Easy Mascarpone Desserts

For a 5-second dessert fix, I sometimes combine a few spoonfuls of mascarpone cheese with a small handful of semisweet chocolate chips. Alternately, I like to combine ricotta with some sugar and chocolate chips for a cannoli filling-esque taste. Et voila: instant dessert!

Ina Garten of "The Barefoot Contessa" advocates a similar idea: she recommends combining 1 c of mascarpone with 2 tbs of honey, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, the seeds scraped from a vanilla bean, and 2 tbs heavy cream. You can pour this mascarpone mixture over a bowl of peeled, sliced, and pitted fruits.