Delicate Mascarpone cream cheese has found wide application in cooking. It is used to make cheesecakes and similar baking, other desserts; they spread it on toasts when they make delicious sandwiches for the holiday table. In the store, such soft cheeses are expensive, and the product purchased at a high price is not always pleasing with high quality. Thrifty housewives learned how to make mascarpone cheese at home. This process is not very complex, the result has to wait only 12 hours, sometimes a little longer.
Cooking Features
Even an inexperienced cook will be able to cope with the preparation of Mascarpone homemade cheese, but to get the expected result he will need to know a few things.
- Mascarpone cheese is based on cream or dairy products. To obtain a soft and not crumbling into pieces of cheese, you will need cream of 28-33% fat or sour cream of at least 20% fat. The fatter the base product, the more cheese it will make.
- In order for the fermented milk product to turn into cheese, it is thickened with lemon juice or wine vinegar. It is not recommended to reduce the amount of this component, since sour cream or cream may not acquire the desired consistency. It is also impossible to increase the acid content, since it already gives the cheese a slight sourness, which not everyone likes.
- It is necessary to cook cheese in a water bath or with minimal heat so that the underlying dairy product does not curl, turning into cottage cheese.
- The finished cheese is placed in a sieve, the bottom of which is laid with several layers of gauze or cloth. Sieve set over a bowl. Future cheese is covered with the edges of the gauze, the oppression is set on top. In this state, the product is kept in the refrigerator for 12 hours. During this time, it is compressed, whey is squeezed out of it, which is in a bowl. After that, the cheese is transferred to a glass jar or used immediately. Instead of the described construction, you can use special forms for making cheese.
- Serum formed in the process of making cheese can be used for okroshka or other dishes. It is also in demand in cosmetology.
Homemade cheese is prepared without preservatives, its shelf life does not exceed 4 days. Store the product in the refrigerator.
Mascarpone cream recipe from cream
Composition:
- cream with fat content of 33% - 1 l;
- lemon juice - 40 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Pour the cream into the pan, heat them up to about 70 degrees.
- Pour in lemon juice, mix. After that, the cream will begin to resemble the consistency of kefir.
- Return the cream to the stove. Heat them on low heat for 2-3 minutes, not allowing to boil. Cream at this time you need to stir. By the end of cooking, they should drain slowly from the spoon, as if wrapping it.
- Pour the cream into the bowl or pan, pre-place the fabric in the dishes. Tie the ends of the fabric on top. It should resemble a bag filled with cream.
- Hang this bag for 2-3 hours over a saucepan or bowl. Part of the serum during this time will drain.
- Pour off the serum. Dip a cloth with cottage cheese in a bowl.
- Untie the ends and cover the curds with them. Place a plate on top, place a liter jar filled with water on it.
- Remove the resulting structure in the refrigerator.
After 12 hours, homemade mascarpone cheese will be ready to eat.
Homemade mascarpone cheese from sour cream
Composition:
- sour cream with a fat content of 20-25% - 0, 5 l;
- salt - a pinch;
- lemon - 0, 5 pcs.
Method of preparation:
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon, strain it.
- Add salt and lemon juice to sour cream, mix well.
- Put the sour cream in a saucepan, put it on a slow fire.
- Heat, stirring, for 3-5 minutes.
- Allow the sour cream to cool to room temperature.
- Fold the gauze in several layers (at least four), put it in a sieve.
- Put the condensed sour cream in a sieve, cover with the edges of the gauze.
- Put the strainer in a bowl.
- Cover the curd with a plate, set the load on top.
- Store in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
After the specified time, the cheese must be unwrapped and put into a container or glass jar. In the bank it will be stored better.
Mascarpone cheese with wine vinegar
Composition:
- sour cream with fat content of 20% - 0, 4 l;
- kefir with a fat content of at least 3% - 0.5 l;
- Ryazhenka fat content of 4% - 0, 5 l;
- white wine vinegar (6%) - 20 ml;
- salt - 2 g.
Method of preparation:
- Mix fermented milk products. On a water bath, heat them up to 30-40 degrees.
- Pour the products into a bowl, add salt and vinegar to them, mix thoroughly.
- Put a colander over a clean bowl or pan, put linen fabric in it.
- Pour into it a mixture of dairy products, leave for 2-3 hours.
- Remove the cheese from the colander. Straight into the fabric, transfer to a clean bowl. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
- Drain the whey, cover the cheese with a napkin, set the pressure on the top and leave for another 12 hours.
This cheese is cooked a little longer than with lemon juice, but gourmets say it has a milder taste, which does not feel too much acid.
Mascarpone from sour cream and yogurt
Composition:
- fat sour cream (from 20% fat) - 0.5 l;
- natural yogurt (homemade can) -0, 25-0, 3 l;
- salt - a pinch;
- lemon juice - 3-5 ml.
Method of preparation:
- Put the sour cream in the pan, add the yogurt to it, mix.
- Salt fermented milk products, mix again.
- Add lemon juice and stir again.
- Place a sieve in a bowl, put a cloth towel in it or a piece of gauze folded 6 times.
- Pour the mixture of fermented milk products into the sieve. Cover them with the ends of the fabric.
- Cover with a plate, place a jar of water on top, or other cargo. To keep the bank from slipping, you can put a napkin on the plate.
- Remove the structure in the refrigerator.
It takes a day to wait until the cheese according to this recipe acquires the desired consistency. After that it can be shifted to a more convenient container for storage. Due to the small content of lemon juice, mascarpone cheese is not sour.
Recipe for cooking mascarpone in a slow cooker
Composition:
- cream with fat content of 33% - 1, 5 l;
- sugar - 5 g;
- salt - 2 g;
- lemon - 0, 5 pcs .;
- butter (optional) - to lubricate the bowl of the slow cooker.
Method of preparation:
- Smear a bowl of multicooker with a thin layer of butter.
- Mix cream with sugar and salt, pour into a multicooker container.
- Install the “Multi-cook” program by selecting a temperature of 90-95 degrees. If there is no such function in your unit, you can choose a program for cooking milk porridges and desserts. Set the timer to 10 minutes.
- 3 minutes before the readiness is ready, open the cover of the multicooker, pour the juice squeezed from half a lemon into the cream. Stir. If your multi-cooker can cook with the lid open, do not lower it - cook, stirring, until the program is completed. If the cover needs to be lowered, it is necessary to suspend the operation of the unit every minute and mix the contents.
- Put a cloth in a bowl, pour a creamy mass into the dishes.
- Tie the ends of the cloth, hang the cheese over a bowl or pan for 3 hours.
- Transfer to a sieve, placed in a bowl, without removing it from the cloth.
- Install the press and put in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
Cheese made according to the above recipe has a pleasant balanced taste.
Mascarpone cheese belongs to the category of soft cream cheeses, the prices of which are quite high in stores. Make this product possible at home, it does not even need to use animal enzymes. Cooking cheese does not require great skill. A homemade mascarpone will cost much less than a purchased one, but its taste and appearance will not disappoint you.
