Cream cheese is what we all love! Cream cheese is used on bagels, crackers, and even cheese balls. But, of course, the most famous use of cream cheese is in cheesecakes. Most of the time, we drop the idea of making cheesecake at home because we are unable to find the Philadelphia cream cheese in the market, especially Asian markets. The same was for me. So I decided to give a try to make cream cheese at home. It is an ideal substitute for the Philadelphia cream cheese. The end result was a delicious cream cheese – I loved the texture! Here is a really easy homemade cream cheese recipe! You can use this for your cheesecake.
Recipe 1 ( which I used)
What you need:
1000 grams/1 litre yogurt ( or homemade curd – curds available in the market are too diluted to form a good quantity of cream cheese)
A strainer
Muslin or cheese cloth
And 12 to 15 hours of your time 🙂
Method:
Cover the strainer with the muslin cloth. Place the strainer on a deep-bottomed vessel. This way you can completely drain the yogurt off the whey (the liquid from the yogurt). Fold the muslin cloth to cover the yogurt and place a heavy utensil on it for a couple of hours. Remove the utensil and allow the yogurt to drain overnight.
Recipe 2: (this involves making the curd at home)
What you need:
1 litre milk
1 tbsp curd ( yogurt can also be used)
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice ( or 2 tsp vinegar)
Method:
1: Boil the milk and pour in the lemon juice or vinegar. Stir till the milk has curdled. This happens when the whey and the milk are completely separated.
2: Pour this in a strainer. Use the straining process as in the first recipe. Pour a glass of cold water on the curd to wash off the tang from the lemon. Leave for an hour to drain the water.
3: Add a spoonful of curd and blend the mixture in a blender. It would turn into a paste. Drain this mixture overnight.
Cream cheese I got from a litre of yogurt
Note:
1: Both recipes would have similar results. The choice is up to individual preferences.
2: Cream cheese has a slight tang to it and has a very creamy texture, hence the name. These characteristics make it different from other types of cheese.
3: For a thicker cream cheese, you can add a quarter cup of cream or use milk with high fat content. ( a swim in cream cheese once in a while is not that bad!)
4: Cream cheese, whether homemade or the commercial, have a short shelf life. You can store it up for 2-3 days or as long as your yogurt is dated.