Homemade cream cheese

Carrot cake is my absolute favorite cake! The spices cinnamon and nutmeg make it such a homely recipe, offering some much needed warmth in this Nairobi cold weather. Check out this post for my recipe on carrot cake.

But carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is on another level! Cream cheese is THE game changer. Unfortunately, cream cheese isn’t soft on the pocket. It’s in the range of ksh 600. I wasn’t about to spend that much money so frequently.

I had heard that you could make it at home with fresh milk -the full fat type- but that too wasn’t in high supply in my area. But God! I found several recipes that suggested you could use any type of milk, so here’s my take on cream cheese at home. I hope it brings you as much joy as it did me! #TasteAndSee #QuarantineRecipes

Homemade Cream cheese

Prep time: 20 minutes

What you will need:

• 1 litre (4 cups) whole milk
• 2 tablespoons vinegar/lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• clean scarf/fine-mesh sieve/cheesecloth

Steps: (Recipe makes about a cup of cream cheese)

1. Boil the milk over medium heat while stirring and bring it to a roaring boil. i.e. just before it starts rising. Keep your eye on it because you know how milk is..hehe…one glance away and you have a whole mess on your cooker!
2. Pour in the vinegar /lemon juice . The milk will start to curdle i.e. small white lumps will form.
3. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the milk fully curdles, for around 5 minutes.
4. Spread the scarf/sieve /cheese cloth over a bowl. Pour the milk mixture over it and let the whey drain out for 15 mins.

 

Cream cheese can actually be used as is in salads, but for cream cheese frosting, an extra step of blending or hand mixing is needed. The drained whey can be used to replace water in rice and pasta recipes, to replace milk in smoothies and to replace buttermilk in cakes, breads and pastries. So don’t throw it away. 🙂

Cream cheese frosting 

What you will need:

• 1 cup of cream cheese (plus a teaspoon of whey)
• 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine
• 2 tablespoons of icing sugar

Steps:

1. Blend the cream cheese and whey until it becomes white and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or blender.
2. Add the butter and margarine and blend for a short while, about a minute.
3. Do a joyful dance because your coins have been saved and you’ve got cream cheese frosting. Spread your frosting on your carrot cake or cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

Share this recipe and tag me @muenimuli  when you try it. Grace and peace! #TasteAndSee

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.”  3 John 1:2 (NIV)