Homemade Mascarpone Cheese
Rich and creamy, Homemade Mascarpone Cheese cheese lets you treat yourself to an elegant ingredient without searching high and low to locate it! Plus, it’s much less expensive to make at home.
Have you ever wasted half a day calling numerous grocery stores or driving from market to market to locate just one ingredient? Mascarpone can often be hard to track down, but it’s not difficult to make from scratch! You’ll have this rich, buttery, and tangy ingredient available for all sorts of delicious Mascarpone Recipes!
Why You Should Make Mascarpone Cheese
- Until Whole Foods and Fresh Market opened locally, foods like mascarpone cheese were impossible to find in our local grocery stores.
- Making mascarpone from scratch is ridiculously simple, though, and only takes two ingredients and a candy thermometer.
- So besides sharing some yummy recipes utilizing mascarpone, I also will teach you how to whip it up in your own kitchen!
Frequently Asked Questions
Mascarpone Cheese is an Italian cream cheese which hails from the Lombardy region of Italy. Made with heavy cream, it’s definitely richer than American cream cheese and is featured in dessert recipes like Tiramisu. The addition of mascarpone gives desserts a creamy, luscious texture.
It’s also great on scones, instead of clotted cream, along with a smear of jam! According to the Farmers’ Almanac, mascarpone is described as a buttery, double or triple-cream cheese made from cow’s milk which is ivory-colored, soft, and delicate and can be either nearly liquid or similar to butter in texture. Mascarpone can be substituted for cream cheese in many circumstances, though the flavor is slightly different. But it’s also a little looser in texture than cream cheese.
So if using mascarpone in a cookie recipe, for example, it may need a bit of extra flour to reach the right consistency. You can substitute cream cheese for mascarpone in a pinch, but you must mix in some heavy cream to duplicate the texture. Or you can make it at home with two simple ingredients, pasteurized heavy cream, and lemon juice!
Besides the Italian classic, Tiramisu, mascarpone cheese can be used in cheesecakes instead of cream cheese, with a little sugar to garnish desserts instead of whipped cream, and loads of other desserts. Mascarpone Cheesecake with Balsamic Strawberries is one of my favorite cheesecake recipes of all time.
I also love a no-bake Mocha Icebox Cake as well as a nontraditional Berry Tiramisu, too. But Italians have savory mascarpone cheese recipes as well, like as a white pizza sauce, in a rich, pasta sauce or as a soup topping.
Unless you’re Italian or watch a lot of Giada DeLaurentis, you may not know the proper way to pronounce mascarpone. So here goes: mahs-kahr-POH-neh(nay). Now you know!!!
How to Make Mascarpone
All that’s needed to make homemade mascarpone is heavy cream and lemon juice. Who knew? Take some time to find pasteurized heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized heavy cream. The flavor is fresher and definitely superior, but if you cannot find it, don’t fret. I found mine at Whole Foods but I realize that’s not an option for everyone. PRO-Tip: This recipe will work with ultra-pasteurized cream if that’s all you can find.
Steps for Making Homemade Mascarpone Cheese
This Mascarpone Cheese Recipe is easy if you have the right supplies. First, you need an accurate thermometer to make sure you pull the cream mixture off the heat at the proper temperature. Also, hunt down some pasteurized heavy cream. Ultra-pasteurized will work in a pinch, but the results may not be as creamy.
- PRO-Tip: As noted above, read the label and try to track down some pasteurized heavy cream NOT ultra-pasteurized. I find it at Whole Foods.
- PRO-Tip: The process is simple. Pour the cream into a saucepan and cook to 190º F, just to a simmer, not a rolling boil. Use a clip-on thermometer, if available) to monitor the temperature.
- Add lemon juice and cook just until thickened.
- Drain in a cheesecloth-lined strainer and chill and you’ll have 12 ounces of quality mascarpone for little effort and money.
- PRO-Tip: Store covered in an airtight container. Use your homemade mascarpone cheese within 7-10 days.
- If you can’t possibly use all the mascarpone cream, it can be frozen for up to 6 weeks. The quality may not be as quite as good as fresh, but after stirring, it’s perfectly fine to use in recipes.
