Mascarpone Cheese Making Recipe

[Cheese Head]

Mascarpone Cheese Recipe

[Wannie]

Hey, John...

I noticed your recipe calls for "fresh" cows light cream.  Does this mean fresh from the cow, not pasteurized or homogonized? If so, could I use store bought? I don't have access to "fresh" at this time but am checking around for a local source in the mean time.

I am looking to make this in the near future and am getting my ducks in a row, so to speak, before I do.  Lady Liberty posted her tiramisu recipe and I just gotta have some. Yum Yum...  I have also heard of this being referred to as "Italian rocket fuel" hahahaha.  Idk if I'll be able to take it or not but I am gonna try...

Ronnie from TN

[Cheese Head]

Mornin Ronnie

I haven't made Mascarpone (thus no pictures on that recipe page) but I just checked where I got that recipe from and no mention of raw or pasteurized cream. The word fresh was my addition in that you should always buy as fresh as possible, I'll corect that.

FYI, light cream is not a very definitive description, I build an info page on Milks and Creams where it is described as 18-30% butterfat, a wide range, good luck!

PS: Just read that LL used US "Half & Half" which is lower 10.5-18% butterfat. As you are using Tartaric Acid, I'd go with higher butterfat content.

PPS: I've got to try making this someday also.

[Wannie]

Thanks for the link to the milk and cream page John.  Reallllly good info there.  I am just learning to navigate the forum to all the different areas and just hadn't gotten to that one yet.  I am thinking 25% on the butterfat content will be my goal for my first mascarpone.

Btw John, GREAT site... I am having trouble getting to the actual making of the cheese rather than just reading about it, lol.  In defense of that, I usually don't jump right in doing something without doing a little research first.

Ronnie from TN

[Tea]

Yep I agree, great site.

Ronnie, let us know you the mascarpone work out.  Somthing I have never tried myself either, and one that I really must do.

[MrsKK]

Does anyone know if this can be made with citric acid, as opposed to tartaric acid?  As I have CA, but not TA?...

[Tea]

Hi Mrs K, not sure what recipe you are using, but I checked mine and it said that to acidify you could use either vinegar, tartaric acid or lemon juice.  So from that I would say that citric acid should work fine.
Let us know how it turns out.

[DeejayDebi]

According to my Italian Cheese book it may be renneted with tartric, citric or acetic acids.

[MrsKK]

I finally dug in and made Mascarpone last week, as I had ten cups of cream and no desire to make butter.  I found a recipe that called for white wine vinegar...and remembered that I had a bottle of white rice wine vinegar.  It worked great!

I made a batch of coffee liqueur this morning, which needs to mellow for a week or two, then I plan on making tiramisu for Christmas presents for our friends.  In the meantime, I'll be making more mascarpone.

[DeejayDebi]

Mascarpone is great on baked fruit like apples, pears, peaches and apriocots to with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

[MrsKK]

So, a couple of questions about Mascarpone:
1) Is the whey supposed to be white?  Mine looks almost like milk, though obviously thinner.  I guess I expected it to be greenish, like when I make ricotta (or any other cheese, for that matter).  Maybe I'm not using enough acid?

2) How thick is it supposed to be after it has hung for several hours?  One recipe I have says to stir it before using, but mine is so thick that I have to knead it.  Rather like the texture of Phylly cream cheese blocks.

3) How much citric acid is called for in the recipes you have?  I've been using rice wine vinegar (because I have it on hand), but will run out of that someday soon and would like to try citric acid because I have that in the house, too.

TIA for all of your help and advice!

[DeejayDebi]

So, a couple of questions about Mascarpone:
1) Is the whey supposed to be white?  Mine looks almost like milk, though obviously thinner.  I guess I expected it to be greenish, like when I make ricotta (or any other cheese, for that matter).  Maybe I'm not using enough acid?

Sounds like you lost some butterfats. It should not be white, but it does get looking like that gray watery skim milk they sell at grocery stores.

2) How thick is it supposed to be after it has hung for several hours?  One recipe I have says to stir it before using, but mine is so thick that I have to knead it.  Rather like the texture of Phylly cream cheese blocks.

When it's made it should be about the thickness of ... Oatmeal? Cream of wheat? After draining it should be more like ... mashed potatoes? slightly drained riccotta?

3) How much citric acid is called for in the recipes you have?  I've been using rice wine vinegar (because I have it on hand), but will run out of that someday soon and would like to try citric acid because I have that in the house, too.

I generally use 1/4 teaspoon Tartaric Acid per quart of cream but I have heard others have used citric acid.


TIA for all of your help and advice!

[MrsKK]

"Sounds like you lost some butterfats. It should not be white, but it does get looking like that gray watery skim milk they sell at grocery stores."

So should I have used more of the vinegar?  Maybe it didn't coagulate well enough?

Maybe I'm draining mine too long, since it seems like it is thicker than it should be.

[DeejayDebi]

Most store bought Mascarpone is very dry. Like thin cream cheese I think. You want to be able to whip it up into things without watering it down. Not fluffy but not like a hard block cream cheese somewhere between.  More like a softened butter. Does that make sense? It holds it's form but can be broken up easily with a fork.

David B. Fankhauser has a nice picture you can see the creaminess on the cloth at the bottom of the page if you click on it. It will stiffen when chilled but soften when warmed much like soft butter.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/mascarpone.HTM

Sounds like maybe you drained to long but I can't really see without a picture. If you drain to long it will get dry and crumbly like an overly dry riccotta not schmush under your fingers. I guess the best descripton I can think of is it should act a lot like fresh Wisconsin dairy butter at room temperature but not as firm when chilled. Nothing else like it in the world!

I've never used vinegar so it may react a little differently. I prefer fresh squeezed lemons. I love to use lemons any time they call for vinegar - much fresher flavor.

I am wondering if maybe your cheese cloth let a lo of the curds through. I use a huge hanchief when I make finer cheeses. It takes longer to drain but you loose nothing. Maybe that's why your whey looked white?

[MrsKK]

Okay, from your description, I think I am getting it the right texture, as it is "mushable" not, crumbly.

I think I will try a batch with citric acid to see if the whey comes out clearer.  I don't think it is the cheesecloth, as it is the same as I use for cream cheese and the whey from that isn't white.  I just didn't want to add too much vinegar and end up with grainy mascarpone.

BTW, I still have the whey sitting in a jar (waiting to be fed to the chickens) and there is now a clear, yellow-green layer at the bottom and the top is quite thick, so I'm going to ladle it off and see what it tastes like.