HOW TO: make Mascarpone cheese at home!!

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had "Google" or "Pinterest" not been there? Yieeeps.....scary no?!! We wouldn't have had any new dishes (a.k.a. Pins) to drool upon....and would still be struggling with certain basics in cooking/ baking.....like this one: "Mascarpone cheese"...

For me cheese had always been a savory item....best enjoyed on breads, pizzas, or as it is....until I tasted The Tiramisu....a slice of heaven, on your plate!
That incident had a very dramatic impact on my life...seriously! It not only changed my perception of cheese, but catapulted me into the world of cheese-making as well. I googled, and just loved the fact that some cheeses can be made at home itself! By the way, did you know that our very own docile and homely "curd/ yogurt" is also a form of cheese!! Nice to know that our mothers (and even we) had been "cheese-makers", isn't it?! Great!!!!
This motivated me to try Mascarpone at home....and to my surprise, I found it to be ridiculously easy! Just four steps and you'll be having the creamiest and most luscious thing at hand...yummm!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

300 ml Cream ( I have used 25% fat content Amul Fresh Cream)
1.5 tablespoon lime/ lemon juice
A cheese-cloth
Sieve
2 Pans; one wide-mouthed, and one deep pan to fit into the wide-mouth pan
Some water

WHAT YOU DO:

Pour the cream into your deep pan.
Place the wide-mouthed pan, containing upto 1" water on stove-top at medium heat.
As the water starts boiling, lower the heat so that it is just simmering.
Put your deep pan (containing cream) into the water pan.

The cream will loosen and become runny. Keep stirring continuously, or it will start sticking to the sides.

As it starts to bubble a little (mine took 8 mins to reach this stage), pour in the lemon juice. Stir continuously. The cream will start thickening.
Switch off the flame when the cream coats the back of the spoon, like a custard.

See how thick it is!
Take the pan off the stove-top and let it cool for 5 mins.
Line your sieve with cheese-cloth.

Place the sieve on a bowl to collect the drippings, or, whey.
Pour the curdled coagulated cream onto the cloth and let it cool completely before putting into fridge...

When it has cooled completely, cover the cheese with four corners of the cloth (no need of tying them up), and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
After 24 hours:

 

Look at the structure....it has set and is one solid block of deliciousness, sweet and tangy!

This is the whey that has collected:

On an average, 75% of the cream gets converted into cheese and the rest 25% forms whey, depending on the fat content of the cream. I got 200 gm mascarpone from the above 300 ml 25% cream. I've made mascarpone from heavy cream too; but texture-wise and taste-wise, I prefer 25% fat cream....it tends to be smoother and tastier. The heavy creamy tends to taste greasy.

So here it is....homemade Mascarpone.....yipeee!!

 Take a bite...

Starting with this post, I'm also running a series of "How to:" on some basic items that are often required in baking/ cooking; but are either not easily accessible, or, cost a bomb.....plus, nothing can beat the satisfaction of making a thing from scratch, right?! So there's more to come...:)
Hope this series proves helpful to you all....