Mascarpone is a very delicate cream cheese with a creamy texture. Its taste immediately resembles both baked milk and the best sour cream varieties. According to one version, the word "mascarpone" comes from the common Spanish phrase "mas que bueno", which literally means "better than good."
Mascarpone is used in culinary arts such as cheesecake and tiramisu. In addition, this type of cheese is used for dressing salads, often fruit, as spicy snack, sauce for seafood, as well as a separate dish.
Mascarpone cheese - what can be replaced in cooking
Mascarpone is a rather expensive product, and besides, this cheese is sometimes completely problematic to find. Therefore, housewives who want to cook tiramisu or any other mascarpone dish are puzzled by the question: what to replace this cheese with? There are several options for replacing the Italian cream product.
Closest to mascarpone palatability the other cheese is whey-based ricotta. Products such as Almette, Rama, Bonjour and Philadelphia can also replace expensive cheese in cream and desserts. A substitute can be prepared at home.
Ricotta for cream
Ricotta is an Italian cheese with a delicate curd texture. It can be used as a substitute for mascarpone in hot dishes and snacks, because it has a similar light texture and mild taste. To prepare the cream you will need:
- ricotta - 150 gr.;
- fat cream (at least 20%) - 200 ml.
These ingredients should be placed in a bowl food processor and mix until smooth and homogeneous. Then replace the nozzle with a whisk and beat the resulting mixture, it should turn out to be airy. The cream must be used immediately.
Replacing Mascarpone with cottage cheese
Wanting to save on the purchase of an expensive product, you can use the most simple option substitutions - mix fatty cottage cheese with cream. The end result is delicious. Cheesecake. To prepare the cream you will need:
- fatty cottage cheese - 300 gr.;
- fat cream (at least 30%) - 100 ml;
- eggs - 2 pcs. (yolks separate from proteins);
- powdered sugar - 100 gr.
First, the cottage cheese is whipped, then the yolks and ½ powdered sugar, then the proteins and the second half of the sugar, and finally the cream. All ingredients must be combined and mixed into a creamy homogeneous mass.
Philadelphia cheese
This soft cream cheese is also able to replace an expensive product. You can use any other cream cheese, to prepare the cream you will need:
- cream cheese - 1 pack;
- cream (35%) - 2 tablespoons;
- sour cream (25%) - 3 tbsp.
All ingredients should be mixed thoroughly. Due to the fact that each brand has its own cooking technology, additives and quality of raw materials, desserts prepared according to a single recipe from different cream cheeses will differ in taste, but the consistency will turn out to be similar and almost identical to mascarpone cream.
homemade mascarpone recipe
Mascarpone can be prepared at home, it's quite simple. Of course, the recipe is completely unconventional, but the resulting product will be the best analogue of the required cheese. Any pastry with this cream will turn out tender and tasty.
To make mascarpone you will need:
- cream (at least 25%) - ½ liter;
- juice of half a lemon.
Recipe:
- The cream should be poured into a metal container and put on a small fire for 12 minutes, stirring the product occasionally. The resulting temperature should be around 75°.
- Add lemon juice to hot cream and heat for 5-7 minutes on fire, stirring constantly.
- As soon as the contents begin to curl, you need to remove the pan from the heat.
- After the cream has cooled, they must be drained into a colander, which must be covered in advance with 7-8 layers of gauze.
- Keep the product in this form for about 3 hours, so that all the whey is glassed.
- Homemade mascarpone is ready!
The resulting cheese can be used immediately or put into a clean airtight container and sent to the refrigerator for several days. If you plan to use cheese for making sandwiches, then you can add pre-chopped nuts and herbs to it.
Video: what cheese to replace mascarpone in tiramisu
We offer lovers of gourmet tiramisu to watch this video, where the author of the video, a young mother, tells how and from what to cook an excellent and budgetary substitute for mascarpone at home. Watch, experiment and enjoy the most delicate taste awesome dessert!
Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. The main ingredient is cream with a high percentage of fat content. The texture resembles soft whipped cottage cheese or thick rustic sour cream. This product is very high in calories, as it contains 75% fat. Its taste is creamy and very delicate, and its consistency is similar to cream. This cheese is often used in the preparation of confectionery: desserts, cakes, pastries, etc.
Properties of mascarpone
It is very nutritious and healthy: it contains vitamins of groups A, B, C, K, PP, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, etc. In addition, as a derivative of milk, it contains complete proteins and amino acids necessary for the body. Thanks to saturation, it improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system, helps strengthen the immune system and nervous system, helps fight depression and irritability, strengthens bones, and also improves growth and promotes muscle development.
TO harmful properties product applies high calorie content. Therefore, excessive consumption of this cheese can lead to increased cholesterol levels and obesity, which is why housewives often think about how to replace mascarpone. In addition, due to its composition, this cheese is not recommended for people suffering from milk intolerance, with a weak liver and diseases of the intestinal tract, as well as for children under three years old.
Where is mascarpone cheese used?
It is a multifunctional product:
- It can be smeared on bread instead of butter - the taste of the sandwich will only get better. At the same time, cheese contains several times fewer calories than butter, and is suitable for those who want to get rid of extra pounds.
- From it you can make a delicious, delicate sauce.
- If mixed with berries, you get a wonderful dessert.
- It can be mixed with liquor and chocolate. Get a special treat.
- Mascarpone is one of the main ingredients for cooking cottage cheese casseroles and tiramisu.
The most common way to use it is in confectionery. But it is difficult to find it in the store, and it is not cheap. This fact stops many novice cooks from preparing interesting new dishes. In this regard, the question arises as to whether it can be replaced with something. Therefore, it is worth considering mascarpone cheese: what is it and how to replace it in various dishes.
Mascarpone: what is it and how to replace it?
Before talking about how to replace mascarpone cheese in various dishes, you should take a closer look at the composition of the product. The main ingredient, as mentioned above, is cream with a fat content of at least 20%. Acid and lemon juice are added to them. Therefore, the product has a velvety, rich taste.
Mascarpone is used in the preparation of sauces, casseroles, added to pasta and risotto, but the most common use is in desserts. Since this delicacy is very fatty and high-calorie, when preparing main dishes and desserts, housewives often try to replace it with something. You can use lower-calorie, low-fat foods to make casseroles, pastas, or glazes, but this won't work with desserts. This raises the question of how to replace mascarpone cheese so that the consistency and taste of the dish are preserved. Consider options for replacing this product with other milk-derived options.
Alternatives to mascarpone
To replace this cheese in the cream for a cake or other dessert, you can use a home-made butter mixture. To do this, take 150 g cream cheese, a quarter cup of twenty percent cream and 2 tablespoons butter. In this case, cheese and butter should be at room temperature. Beat the cream well with a whisk or a blender, add butter and cheese thoroughly mashed with a fork. Mix all the ingredients until a light, airy homogeneous mass is obtained.
To replace mascarpone in other dishes (for example, pasta, risotto, soups, etc.), you can use less fat and high-calorie substitutes:
- in lasagna or pasta you can put soft skim cheese;
- in soup, salad or risotto - fat-free sour cream;
- in glaze - low-calorie cream cheese;
- in the sauce - thick low-calorie yogurt without additives.
Ricotta instead of mascarpone
Another famous Italian soft cheese is ricotta. Therefore, many are interested in whether it is possible to use ricotta instead of mascarpone. Can. It is ideal as an alternative as it has the same properties: similar consistency, mild flavor and light texture.
For a full replacement, you will need 150 g of ricotta cheese and 200 ml of twenty percent cream (possibly higher). Both ingredients must be put in a container and mixed with a blender or food processor until a homogeneous mixture is obtained, and then beat until a light, airy mass is obtained. At the same time, this mixture must be used immediately, otherwise it will lose its properties.
What can you substitute for mascarpone in tiramisu?
