After a lazy Sunday morning, Kate and I headed to the grocery store to purchase our ingredients. We are fortunate to have a quality nearby dairy farm that sells heavy cream to the local Whole Foods. I later confirmed with Smiling Hill Farms that their cream was 100% dairy with nothing added... just pasteurized at 145F for 30 min. So all set there!
With much anticipation we gathered our new supplies and reviewed/followed instructions for preparation and cleaning. We ended up using a 3 quart pot when the recipe asked for a 2 quart pot... not sure if that would make a difference?
For the record, the lemon was not bleach washed!!
So there's a lot of stirring involved... lot of stirring. I know that now!
Ingredient 3 of 3 added to the mix
The cream starts to coagulate and coats the spoon just as the recipe referenced... we think so anyway.
The heat had to be adjusted towards the end to keep in tune with reaching 180 degrees over 40 minutes, but everything seemed to come together right... into the fridge it goes!
First inspection the next day revealed cheese that looked creamy & smooth with a mellow buttery yellow color. I actually woke up in the middle of the night and checked on it. It had been over 8 hours so I figured it couldn't hurt to peek. Some other recipes I looked at mentioning leaving the cheese to drain in the butter muslin for up to an hour. I stuck to the recipe in Karlin's book, drawing the ends together and squeezing the cheese into a ball to ring out excess moisture.
I was not sure if the muslin should be layered or not. I only used one layer and I don't think it needed more. I was surprised by the thick consistency and how much it stayed together.
Voila.... Mascarpone Cheese!
Tasted and looked great! Creamy & a little sweet.
I would say my first cheese making experience was a huge success. Kate and I had a lot of fun. It's quite the operation, but that's kind of the best part... the ceremony of it all. Gathering the ingredients, getting out the equipment, cleaning and prepping the work space, the mixing of ingredients, the time and attention, the watching and waiting. And at the end of all these things, there's a finished product that is a direct result of those steps and the quality of the process.
Most of the cheese we used to make an entree for a dinner party. It was a hit with enough left over for lunch. Great Success!
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