What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Fall into fall with cozy mousse.
Homemade Cream Cheese
I never thought to make homemade cream cheese until recently when I tried it at a cheesemaking class. The recipe is very simple, and the only thing you need besides space in the fridge is time. Fresh cheeses like this one can be a snap, and adding this, mozzarella, and chevre and feta to your repertoire is an excellent way to expand your skills in the kitchen and use some of those herbs from your garden.
This is a very straightforward fresh cheese. Warm the milk up, add the culture, set for 24 hours, and begin straining until it reaches the consistency you want. After a couple of days of start and stop draining with cheesecloth, I finally got the texture and flavor I was looking for. Next time I'll try it with a yogurt strainer to see if it will go a little faster.
We celebrated its arrival with fresh bagels, a perfectly ripe tomato, the cream cheese and salt, sitting on the deck early one crisp fall morning.
Cream Cheese
4 c half and half
1 c heavy cream
2 T buttermilk
salt
- Heat the half and half and cream in a heavy bottomed pan to 90F.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the buttermilk.
- Pour the mixture into a large non-reactive bowl and cover with plastic. Allow this to set for 24 hours.
Note: It should form a single large curd which will begin to separate from the sides of the bowl. - After 24 hours, pour the mixture into a cheesecloth-lined colander and begin to drain away the whey.
Note: Whey is an excellent garden addition - it gives a lot of protein to plants like squash and pumpkins. Our dog likes it on her food too. - After 15 minutes, transfer the cheesecloth to a tall bowl (or pot) and suspend the cheesecloth from a wooden spoon or chopstick. Cover with plastic and place the entire pot in the fridge.
- The next day, transfer the curds to a bowl, stir in the salt, and put the curds in fresh cheesecloth.
- Continue draining the whey in the fridge, changing the cheesecloth daily until the cheese reaches the correct texture and flavor.
I drained the cream cheese for 4 days, but my cheesecloth was probably too tight a weave for this cheese. It was a little looser than store-bought cream cheese (we had to spoon it on the bagels), but I bet when I use the yogurt strainer it will dry up nicely.
Once you try this at home, you may never go back to store-bought cream cheese!
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More Info
Check out my homemade chevre and feta and mozzarella posts
Cheesemaking supplies from the Cellar Homebrew
More supplies and instructions from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company
Comments
bagels w/tomato
Bagels with cream cheese and tomato is one of my favorite breakfasts! Sad to say there aren't any good bagel bakeries where I'm at.