Whipped ricotta is one of those divine menu items that expensive restaurants charge you a pretty penny to enjoy with a piece of toast—and why wouldn’t they? It’s silky, creamy, and a decadent appetizer that you could never make yourself, right? Well, I don’t want to ruin your favorite restaurant for you, but I do have to destroy the mystique of whipped ricotta. Only because it’s the easiest cheese trick there is, and you should use it to create the best restaurant-quality appetizer for the holidays, even if you only have access to mediocre ricotta.

Whipped ricotta sounds like it uses the same method as heavy cream. While it does, you’re not bound to the same tricky results. Heavy cream has distinct peaks that you have to watch out for, or you could ruin it. Whipped ricotta isn’t meant to puff up in the same way; instead, it becomes silky and light.

Ricotta straight from the package is smooth, but you can see in the photo that it has a graininess to it. That’s okay: those mini curds are what makes ricotta special. When you blend it, the curd texture is refined until it becomes velvety. It gives the overall texture more bounce and even the flavor becomes less watery.

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