I’ve been going through Mascarpone at a pretty alarming rate, recently. I mean 2 batches of tiramisu in one week alone calls for a pretty hefty amount of the creamy cheese. And it is expensive. I mean, painfully expensive.
Well, low and behold, you can make your own at home for about 1/4 the cost of store bought Mascarpone.
And it couldn’t be easier.
All you need is heavy cream, fresh lemon juice, and cheesecloth.
A few notes, however:
Make sure that you use fresh lemons, not bottled lemon juice.
Make sure that the heavy cream you use has not been UHT pasturized or Ultra-pasturized. UHT pasturized cream has been processed at a very high heat and will likely not work in this type of recipe.
Homemade Mascarpone will keep for up to one week, covered, in the refrigerator. Use it in desserts(stay tuned for a few of my favorites that use this creamy cheese!) or even savory dishes. This cheese would be SO good in a pasta dish!
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream(make sure it's not UHT pasturized or ultra-pasturized)
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice(fresh)
- Heat the cream on medium heat in a saucepan until just simmering(stir frequently to avoid the bottom scalding).
- Add the lemon juice to the cream and continue stirring until the cream curdles. You will not see it separate into little pieces mixed with whey, rather it will thicken enough to heavily coat the back of your spoon.
- Place 4 pieces of slightly dampened cheesecloth layered together over a fine mesh sieve and set on top of a bowl.
- Pour the cream into the sieve and let sit out on the counter until completely cooled. Do not press on the cream, or squeeze!
- Cover the bowl and sieve with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Use as desired for desserts and other dishes.
- Will keep for 1 week.
Your photography knocks my SOCKS OFF!!!
Thanks so much, Yvonne!
YUM! I love marscarpone – can’t wait to try this at home 😀
Thanks Tina! It really is SO easy!
I made this and it is heavenly and soooo much less expensive than buying it outright! I did want to mention that I left mine to cool for about an hour in the pot because it was so runny it would have strained right through the seive. I was worried that I may have ruined it somehow but, seriously, there are only two ingredients…what could possibly have gone wron??!. I then used paper towel instead of the cheesecloth (just another trick I’ve learned and now use whenever possible), cooled completely until bedtime and then put it in the fridge overnight. Smooth and creamy this morning. Yum!
I havent tried this yet, so maybe a silly question…but are you using what is left in the sieve? Does liquid drip through and you discard that?
Yep, you got it!??
I use paper coffee filters instead of cheese cloth. Probably takes a little longer, but it works just fine.