Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

Creamy, silky smooth mascarpone cheese that you can make at home instead of paying an arm and a leg for store-bought! This is the perfect introduction to cheesemaking for the beginner, no hard-to-find ingredients, super easy to make, and very rewarding! Use this in tiramisu or other Italian desserts.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6 oz.

Ingredients

• 1  cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Pour whipping cream into a heavy glass bowl; submerge in water (up to the level of the cream in the bowl) in a saucepan.
2. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat until cream reaches 190 degrees (just below the boiling point - it will be very frothy and steamy), stirring frequently. I had a little trouble getting mine quite that hot, so I popped the bowl in the microwave for a few seconds.
3. Keeping bowl in the water, pour in lemon juice and stir continuously until cream becomes very thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
5. Line a fine-mesh strainer or sieve with a coffee filter (you'll need more than one if you double the recipe) and suspend over a bowl. Pour in thickened cream.
6. Once cream cools completely, move the strainer and bowl to the refrigerator. 24 hours later, peel off the coffee filter and put your finished cheese in a container. Or if you're impatient and don't mind it a bit less firm, you can remove it sooner! Makes about 6 oz.