Mozzarella Recipe

Mozzarella can be a very difficult cheese to make. It will turn out like cheese but quite often it will not stretch correctly. Lots of recipes are harder than they need be so here's a great simple recipe that (usually) works.

2 gallons cold milk
3 teaspoons citric acid (this may vary with the milk taking more or less)
Liquid Rennet
Mesophilic starter packet (optional)

dissolve citric acid in warm water and stir into cold milk
Bring milk temp up to 90 degrees
You may add lactic culture to develop flavor (1 packet of Mesophilic starter culture)
stir in 1 teaspoon liquid rennet diluted in 1 cup of water
Let set for 1/2 hour cut into small cubes
stir gently slowly raising temperature to 95
When curds settle to bottom of vat
drain off whey and cover curds with 145 degree water
Stretch curds , form balls and drop in cold water

Let us know how this recipe works for you!

Tiramisu

Check out this great post on our "From Cheese to Tiramisu" class, complete with recipes! You will make some of the best tiramisu you've ever had all because of the homemade cheese. One of the easiest and most impressive deserts out there!

From Cheese to Tiramisu

That's right, we have a brand new class posted. In this class you not only learn how to make cheese but you also learn how to turn it into fabulous tiramisu!

A great beginning cheese class and also a great class for anyone that wants to make truly fantastic tiramisu.

As noted on the website, please sign up for this one early as our last class was well over 100 people and we're limiting attendance for this one to 100 people.

Here's the link to the class. Hope to see you there!

Tiramisu Part 2

Here you go. Between this and the mascarpone you made yourself you will have the best tiramisu you've ever had. It's really quite easy honestly, even the cheese making part so don't let it scare you away!

3 eggs separated
2 cups mascarpone at room temperature
2t vanilla sugar or 1 sachet of vanilla sugar
(note: you can make your own vanilla sugar by placing one vanilla bean into
a jar of sugar- let sit for at least a week)
¾ cup cold, very strong black coffee (instant espresso works great)
¾ cup kahlua or other coffee-flavored liquor
1 large package of ladyfingers (at least 20 total)
unsweetened cocoa powder

Put egg whites into a mixing bowl and whisk until they form medium stiff peaks.
Combine mascarpone, egg yolks and sugar in another bowl.
Fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.

Put a few spoonfuls of the mix at the bottom of your serving pan and spread out evenly (a 9x9 glass dish works about right for this)

Pour the coffee and the liquor into a shallow dish and stir to combine.
Dip the first layer of lady fingers quickly (they don’t need to be soaked through) and place on top of the mascarpone in the serving pan next to each other. Tiramisu is sort of like lasagna so basically make a layer of soaked cookies.
Spoon ½ of what you have left of the cheese mix on top of the cookies and spread evenly.
Make another layer of cookies soaking these ones a bit longer (remember, the liquid goes to the bottom, thus no need to soak the bottom layer for too long. Your cookies should never be falling apart on you or you’ve soaked them too much).
Cover this layer with the cheese mix and dust with the cocoa powder.
Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight.

Note: you may need more coffee, liquor or cookies. It’s always a good idea to have extras on hand.

The Best Tiramisu

I often say that I make some of the best tiramisu but honestly it has nothing to do with me or some secret recipe. The key is using mascarpone you make yourself. It's not hard to do and is much less expensive then buying it in a store. So here's the first part in a two part series on making your own best tiramisu...

Mascarpone with tartaric acid

1 quart light cream or half-and-half (you can also use a pint of each).
1/8-1/4 teaspoon tartaric acid

1. Heat cream to 185°F (or more- up to about 200, just make sure it's AT LEAST 185).
2. Add 1/8 teaspoon tartaric acid and stir for several minutes. The mixture will slowly thicken into a runny cream-of-wheat consistency, with tiny flecks of curd. If the cream does not coagulate, add a speck more of the tartaric acid and stir for another 5 minutes. Be careful not to add too much tartaric acid or a grainy texture will result.
3. Line a colander with a double layer of high quality cheesecloth. Pour the curd into the colander and drain for 1 hour for a traditional mascarpone texture. Drain for up to 12 hours in a refrigerator for a whipped cream cheese texture.

If you're worried that you've gotten enough curd and used enough tartaric acid simply drain the first time into another clean pot. If you didn't put enough tartaric in the first time you can just repeat the process with the stuff that drained through.
4. Place the finished cheese in a covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Yield: about 1 pound