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert known all over the world. Therefore, every self-respecting hostess wants to treat herself and her loved ones to this delicacy at least once. One of the most important ingredients in tiramisu is mascarpone cheese, which is sometimes hard to find in the store. But there are two common options for replacing mascarpone in tiramisu.
An alternative to this cheese would be plain fatty cottage cheese or a mixture of cottage cheese and cream. And it will turn out even tastier if you mix cottage cheese, cream, butter and milk.
Mascarpone can also be replaced with regular sour cream. To do this, pour it into a canvas bag and leave it overnight. To get a pound of the finished product, you need one kilogram of sour cream.
If you still want to add mascarpone to the dish, but it is not available in stores, you can make this cheese yourself.
How to make mascarpone?
The most common are two ways to make a product yourself.
Take cream with a fat content of at least 20% and lemon juice at the rate of a spoonful of juice per glass of cream. Heat the cream to 90 ° C in a water bath, then add lemon juice there, mix. Pour the resulting mixture into a container (plastic or stainless steel), cover with gauze, then leave for 12 hours at room temperature. Drain the resulting liquid, and transfer the thick to a sieve covered with gauze. Remove the sieve for 24 hours in the refrigerator, placing some container under it so that the remaining moisture flows out. Put the finished cheese in a container with a closing lid. Put the product in the refrigerator. Consume within three to five days.
Take sour cream or a mixture of sour cream and kefir and hang it in gauze for a day. The cheese will be ready when all the liquid drains and the remaining mass becomes firmer.
For lovers of Italian desserts and just delicious meals don't limit yourself just because one of the main ingredients is hard to find in the store or is high in calories. Mascarpone can be easily replaced with a lower calorie ingredient, and if this is not possible, with another milk-derived product of the appropriate fat content. The taste of the dish will remain the same excellent!
Mascarpone is an unusually delicate cheese made on the basis of cream. It is actively used to create many delicious desserts, as well as the main ingredient in the preparation of dressings and sauces for salads with seafood. If the hostess decided to please her family with a refined tiramisu, but did not buy such cheese, she will have to think carefully about how to find a worthy alternative to it. Figuring out what it is worth replacing mascarpone in tiramisu is not an easy task, but it is completely solvable.
The legend of the origin of the dessert
Many residents of our country liked the Italian dessert called tiramisu. Its cost in pastry shops is quite high, so many skilled hostesses got used to creating it at home with
This cheese has a mild creamy taste, and in consistency it is more like a cream. Such an unusual product was first made in the northern region of Italy ⎼ Lombardy. Its official date of birth, according to many scientists, is the middle of the 17th century, although it is hard to imagine that thrifty Italians did not think of saving cream for the winter, turning it into cheese, much earlier.
Some modern historians believe that the name of this cheese comes from the phrase mas que bueno. It literally translates from Spanish so: more than just good. But many Italians believe it comes from the local name for ricotta cheese ⎼ mascarpia, since
Initially, mascarpone was made from cream skimmed from the milk of black buffaloes, and lemon juice. But today, their milk is mainly used to create another Italian hit - and mascarpone is made from the milk of Alpine cows.
On a note! Such cream cheese contains vitamins of groups A, B, C, K, PP, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, complete proteins and amino acids necessary for the body.
What can replace mascarpone cheese in tiramisu cake
Experienced chefs will tell you that the absence of mascarpone is not a reason to refuse to cook your favorite tiramisu for family and friends. Dessert can be made extraordinarily tasty without this cheese, for which you need to use one of the alternatives below:
- such cheese should be replaced in tiramisu with homemade cream from a mixture for creating pudding and condensed milk;
- a very interesting alternative - a cream of cream, sugar and homemade cottage cheese high fat content;
- there is another successful replacement for rare cheese - glazed curds;
- for lovers of a non-standard approach to suitable for desserts a variant of cream made from cream, cottage cheese and processed cheese without additives;
- when creating cream for tiramisu, you can use another cheese if mascarpone is not available: Mediterranean cream, Almette or rama bonjur.
