Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Make your own mascarpone

I don't know about you, but I love foods made with mascarpone, even though I inevitably always mispronounce it. It's that triple-cream cheese that's used in making tiramisu and a whole host of very tasty sweet and savory Italian dishes. You can also serve it with fruit or it can be mixed with cocoa or coffee.

Unfortunately, it's also very expensive to buy, that is, if you can find it in stores. However, luckily for us, it's actually quite easy to make yourself*.

Homemade mascarpone

Ingredients:
16 ounces (not ultra-pasteurized) organic whipping cream
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the water in the skillet.

Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. It will take about 15 minutes of gentle heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. The whipping cream will become thicker and will cover the back of your spoon thickly.

When the cream reaches temperature, keep it at temperature for 5 minutes, then remove the bowl from the water and let the mixture cool for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Pour the mixture into the lined sieve. Once it is cooled completely, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the sieve overnight or up to 24 hours. Transfer to a sealable storage container. Or your mouth, whichever comes first.

Yield: about 12 oz

*Based on this recipe.

6 comments:

Emily said...

Hi! Thanks for this great recipe. Can you answer two questions?

1) Should the bowl be touching the bottom of the skillet?

2) Does the five minutes begin after the cream reaches 190 or after it curdles?

Sorry for the confusion. I'm eager to try this!

Crunchy Chicken said...

Emily,

1. The bowl should be touching the bottom of the skillet. If you have too much water, the bowl will float and the cream might potentially spill out. Basically, you just want a water bath to bring the liquid up to temperature.

2. The 5 minutes begins after the cream reaches 190.

Lindsey Michelle said...

Thanks so much for this post! I can't find mascarpone often and this will help out!!!

{ Lindsey }
http://greatfullday.blogspot.com

Carly said...

Thanks for the recipe! Question: How long will it keep in the fridge? (I know that that question is probably a hypothetical because it would probably never last that long but what if you wanted to make ahead - buy busy...)

Unknown said...

Hi Deanna, thanks for the recipe. I will have to give it a go and I will add it to my cheese making repertoire. I have been making quite a few different types of cheese of late, and you can catch them over at The Greening of Gavin, amongst other green things of course.

Gav

SusanB said...

Alas, the only organic cream I can buy around here is ultra-pastuerized.