Pour the milk, cream, and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Heat the milk to 190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.

Line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Discard the whey, or save it for other uses.

Eat the ricotta right away or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. Serve on 1/2-inch slices of broiled baguette with honey and a pinch of flaky sea salt, a couple of grinds of black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and/or a few droplets of aged balsamic.

For zucchini ribbons topping: Peel miniature zucchini into ribbons and toss them with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let them drain in a colander for about 20 minutes, rinse, and pat dry. Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and black pepper to taste, then arrange on ricotta crostini.