I am delighted to report that my very first attempt at making any sort of cheese at home has been a complete success. I started with Gavin Webber's "Boursin" cream cheese recipe from his YouTube channel and apart from one adjustment to the seasoning it worked very well.
Ingredients :
2L whole Cow milk (low temperature pasteurised, non-homogenised)
1 cup creme fraiche
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp veg. rennet in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water
1/2 cup cream, whipped
1 tbsp sea salt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried chives
I followed Gavin's method completely apart from an extended draining time of 2h30m and I adjusted the final seasoning.
I was concerned that my cream cheese yield was unexpectedly low compared to what Gavin demonstrated so I cut back the garlic and herbs. After discussion it appears that my yield of 440g of well drained cream cheese from 2L of acidfied cow's milk was not unreasonable. As a beneficial side effect it appears that the amount of garlic as specified might have been on the strong side so my finished cheese was nice and mild.
I used a pair of paper-lined cylinder moulds that were 9cm i.d. and while they were far too high for this amount of cheese, it packed down nicely and a paper disk on top of the cheese allowed me to flatten the top surface.
After refrigeration they were very firm with no sign of sagging but still spread well.
