Mascarpone Cheese (Italian Cream Cheese)


Overview:
Hailing from Italy's Lombardy region, Mascarpone is a buttery-rich double-cream to triple-cream cow's-milk cheese. (Technically it's not cheese but rather curdled cream because citric or tartaric acid is used rather than rennet.). It's ivory-colored, soft and delicate, and ranges in texture from that of a light clotted cream to that of room-temperature butter.

How to Use it:

It's versatile enough to be blended with other flavors and is sometimes sold sweetened with fruit. In Italy's Friuli region a favorite blend is Mascarpone mixed with anchovies, mustard and spices. But in truth, this delicately flavored cheese needs little embellishment other than being topped with fruit. It is one of the main ingredients in the modern Italian dessert known as tiramisu, and is sometimes used instead of butter or Parmesan cheese to thicken and enrich Risotto.

Textures/ Storage:

Mascarpone should have a very smooth texture with no lumps or graininess. The flavor should be milky and slightly sweet, sometimes with a tangy finish. It tends to go bad quickly, so use an open container of mascarpone within a few days. The closest cousins to mascarpone are English clotted cream and French creme fraiche. However, high-quality creamy ricotta or cream cheese can also be a substitute for mascarpone.