Julie's Fake Mascarpone Cheese - Homemade Substitute

One day I needed Mascarpone cheese to go with some berries and I looked in 3 of our 4 small towns and none was to be had so I came up with this easy version. For the flavor I used vanilla but lemon would do. This came out to only 545 calories for the whle batch.

• Ready In: 5 mins
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 1 cup

Ingredients

• 4  ounces  neufchatel cheese
• 1⁄2 cup  whipping cream
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 1  teaspoon real vanilla

Directions

1. Using an electric hand mixer, cream the cheese slightly then add all the remaining ingredients. Beat 1 or 2 minutes watching carefully so that the texture thickens slightly but not turning to butter.
2. Yield is about 1 and 1/3 cups.