Comfort food meets the espresso bar in these cute little cups of sweetness. Not quite a pudding, the mixture is frothy and thick, like the crema that tops a good cup of cappuccino.

　　

Ingredients

4 servings

　　1/2 cup sugar

　　1/2 vanilla bean

　　1 (15-ounce) container whole-milk ricotta cheese

　　1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

　　1 (3-inch) biscotti, crushed

　　Pinch of ground cinnamon

　　Pinch of cocoa powder

　　

Step 1

Place the sugar in a food processor. Cut the vanilla bean open lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the food processor with the sugar. Pulse to combine well. Add the ricotta and espresso powder and blend for 1 minute. Stop the machine to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then blend for another minute. Spoon the mixture into 4 small coffee mugs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

　　

To Serve

Step 2

Top the ricotta cappuccino with crushed biscotti. Sprinkle with cinnamon and cocoa powder.

　　Reprinted with permission from Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2008 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.