Mascarpone Cheese
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Overview
Mascarpone cheese is a rich, fresh cheese that is a relative of both cream cheese and ricotta cheese. Mascarpone cheese is prepared in a similar fashion to ricotta, but using cream instead of whole milk. The cream is acidified (often by the direct addition of tartaric acid) and heated to a temperature of 85·C, which results in precipitation of the curd. The curd is then separated from the whey by filtration or mechanical separation. The cheese is lightly salted and usually whipped.