Many inexperienced housewives are tormented by the question, is it possible to use ricotta as a substitute for mascarpone? Yes, a really good alternative, as they are similar in taste and basic qualities. But in this case, you should choose a sweetish option, and not a smoked-salty one, otherwise, in my opinion, the dessert will have a non-classical taste. Also, I will add that sometimes ricotta is even more difficult to find than mascarpone.
Pastry chef, Yana Ludskikh.
Cream for tiramisu without mascarpone
The original recipe for cream without mascarpone for tiramisu is a variant based on cream and sour cream. The components of the future cream are mixed in equal proportions very carefully until smooth.
No less interesting is the idea of using children's glazed curds, from the surface of which all the chocolate was previously removed. The mass is whipped with heavy cream in a ratio of 2.5:1. Also, for tiramisu, vanilla cheese mass without any additives, mixed with all the same cream and whipped with a mixer to a foamy mass, is suitable.
Curd cream for tiramisu without mascarpone
Mascarpone in the cream of the tiramisu cake is loved by both adults and children. But if you couldn’t find such cheese in the store, you can use cottage cheese mixed with sour cream in equal proportions. Curd mass should have a fat content above 20%. In order to give the mass maximum tenderness and uniformity, it can be whipped for a long time with a whisk or a mixer, but it is better to grind it through a strainer.
Lovers of everything sweet can add sugar to the mixture. And those who like the salty taste of the track can salt it. Ready-made tiramisu with cream a la mascarpone will delight the whole family with its refined taste.
How to replace mascarpone in cheesecake
If mascarpone was not found when making a cheesecake, there are several simple ways get out of the situation. The following options for replacing this expensive cheese will allow you to make a delicious dessert and even save a little.
- Put sour cream in an amount of 1 kg on a gauze sheet folded several times and freeze. After that, take the mass out of the refrigerator and defrost by putting it in a colander. When the excess liquid drains, the remaining cream will be remotely similar to mascarpone.
- Use the curd-cream mixture, whipped into a strong foam with a regular strainer or mixer. The cottage cheese must certainly be fatty, and the cream must be chilled. Gently rub the mixture through a fine sieve over and over again or beat with a mixer until it is soft and weightless.
- Mix 300 grams with sour cream and cream, 3 tbsp. spoons, and then beat the mass to a homogeneous consistency with a whisk. The mass should be airy and very appetizing.
- Add Almetta Fitaki Mediterranean cream and cottage cheese in proportions 2:1:1. Whisk everything well in order to get a delicious cheese-curd mass. This option will be less airy, but very tasty.
Once the optimal alternative is selected and made, the hostess can proceed to the implementation of the tiramisu recipe with her own hands. The end result will certainly resemble the original in its taste and appearance. You can even arrange a competition among friends or family for the largest piece of dessert to someone who guesses what is replaced with mascarpone in cream.
Outcome
If it so happened that it was not possible to get mascarpone, do not deny the family the pleasure of eating tiramisu or cheesecake. There are several options for how you can replace the amazingly tender cheese at home without sacrificing the taste of your favorite delicacy. This will allow you to give your family and friends true contentment, as well as save a little.
You can try real tiramisu, of course, only in Italy. However, if there is no opportunity to ride abroad, it is worth preparing such a delicacy at home: its recipe is not at all a secret. You just need to know how to replace the unique Italian mascarpone cheese.
Each famous dessert has its own origin story. Tiramisu is no exception. It is believed that it was invented in the 17th century by Italian confectioners, who were instructed to impress a high-ranking guest - the Duke of the Medici family, known for his addiction to sweets.
The masters did not disgrace themselves and prepared a completely new dessert, calling it "Duke's Soup". The great gourmet was completely smitten exquisite taste, and, leaving, he took with him a recipe for his favorite delicacy.
The secret of the uniqueness of mascarpone
Why did the proposed delicacy shock the spoiled nobleman so much? The composition of tiramisu, invented by skilled confectioners, included the most delicate mascarpone cream cheese. This amazing product was produced in the province of Lombardy.
