I've made ricotta filling for cakes a couple times before and went ahead and tried my hand at it again today. I used this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/my-country-my-kitchen/sicilian-cassata-ricotta-cake-recipe/index.html  and the filling turned out nice and thick and it tastes great, BUT I could not get rid of that "grainy" texture that ricotta cheese has. I beat the ricotta for 15 minutes but it still turned out grainy. And this is what's happened every other time I've tried making this filling. 

Any suggestions? Should I be beating the filling for much longer than 15 mins? 

 

Try using a ricotta from a deli or a store that sells Italian cheeses I use Caputo Ricotta Red and never have a grainey problem. good luck. 

I never made this cake but I have made cannoli cream, lasagna and ravioli (Can you tell I'm Italian!)  Anyway I only use Polly-O brand.  Full fat. If you're going to make these kinds of desserts you don't go SKIM!  I don't like store brands or other brands (especially Sorrento) even if they are half the price!  I don't get a grainy texture in my results so maybe it is the brand you use.  Good luck!

Theresa

Most ricotta is going to be grainy.  That's the nature of the beast.  Beating it is just going to move the curds around.  You should run it through a blender or food processor and then push it through a strainer to reduce the graininess.  You also might want to strain it through a cheesecloth for 24 hours if you want something thicker.  Most of us can't get impastata ricotta, which is thicker and used to fill cannolis.