Update: Ever since I made this recipe, it has been my go to recipe for all cream cheese based dishes. But recently, I tried one more recipe which I can say that is the best I have made till date. it is so creamy and turns out beautiful in all recipes including frostings. If you are keen on making the perfect cream cheese, please take a look at that post also before deciding on which one to make. Here goes the new Cream Cheese Recipe. https://gayathriscookspot.com/2016/11/the-best-homemade-cream-cheese-recipe/. You can also click on the image to take you to the post.     I have made a video demonstrating the making of cream cheese. Take a look. And if you like it, please like and share it. Also subscribe to my channel on you tube. And read the post. I have shared my experiences with step wise photos too.    And here comes my next post in the Baking Basics Series. When I first heard of cheese cakes and cream cheese, I was so sad that I couldn’t find it in our super market shelves. But then I came across recipes to make it at home and tried it first for the no bake mango cheese cake recipe. Ever since, I do it often and have come to a recipe which gives smooth cream cheese. I have heard that home made cream cheese makes the cheese cake grainy but I have not encountered it. I will discuss some tips and tricks to get a smooth cream cheese at home. Though I can tell you one thing that you cannot compare it to the creaminess of store bought cream cheese. But it is better than the store bought variety as you know what goes into it and is also very cheap. Some of them who tried this recipe gave me the feed back that it is tangy. If you are using fresh curd, then it wouldn’t turn tangy. So make sure that the ingredients are fresh. I make it on the day I set curd so that I can use the most fresh curd to make the cheese. Most of the recipes I saw online use cottage cheese with just two tablespoons of curd but I prefer to use equal amount of curd and cottage cheese. I make cottage cheese with citric acid. Making it with curd can also give you a smooth cheese. While making the cheese, you need to remove the milk once you add the citric acid. Keeping it longer on flame will surely cook the cheese which will in turn make it grainy. Then while draining the cheese from whey do not drain the whey completely. When you squeeze the cheese, there should be a little whey oozing from it. Very dry cheese will result in grainy cream cheese. Next step is grinding it along with curd. Make sure to grind it to a smooth mixture to get creamy cheese. Boil 2 litres of milk in a heavy bottomed pan.   Mix 1/2 tsp of citric acid to 3 tbs of water. Allow it to dissolve.   Once the milk boils, remove from flame and add the citric acid to it.   The milk will curdle immediately. Mix with a spoon until the whey is clear and not cloudy.   Line a sieve with a cotton cloth and pour the cheese into it.   Tie the cloth and let it hang so that the whey drains.   After 25-30 minutes, remove the cheese from the cloth. When you squeeze there should be little whey oozing from it.   Now add the cheese along with equal amount of thick curd or yogurt in a mixer jar.   Grind it to a smooth mixture.   Now once again line a sieve with a cotton cloth and pour the mixture into it.   Once again let the cloth hang to drain the whey.   After 4 hours, you need to refrigerate the cheese so that it doesn’t go sour. Let the cloth hang inside a bowl without touching the floor of the bowl. You need to make sure that the water which gets drained doesn’t go back into the cheese.   Let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next day remove the cheese from the cloth.   Creamy cream cheese is ready to be used in cheese cakes.   I used it in this Eggless No Bake Mango Cheese Cake Recipe.   And also in this Baked Eggless New York Cheese Cake recipe ( recipe coming next month)   My other posts in the Baking Basics Series: Oven Tools Homemade Pan Release Ingredient Substitutes Eggless Baking Flax Gel Dark Chocolate Ganache American Butter Cream Homemade Veg Fondant- Gelatin Free How to do Frozen Butter Cream Transfer / FBCT Italian Meringue Buttercream Homemade Mascarpone Cheese Homemade Cream Cheese