Mascarpone is a soft Italian sweet
cream cheese, white in color and easily spreadable. It is widely used in the Italian cuisine, mainly as the main ingredient in the famous Italian Tiramisu dessert. It is also used in many other sweet or savory recipes.
Mascarpone does not require any aging, therefore it can easily be made at home by heating
cream to about 80 C and then adding citric or tartaric acid or even lemon juice. When the acid is added the
cream begins to curdle. At this stage, the
cream is transferred to a cheese cloth and strained in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. What you end up with is homemade Mascarpone cheese.
Mascarpone cheese is available in supermarkets worldwide in plastic bowls of usually 250g, 300g or 500g.