Emerald meadows, clean air and clear water - these are the conditions in which the Lombard cows grazed, giving high-quality milk in return. Soft cheese was prepared exclusively from cream, due to which it reached 55% fat content, approaching almost butter.
Simple Alternatives
Needless to say, it is difficult to cook true tiramisu without the “right” cheese. Moreover, the cheese must also be absolutely fresh. You won't find such a rare product in our stores. However, there is no reason to lose heart and deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying an unusually delicious dessert. After all, you can always find a worthy alternative. What can replace Italian mascarpone?
No need to be scared - you don’t have to start a cow! The easiest option is to use fat cottage cheese mixed with cream. By the way, "mascherpa" - just means "cottage cheese" in the dialect of Lombardy.
Soft cream cheese Almette or Philadelphia is also quite able to replace mascarpone. Another possible way: mix the packaging of any cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of 35% cream and 3 tablespoons of 25% sour cream and use the resulting mixture as a cream when making a dessert.
Possible options
However, there are more complex methods for obtaining a worthy analogue, in which you can simultaneously feel like a cheese maker. Of course, reproduce technological process cheese production will not work, but the result achieved will completely allow replacing the "Italian" in tiramisu.
Option one:
- buy in the store 1 kg of fat sour cream (25%);
- hang it overnight, packed in a canvas bag. At the same time, excess liquid will drain, and a product will remain that is very reminiscent of mascarpone in its performance. It comes out to about 500 g - just enough to make homemade tiramisu.
Option two:
- take 800 g of sour cream and one package of kefir;
- mix them, salt to taste, and hang for a couple of days in a linen bag over the sink. As soon as the product hardens enough, this is a signal that the homemade mascarpone is ready.
Option three:
- 1 liter of cream;
- a quarter teaspoon of citric acid.
This cooking method is vaguely reminiscent of the traditional recipe:
- Bring the cream almost to a boil (80 - 90 degrees) - the first bubbles should begin to form. Dilute citric acid in a teaspoon of water and pour, stirring, into hot cream.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer cheese for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes.
- Take another saucepan and place on it a colander lined with a kitchen towel folded in half. Pour the cream into a colander, remembering to periodically stir the future mascarpone with a whisk (to facilitate the draining of the whey).
- The process will take about an hour and a half. By the end the mass will start to resemble thick sour cream. After that, the resulting product must be transferred to a dry bowl and put in the refrigerator, where it will acquire the desired consistency. The amount of homemade mascarpone created in this way can replace 500 g of the original product.
In conclusion, it remains to say: the absence Italian cheese absolutely unable to interfere with enjoying a sophisticated dessert. Especially if there is a firm intention to treat yourself and your family to the famous tiramisu.
Video recipe for making tiramisu without mascarpone
Not every fatty cottage cheese can boast such a delicate creamy texture. Here is the Italian cottage cheese Mascarpone is an exception to the rule, created on the basis of heavy cream.
The true home of production tender cheese Mascarpone is the Italian province of Lombardy (more precisely, the southwestern part of Milan). It was here that the cheese makers found direct use for the cream that remained after the evening sludge of milk and had to be skimmed off before the well-known extra-hard parmesan was to be prepared from it. The skimmed cream was fermented with lemon or acetic acid, were heated and this is how the now world-famous mascarpone curd cheese was obtained.
Mascarpone is soft cheese with a very high fat content, which ranges from 60 to 75 percent. The resulting cheese is the main ingredient in well-known Italian recipes such as tiramisu and cheesecakes.
The texture of the cheese ranges from smooth, creamy, without grit, to buttery, depending on how it was prepared. Outwardly, mascarpone looks like well-whipped cream, from which butter should be made.
If the cheese is made in compliance with all standards, then its color should vary from white to cream. The taste should be mild milky with a flavor characteristic of full-fat milk.
By the way, passing the sparing heat treatment, it retains all the properties of fresh milk, has no preservatives and is not salted at all. Rennet is also not used in production.
