Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe is one of the easiest you could make and makes a good base for all kinds of cheesecakes and cakes. Made with just two ingredients, this is a really good alternative for store bought cream cheese.
Store bought cream cheese is very expensive and if you are a home baker and making cheesecakes for orders, then it is better to make homemade cream cheese and it will bring your final cost down. The cream cheese also bakes really well and is very tasty.
Type of cream to use for Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe
Low fat cream is the base for cream cheese. It can be of any brand. As Amul blue pack is easily available, I generally use it for cream cheese. But you can also use Milky Mist or any other brand available at your place. If you live in UK, go for single cream and if USA, then go for half and half. Milk doesn’t give you creamy soft cheese.
Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe – Why Citric acid
The process is similar to making paneer but instead of milk, we use low fat cream. And the curdled cream also won’t resemble curdled milk. The curdled cream resembles thick yogurt. But when we drain this yogurt like mix, we get amazingly smooth and creamy cream cheese and a clear whey.
If the main aim is to curdle cream, why not use vinegar or lemon juice instead? As you know, I do lots of experiments before finalizing any recipe. The versions that used vinegar or lemon juice would make cream cheese that resembles citric acid version, but if used for baking, they won’t set at all. The cheesecake would remain liquid even if you bake it for 2 hours and set it overnight in fridge.
When I took a cheesecake class, some of the students also experimented this and found it the hard way. So if you don’t want to waste a whole pack of cream, please don’t use lemon or vinegar.
The sourness of the cream cheese can be also be customized. Some prefer it less sour and some want it more sour. By increasing or decreasing the quantity of citric acid used, you can easily customize the sourness.
It takes just an hour for the whey to drain and your cream cheese to be ready. It is really quick. I have another cream cheese recipe that is my go to recipe, made with a combination of milk and cream and rennet is used to set the cheese. This is my second best. And a quicker version too.
Can I use this for frosting
I haven’t yet tested this recipe for frostings. If you want it to whip up perfectly, then use my Cream Cheese with Rennet(click on the name for recipe). It makes amazing frosting recipes without melting.
As usual, I made a short video demonstrating the process. It can be watched from Instagram app. Don’t forget to follow my profile to get more updates on day to day baking I do.
Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 ml Amul Fresh Cream
- 1/2 tsp Citric Acid
- 2 tbs Water
Instructions
- Heat the cream in a pan until hot to touch.
- Mix citric acid and water until it dissolves.
- Add this water to the hot cream and mix well.
- The cream will start thickening.
- Pour this thick cream into cloth lined sieve and set aside for one hour.
- Transfer cheese to an airtight box and use it as mentioned in the recipe.
I cannot have dairy due to allergy. could I use canned coconut milk? or coconut cream?
I am not sure how it would turn out. May be try a small batch and see how it goes?
Can we use malai(paal edu) instead of cream?
I don’t think it will work as malai from milk is not very creamy.
How long can I store this? And how much quantity of cream cheese this recipe will yield for?
For one litre of cream, you get nearly 650 gm of cream cheese. And it stays well for a week in fridge.