Mascarpone cheese at home?! Yeah, you read it right 🙂 Now, you can make tiramisu even better with this homemade mascarpone cheese 🙂
What is mascarpone cheese?
Mascarpone (pronounced mahs-car-POH-nay) cheese is a fresh Italian double or triple cream cheese. In other words, mascarpone is spreadable cream cheese. It is best known as an essential ingredient for tiramisu.
Ingredients
There are just two ingredients required to make mascarpone cheese at home.
Heavy cream – 35% heavy whipping is required to make the creamiest Italian cream at home.
Lemon juice – to curdle heavy cream and give that mild but delicious sour taste to the cheese.
How to make mascarpone cheese at home?
Though making mascarpone cheese at home is very easy, it requires little attention 🙂
Step 1
Gather ingredients. Have your lemon juice ready before starting the procedure.
Step 2
Transfer cream to a heavy bottom pan saucepan. Bring cream to 185˚ to 190˚ degrees F (that is, 85˚ to 88˚ degrees C) on medium flame. Stir the cream occasionally.
Step 3
Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in lemon juice. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 185˚ to 190˚ degrees F (85˚ to 88˚ degrees C), then turn off the heat. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon.
Step 4
Whisk the mixture well. Cool it down for 30 minutes.
Step 5
Transfer the mixture into a clean towel-lined strainer. Cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing down gently onto the surface of the cream, and let cool to room temperature, for 20 to 30 minutes more.
Step 6
Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Step 7
Next day, store the cheese in a sterilized jar and use as required.
Quick tips
- Use heavy cream that contains 35 to 40% butterfat.
- If not using a thermometer, this should be the lowest of possible simmers, as in barely any tiny bubbles breaking the surface.
- This is the thick, dense, firm version of mascarpone, and once chilled has a slightly grainy appearance on a knife, but should be completely smooth on the palate.
How to make mascarpone cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream, 35% whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Gather ingredients. Have your 1 tablespoon lemon juice ready before starting the procedure.
- Transfer 1 cup heavy cream to a heavy bottom pan saucepan. Bring cream to 185˚ to 190˚ degrees F (that is, 85˚ to 88˚ degrees C) on medium flame. Stir the cream occasionally.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in lemon juice. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 185˚ to 190˚ degrees F (85˚ to 88˚ degrees C), then turn off the heat. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon.
- Whisk the mixture well. Cool it down for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture into a clean towel-lined strainer. Cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing down gently onto the surface of the cream, and let cool to room temperature, for 20 to 30 minutes more.
- Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- Next day, store the cheese in a sterilized jar and use as required.
Notes
- check out our notes and storage section for more details.