Mascarpone cheese composition
Many cheeses, which are completely different from cottage cheese, cannot boast such a fatty buttery taste, as well as a huge amount of chemical components useful for the body. This type of cheese contains:
Carbohydrates;
Essential amino acids (the largest amount is the antioxidant tryptophan);
Vitamin A;
B vitamins (in particular, it contains daily rate nicotinic acid);
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C);
Phylloquinoan (hematopoietic vitamin K);
Important minerals such as potassium, calcium and phosphorus.
The amount of fat in it can reach up to 50 percent, 3 percent protein and 5 percent carbohydrates. With such a fat content, it cannot be a low-calorie product. Therefore, the calorie content of such a soft cheese delicacy is large enough and amounts to 412 kilocalories per 100 grams of product.
Benefits of mascarpone cheese
The beneficial properties of Italian cream cheese, which is not at all like curd mass, are invaluable.
True, there is a certain list of the most striking qualities, which includes:
- Decrease in the level of increased irritability;
- Normalization of mood (you can avoid sudden changes in it);
- Getting rid of insomnia;
- Effective fight against depression;
- Prevention of the negative impact on the body of stress;
- Strengthening the immune system;
- Stimulation of active hematopoiesis;
- Protection from the negative impact of polluted environment;
- Removal of pain in arthritis and arthrosis;
- Strengthening the skeletal system;
- Formation and adjustment of the work of ligaments and muscles;
- Giving elasticity to blood vessels;
- Lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood;
- Strengthening the heart muscle.
Contraindications
Due to its high fat content (despite its exceptional naturalness), mascarpone has a fairly wide range of contraindications for direct use. Among them it is necessary to highlight:
Mascarpone cheese with what to eat and where to use
Mascarpone is the owner of a soft, delicate texture, which is why many chefs call it creamy butter cheese.
Naturally, it can be easily spread on a cake or a piece of bread. They add it to soups, dumplings, risotto, sometimes replacing butter with it in pastries.
Mascarpone cheese can be used:
- In tiramisu or as a filling for desserts such as pies and cheesecake. The rich soft creamy taste of the cheese is an important property for the preparation of these dishes.
- In pasta sauces.
- For thickening and adding richness to dishes such as soups or risottos.
- Instead of butter or margarine. The advantage of this substitution is the lower fat content of mascarpone compared to butter or margarine.
- As a dessert, like whipped cream, served with fruits and berries.
- You can freeze it like ice cream by replacing cream in the recipe.
How to make mascarpone cheese at home
Cream is used to make cheese, not milk. This is a cheese that every housewife can make. For its preparation, no special cheese rennet is used. All it takes is cream lemon acid or vinegar. But first, let's look at the technology of making cheese in its homeland - Italy.
- Fresh cream;
- They added a certain amount of tartaric acid (or rather, white wine) or lemon juice;
- Then all this mass was heated, but not brought to a boil;
- It was then placed in small linen pouches and hung to allow the serum to drain.
The result was a creamy "cottage cheese" (this is how the word "mascarpone" is translated), which had to be consumed within a maximum of a day.
Today, in dairies, everything is simpler:
- The cream is heated, but not boiled, along with a certain amount of citric acid;
- Serum is drained;
- The resulting curd mass is mixed and packed in vacuum plastic packaging of 80-500 grams.
Homemade cheese production is exactly the same. Cream, where citric acid is added, is heated to a temperature of 85 degrees. At this temperature, they ferment, forming a curd mass. Now you need to separate the curd from the whey. The resulting curd mass in gauze is placed in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
What to substitute for mascarpone cheese
A similar substitute in recipes for mascarpone cheese can be ricotta cheese, which is made from cow's milk, or creamy soft cheese.
How to store mascarpone cheese
Mascarpone cheese is a perishable product. Therefore, you need to store it only in the refrigerator. After opening the vacuum package, it is better to use it immediately. Shelf life in the refrigerator is no more than three days. Then the cheese begins to delaminate and deteriorate.
