. WHISK the eggs in another large bowl until well beaten. Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. Pour about one cup of the warm butter/buttermilk/beer mixture into the eggs and whisk vigorously to combine. Pour the rest of the mixture into the bowl, whisking constantly.

4. ADD the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour disappears, but the batter is still a little lumpy. Take care not overmix, but make sure that the flour is incorporated. Let the batter sit as the waffle iron heats up.

Check it out. And only buy real maple syrup!
 
TYPES OF BEER

Check out the difference between stout and other types of beer in our Beer Glossary.

One of our favorite summer cakes is angel food cake, a light, flourless cake made with sugar, cream of tartar, salt, extract (almond, lemon or vanilla). a dozen or so egg whites and a touch of salt. There is no leavening, no cholesterol, no gluten and just 72 calories for a slice equal to 1/12 of the cake.

Angel food cake is typically baked in a tube pan; a bundt pan doesn’t work (don’t try it!). The tube pan should have a removable bottom and “feet”, so you can invert the hot cake pan directly onto the counter to cool.

The tender, snowy white cake is popularly served with berries and whipped cream, although it can be served plain, with other fruits or with a dessert sauce (caramel, chocolate, custard, fruit curd, fresh fruit).

Fluffy, airy cake, berries and whipped cream: It was the summer cake baked by our mother, who whipped heavy cream with an electric beater until she purchased an iSi professional cream whipper with nitrous oxide cartridges. (We still have her 60-year-old whipper. It works great, and the whipped cream is so much more delicious than supermarket aerosols.)

The recipe is below, but first:
 
 
THE HISTORY OF ANGEL FOOD CAKE

[1] A delicious hot weather cake. Whipped cream optional or imperative, depending on your point of view. Check out this recipe for a version of the cake below (both photos © I Am Baker).

Others theorize that the cake originated in Pennsylvania Dutch country in the early 1800s, based on the quantity of old tube pan-like cake molds in the area. There is a National Angel Food Cake Day, October 10th. Whoever picked October didn’t read the memo on the best summer cakes!
 
 
RECIPE: ANGEL FOOD CAKE WITH ROASTED STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Here’s a recipe sent to us by McCormick, contributed by Amanda of IAmBaker.net, who adapted it from the JoyOfBaking.com. She used McCormick extracts and spices.

Read the entire recipe and see the tips at the end of this article before preparing the recipe.

For July 4th, instead of the roasted strawberry sauce, make Red, White & Blue Angel Food Cake with fresh berries.

Ingredients For The Angel Food Cake

 
Ingredients For The Roasted Strawberry Sauce

 
Preparation For The Angel Food Cake

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. If you have not tested your oven recently, use an oven thermometer to verify that the temperature has been reached.

2. SIFT together in a large bowl 3/4 cup of the sugar and the sifted cake flour (this is half of the sugar and all of the flour).

3. FIT a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat the egg whites in the bowl until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream of tartar, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts, balsamic and salt, and continue to beat until soft peaks form, roughly 2-3 minutes.

4. GRADUALLY BEAT in the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until glossy stiff peaks form. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. REMOVE the bowl from the stand and sift the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over the beaten egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold (do not stir) the flour into the egg whites.

6. DO NOT butter or spray or grease the tube pan. Pour the batter into the ungreased pan and run a metal spatula or knife through the batter to eliminate air pockets. Smooth the top and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. The cake is done when the cake springs back when gently pressed or there are cracks over the top.

7. INVERT the pan immediately upon removing from the oven and allow the cake to cool for about 1-1/2 hours. If your pan does not have feet, invert on the neck of a full wine bottle. When completely cool…

8. RUN an offset spatula or knife around the sides and center tube of the pan to loosen the cake, then remove the cake from the pan. Next, use the offset spatula (or knife) along the bottom and remove. Set the cake on a serving plate or cake stand.

Why roast the strawberries instead of simply slicing them? It creates juice and a very soft texture. Strawberries are not a great baking berry, since they tend to lose their shape and texture. Roasted, their flavor becomes more intense.

Note that you can’t roast the berries in advance. As they sit, some of the color will start to leach from the berries into the juice. So when the cake comes out of the oven, turn up the heat and roast the strawberries.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Place the sliced strawberries in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle evenly with the maple syrup and sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Roast at 400°F for 10-12 minutes or until the berries are tender and have begun to release their juices.

2. PLACE the strawberry spread into a medium bowl. Scoop the roasted strawberries on top of the spread and mix them together with a fork. If the mixture seems too thick, add up to 1/2 cup warm water, a bit at a time.

OPTIONAL: For a smooth strawberry sauce, use a blender or food processor. If you do this, you may not need to add the strawberry spread.
 
TIPS FOR SUCCESS