Cream Cheese Homemade
Cream cheese is a soft, spreadable & mild-tasting fresh cheese made from a combination of cream and milk. Making it yourself means you can do without the stabilisers commonly added to store bought varieties. This homemade cream cheese recipe will result in a slightly more acidic cream cheese than the store-bought stuff, making it amazing for cheese cakes and other desserts.
Makes approximately 350g
Ingredients
- 300ml full cream milk (homogenised)
- 300ml runny whipping cream (not thickened)
- 3 drops or 0.2ml Calcium Chloride
- A tiny pinch (or ¼ ‘drop’ spoon) Mesophilic Starter Culture
- 0.3ml liquid rennet or 1/16th tablet rennet diluted in 15ml cool, non-chlorinated water (boiled then cooled)
- Salt and herbs to taste
Instructions
- Measure out the rennet and dilute in 15ml cool, non-chlorinated water
- Place milk and cream in a heavy-based pot
- Add the calcium chloride to the cold milk and cream
- Warm the milk and cream mixture to 25°C, whilst stirring the base of the pot constantly to prevent scalding
- When you reach 25°C , remove the pot from the heat and add the mesophilic starter culture. Allow the culture to rehydrate for 1 minute before stirring it through
- Add the diluted rennet, and count to 15 as you stir the rennet through the milk and cream, then stop stirring immediately
- Cover the saucepan and and let it sit undisturbed in a warm spot for 20 hours for the cream cheese to set
- After 20 hours the cream cheese should look like a soft set custard, indicating it is ready to be drained
- Gently tip it into a double-layered cheese cloth lined colander and allow it to drain until it reaches the desired consistency (between 4-6 hours). Hang the cheese cloth to speed up the draining time
- The cream cheese will last up to one week in the fridge, although this may vary depending on the freshness of the milk