Cheese Experiment #2: Mascarpone

Most people have heard of mascarpone as an ingredient in tiramisu, or have seen it when browsing the fancy cheese section of the store. It generally comes in a 6oz container and costs enough that you'd think twice before purchasing it. What is it really, though?

Basically, mascarpone is like Italian cream cheese, but oh so much more refined. It is creamy, smooth and cool, perfect for desserts or mixing into a special sauce to add richness. Is it easy to make? Yep.

As with the previous experiment, first step was to gather tools.

Next, gather ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup dry milk solids
1 lemon, cut in half

Three ingredients, again! Doable? I think so.

First thing's first. I added the cream and milk solids together and whisked them in the pot.

Then came the waiting. The milk needed to come to 180 degrees (sound familiar?) over low heat. This took quite a while, about an hour. Once it reached temperature, I squeezed in one half of the lemon and switched to a metal spoon to mix, then added in the juice from the second half of the lemon.

This was the resulting curd. Not so much a separation as in the previous cheese, but a serious thickening.

Finally, this had to be covered and placed in the refrigerator to cool overnight. What resulted?

It looks, more or less, like yogurt, but tastes divine! It was so creamy, so rich, with just the barest aroma and flavor of fresh lemon that you might not even notice. I wanted to dig in with my spoon, but refrained. What shall I do with it? I'm not sure, but since this product has an extremely limited shelf life, three days or so, I better figure it out fast!

Have a favorite mascarpone recipe? Share it below. I love to hear ideas. :)

Cheese Experiment #1: Paneer

Here we go, cheese numero uno on my journey into cheese making. I'm stoked!

The first step is to collect all the supplies. For this recipe, I'll need:

Non-reactive pot
Measuring cup
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Thermometer
Cheese Cloth
Strainer
Draining rack
4lb Weight

Next, get all the ingredients. This one is pretty easy.

10 cups 2% milk
5 cups Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Three ingredient recipe? I think that's doable.

I put the milk in the pot and heated it to 175 or 180 degrees. It took a loooooong because you have to heat the milk slowly.

 Next, I added the buttermilk and the coagulation was fairly instantaneous. I then raised the heat to 195 degrees. Here's what the curd looked like.

After the curd had cooked and set a little, there was a large collection of fairly firm curds in the pot.

Next, the curd is drained in cheesecloth, salted, and pressed.

 

 

Final product:

Not the prettiest paneer ever. I think perhaps the curds were too cool when I pressed them, so they didn't make a block, but holy cow is it delicious!!!

Cheese Making

One of my goals for several years has been to learn to make my favorite food....CHEESE!

There are so many different kinds: fresh, aged, hard, soft, semi-soft, blue, mild, stinky. Each has its own personality, its own character. So far, I love them all!

So, I'll be starting with some simple cheeses in the coming days and hopefully progressing to more complicated and time consuming cheeses as time goes on.

What's your favorite? Comment below and I might just choose to make your favorite as part of my learning process. :)