How to Make Homemade Macarpone Cheese

Mascarpone cheese is pretty decadent stuff, and really, an irreplaceable ingredient in any tiramisu and in a thousand other delicious desserts.

It’s also pretty expensive, and unless you’ve got a decent supermarket or Italian grocery store nearby, you may even find getting your hands on some is more effort than making your own would be!

Homemade mascarpone is dead easy. It does require a single specialty item (tartaric acid) but this is very cheap to buy and once you pick up a pack, you’ll be good to go for years of mascarpone making.

Tartaric acid is an acid made from the skin of grapes, and it can be found, generally, in wine making and wine supply stores.

Other than tartaric acid, the only other thing that’s really needed for this (other than heavy cream) is forethought and patience, cause this has to be made a day or so in advance, and it’s best if made three days or so in advance!

How to Make Homemade Mascarpone Cheese

• 1 liter of heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp of tartaric acid
• Cheese cloth, a strainer, a bowl to catch the drippings

1. Add the cream to a pot and set the pot on a stovetop element set to medium low. Stirring constantly, warm the cream until it reaches a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Turn off the heat and sprinkle on your ½ tsp of tartaric acid. Give it a good whisking in and let the cream sit for a minute to coagulate (thicken).
3. After a few minutes, the cream should be noticeably thicker. At this point, fold a double thickness of cheesecloth so that it drapes over the edges of a colander and put the colander in a bowl to collect the drippings. Pour the cream into the cheese cloth and cover the top with cling film.
4. Let the cheese drip and slowly thicken in the fridge for at least a day, or for up to a few days.
5. It is ready to use once thickened to your liking.

Homemade cheese couldn’t be easier than this!