Homemade Cream Cheese
Cream cheese made from scratch is fast, easy and super creamy!
I think like a lot of us, I’m really starting to look around my kitchen and find out just what I can make at home for less money and with better ingredients. I don’t know why I didn’t figure this out sooner, but cream cheese was definitely on that list.
It never occurred to me to make cream cheese at home, but I stumbled across a clip of someone doing it (and I can’t remember where!) and it turns out it is really, really simple. All you need is milk, an acid (I used lemon juice but vinegar will work, too) and a bit of salt.
Homemade cream cheese is almost embarrassingly easy. It’s creamy, tangy and is great for bagels or (of course) cream cheese frosting.
Homemade Cream Cheese
Equipment
- Cheese cloth or nut bag
- Food processor or high-powered blender
Ingredients
- 8 cups whole milk
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat milk until it comes to a boil, stirring periodically.
- As soon as the milk comes to a boil, add in the lemon juice and remove from heat. The milk will immediately begin to curdle.
- Allow the milk to set for about five minutes. Gently stir. You should see curds that have formed.
- Pour milk through a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag (reserve the whey for bread baking!). Rinse the curds with cold water to remove any extra whey.
- Strain the curds and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Add curds to a food processor along with some salt and blend on high for a couple if minutes until mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Store run airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week.
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