Who has never tried this delicious and very creamy cheese that you can find in Tiramisù and that's also eaten for Christmas? :)
Yes exactly: cheese. Indeed not everyone knows that mascarpone is a cheese, full of fats and therefore very caloric, with a white or light-yellow colour and sweet flavour. The difference with other types of cheese is that mascarpone doesn’t come directly from milk but from milk cream (the liquid cream also used in some dishes) where citric acid is added. It is then worked at high temperatures (80-90°C) and since it is not an aged cheese, after cooling down for 24 hours it is ready to be consumed.
Yes exactly: cheese. Indeed not everyone knows that mascarpone is a cheese, full of fats and therefore very caloric, with a white or light-yellow colour and sweet flavour. The difference with other types of cheese is that mascarpone doesn’t come directly from milk but from milk cream (the liquid cream also used in some dishes) where citric acid is added. It is then worked at high temperatures (80-90°C) and since it is not an aged cheese, after cooling down for 24 hours it is ready to be consumed.
Mascarpone’s origins aren’t very clear. The recipe has been known for centuries and it was created in the Padana Plain, an area of Lombardy, in Northern Italy. The name itself could come from the name of a farm called Mascherpa, or more likely, from the local dialect where the term mascherpa or mascarpia was used to indicate ricotta cheese or cream.
Abroad mascarpone is often called Cream Cheese, like Philadeplphia cheese that is spread on bread, but there’s no similarity between this cheese and mascarpone, neither in terms of production process & technology nor for what concerns the nutritional values and the taste.
Mascarpone is used to prepare plenty of desserts and creams, first of all Tiramisù (here you can find the berry one and the chocolate one), but it is also very used during Christmas where it is served with Panettone or Pandoro, especially in the North of Italy.
Here mascarpone is mixed with sugar and eggs (only yolks or the whole egg, depending on the recipe) and sometimes also with rhum. Its is usually eaten together with Panettone as a side-cream, although in many cases Panettone or Pandoro get stuffed with mascarpone cream so that once the dessert is cut into slices you’ll immediately find a layer of mascarpone.
Although it is not the first things that comes to a person’s mind, mascarpone is also used instead of butter when fat is needed to season a dish: it is in fact one of the main ingredients of some pasta sauces, salty creams for appetizers or for gravies in main courses.
Despite this, it is mainly used in desserts.
You can get very creative with mascarpone, stuffing cakes, mixed with custard or Nutella, or as a cream to be eaten alone. There are many different versions of the classic recipe that do not include eggs or that mix mascarpone with chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, lemon or strawberries.
And you? How do you use mascarpone? Have you tried it only in Tiramisù? Comment below & let me know!
See you soon with the next "Italian Christmas Desserts" post! :)
PS: Find out more about Panettone and Pandoro!
PS: Find out more about Panettone and Pandoro!
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