Useful Tools (affiliate links):
More Recipes You’ll Love:
Here are some delicious recipes using mascarpone cheese plus it would be a scrumptious spread on this yummy Brown Sugar Bread!
- Mascarpone Filled Strawberries
- Individual Tiramisu Parfaits
- Balsamic Raspberries with Mascarpone
- Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake
- Mascarpone Topped Poached Apples
- More Best Dessert Recipes
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This recipe was first shared in November 2014. Text was updated in 2021.
Homemade Mascarpone Cheese Recipe
A simple recipe to make mascarpone cheese at home. Adapted from Pastry Affair.
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream (pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Pour cream into a large sauce pan and heat to a simmer (you don't want it to boil). Stir in lemon juice. With a candy thermometer, monitor the temperature and keep around 190º F. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, till mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Pour through a strainer lined with a double layer of cheesecloth and positioned over a bowl. Flip cheesecloth over top of strainer and refrigerate for 8 hours.
- Scrape cheese from cheesecloth into a storage container and press plastic wrap over the surface.
- Store for up to a week.
Notes
Pasteurized not Ultra-Pasteurized Heavy Cream is preferred, but both will work.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1 tablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 68Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 6mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
80 Comments on “Homemade Mascarpone Cheese”
I have always wanted to make cheese, but I never get around to it. No excuses – I need to give this a try!
This recipe is a crack ! Love it! There is so many recipes using this, like yours !
I love this Liz! I use mascarpone in so many dishes, but it can be hard to find. As a matter of fact, I sent Kevin to the store last night to find some and he came home empty handed LOL
I often forget how lucky I am to live right next door to mainland Europe as Mascarpone is inexpensive and plentiful in all the stores in the UK. But then I have to make my own pumpkin pie spice as its not available in the UK!!! Crazy! I never kew it was this easy to make, I never really thought about it, looks lovely as usual.
Of course you can make homemade mascarpone!! It looks great with its little swirl on top!! 🙂 do you just always have fresh raspberries at your house? ? 😉 happy Sunday to you!
I think you just changed my life! I’m never buying marscarpone again! A little fun fact: I worked at The Fresh Market when I was in high school and the headquarters are in my hometown 🙂
That looks so delicious and I love how you included your other recipes to show how delicious it is to use mascarpone! I have to say that is an easy one for us to find in Canada, creme fraiche is nearly impossible though.
Liz: Oh My God! How I love this recipe. I am making this stat. No more “hunting” for it at the store.
We love homemade cheese! Marscarpone was one of the first that we tried. My 12-year-old is our resident cheese-master. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll have him make some this week!
I had no idea it was so simple! I’ve made homemade ricotta, which is a very similar process.
I SO have to try this! I’ve made my own cottage cheese before – I’m sure I can do this. THANK YOU!!!
Liz, I had no idea that mascarpone was not that easy to find in the USA. Interesting to see how easy it is to whip up – very useful!
This is great! I have been just starting to make cheeses and am realizing that a lot of them are really quite simple (the ones that don’t require aging). I love that you made mascarpone – this is not one that I’ve thought of making before and will definitely be trying. Pinning 🙂
Wow Liz! I never knew it was that easy to make mascarpone. Fabulous!
I love mascarpone and I often make my own as they store bought one I can find here in Australia tastes nothing like the Italian mascarpone I am used to. Beautiful pictures, as always!
The mascarpone does sound really easy to make! I’ve never had it so it would count as a new food for me too:@)
wow! this recipe is insane! I’m always buying mascarpone! Thanks to you, now, I can prepare my own!
Wow! Lemon juice and cream! Who knew indeed. And, yes, gorgeous mascarpone desserts are aplenty in the Skinny kitchen =)
Your post on home made mascarpone is epspecially helpful for people like me who live at places where it is either unavailable or criminally expensive to buy. Thanks for sharing.
How easy is that, Liz! You are so smart. I’ve lived plenty of places where mascarpone was simply not an option. Wish I had known this back then!