These two recipes were the ‘bonus’ recipes of this month’s Baker’s Challenge over at The Daring Kitchen…..the challenging being cannoli if you read my posts a bit below. Now I did not make these bonus recipes but totally thought they are worth sharing. I also do plan on making each soon. I think the idea of making your own ricotta and Mascarpone is just too cool for school! And both recipes looks so easy!
Homemade Ricotta
source of recipe: Brooklyn Farmhouse
Ingredients
8 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Procedure
- Line a large strainer or sieve with cheesecloth and place the strainer over a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, bring milk, cream, and salt to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep milk mixture from scorching.
- Add lemon juice, reduce heat to low and simmer, gently stirring, for 1-2 minutes. The mixture will curdle immediately.
- Pour the mixture in into the lined strainer and let drain for an hour. Discard the liquid and refrigerate the ricotta or use immediately. If you want it really dry, wrap it back up with the cheesecloth, leave it in the strainer over the bowl, weight it down with something heavy, and refrigerate overnight.
Makes about 2 cups.
pics from Wiki Commons
Homemade Mascarpone
source of recipe: Baking Obsession
Ingredients
500 ml whipping (36 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Preparation
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering. Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating. Add the lemon juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir. Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours.
Makes about 12 oz
Since quark in is unavailable to buy around here (northern IL US) I’d love to be able to make it. It’s called for in a couple recipes I have, but haven’t been able to find it. Please share your recipe?
Making mozzarella is also very easy. Just DON’T use ultra-pasteurized milk because it won’t work. I don’t know about the ricotta and the mascarpone. As for getting the rennet? try a local health food store. Worse case – you can order it online. I think I got mine from the NewEngland Cheesemaking site. I don’t have the address anymore, but you could google it. You will also need some citric acid in powder form if my memory serves me right. I”d make mozzarella more often, but finding milk that is NOT ultra-patreurized isn’t easy.
I have indeed made my own ricotta before… and you’re inspiring me to make it more often. The recipe you share is quite different from the one I used, but I like the addition of the cream – must make for a creamier ricotta for sure!
I have been wanting to make my own cheese for such a long time, but I haven’t been able to find rennet anywhere (there’s a rumor that they have it at Hamel in the Jean Talon Market) but for some reason Ricotta never crossed my mind. I will have to try! This looks SO SO good and congrats on the Food Buzz 🙂
I have my first try at mascarpone in the fridge firming up since last night. A little liquidy stil but yummy!
Interesting. Didn’t know making cheese is so easy!
This might be next project, making homemade cheese. Great job, Evelyne!
I’ve been wanting to make these for ages too! I suspect I may continue meaning to do it indefinitely… In any case, it’s nice to know SOMEONE is out there making such cool things from scratch. You gonna milk the cow yourself next time? 🙂
I have been meaning to do this forever! So cool.
I just made my first cheese (Quark). You definitely need to make the ricotta and mascarpone. It’s super easy and the freshly made cheese tastes better than anything packaged you could buy – at any price.
Oh…care to share that Quark recipe???
Ah thank you to both of you. it means a lot.
Humm yes interesting competition with your hubby Claudia lol. Looking forward to meeting you very soon.
Hi Evelyne…I was so pleased that hubby and I were home cooking up a storm when all of a sudden your segment on ‘Sunday Bites’ came on to entertain us with your moment of fame.
If you were nervous…it did not show…you seemed so collected…as if you were born to be on television!
Although…got to tell you…thank god it wasn’t too long…we were a few seconds short of burning our ‘Ricotta patties‘. Speaking of Ricotta…great appealing article (and thanks for sharing) on homemade Ricotta and Mascarpone.
Coincidentally…hubby works for the largest cheese company in Montreal…the competition is on!
By the way…FYI…the cannolis at ‘Alati’ are slightly over-rated. I’ve been fortunate enough to have fresh ones fed to us by some Sicilian family members on my sis-in-laws side…yummy…a meal in itself! Also, lately on my visit to Sicily…I got a mouthful of the original…wow…quite different indeed!
Tell you what…I’ll ask around…and by the time I FINALLY have the chance to meet you in person at our next ‘Meetup’ … I’ll have a small list for you!
Now back to work for me…enough chitter chatter…I’ll keep some for our REAL chat.
Ta, and keep up the great blog!
Evelyne – I am super impressed with your efforts this month! All this and a TV star too? Chanceuse!