How to cook mascarpone at home

Mascarpone - a kind of Italian cheese, has a subtle and delicate taste, which is different from many other kinds of cheeses. By the way, one more difference is that with its consistency it is more like a fat cottage cheese: the same soft and viscous. Surely many are interested in the question of whether it is possible to cook mascarpone at home, because in the store it is not cheap. There was a time when this cheese was one of the delicacies, and it was only possible to buy it in separate places. Today it is an easily accessible product, besides, it can really be cooked at home.

If we talk about the real Italian mascarpone, then it is prepared from cream of buffalo or cow's milk. In the area of Milan, where it is cooked the most delicious mascarpone, most often buffalo milk is used. Italians themselves, engaged in the production of this cheese, argue that the production of mascarpone takes milk special buffalo, and which, are kept secret. Although, it's likely just a good legend, which helps to advertise a good product.

Now I want to say a few words about the technology of mascarpone. In order to get this delicate cheese, cream should be heated to 80-850C. To cream thickened, in the process of cooking, a small amount of lemon juice or white wine vinegar is added. But what else the Italians add to the cheese, remains a mystery to us. And, nevertheless, even this is enough to cook mascarpone at home. To date, there are several recipes for the preparation of this cheese, one of which is exactly the same as the Italian technology.

Home mascarpone by Italian technology

To prepare cheese according to this recipe, we need the following:

• Cream, they should be about 15% fat (this is the total fat content, in dry matter it will be slightly higher). If you take fat cream, then they should be diluted with pasteurized milk. For example, if you take 125 ml of cream with 38% fat, then you need to dilute 250 ml of 3% milk. If you use too fatty cream to make cheese, it will turn out to be tasteless, besides - it will not be a viscous mass, but real butter. Yes, the fat content of the cream depends on the fat content of the cream. Here it then should be approximately 40-45%, therefore, the fat content of the cream should be small.
• Lemon juice, it can also be replaced with white wine vinegar. It is necessary for the reaction of coagulation to take place.
• Auxiliary items: colander, gauze (or baby diaper), a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the liquid.

Well, now, directly, let's talk about how to prepare mascarpone at home. Take the pan and pour the cream into it. We put on the fire and with the help of a thermometer we heat the cream to a temperature of 850 ° C, without forgetting to stir constantly. When the desired temperature is collected, remove the cream from the plate and add to them 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice. When the temperature drops to 820C, put the pan back on fire, keeping the temperature at the same level. Cream is constantly in the way. First they will have small lumps, then the mass will be similar to kefir, and then a thick consistency, similar to a cream, is formed. This indicates that it turned out that it is necessary. We remove the cream from the plate.

Now it remains to go through the last stage of cooking mascarpone cheese at home. After removing from the plate, the cream should be cooled to a temperature of 40-500C. Then a colander is taken and covered with gauze, folded in several layers. Cream is put on gauze to make the glass serum. When the last well drains, gauze should be tied and hung on something to make the remaining drops of whey. Then we return the bag to the colander, and to press it, we put a not very heavy load on top. We put in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours. That's all, mascarpone cheese at home is ready!