Cheese and charcuterie · Italian cuisine
Mascarpone
Creamy Lombard cheese made from cream set by acid and heat, without rennet – the base of tiramisu.
At a glance
- Origin
- Lombardy, especially the province of Lodi; PAT (Mascarpone artigianale), no PDO.
- Milk
- Cream, set while hot with citric acid.
- Ageing
- Not aged; a fresh cheese.
- Use
- Tiramisu and sweet creams.
- Substitutes
- At a pinch a thick full-fat cream cheese; in tiramisu the swap changes the taste and texture of the cream.
Mascarpone is a fresh, creamy cheese made not from milk but from cream. Cream separated from milk is heated in a water bath to about 90 °C, citric acid is added and the coagulated mass is drained in a fine cloth; no rennet is used.
It comes from Lombardy, especially the area around Lodi. As “Mascarpone artigianale” it is entered in Lombardy’s list of traditional agri-food products (PAT), with the Po Valley and above all the province of Lodi as its area; it has no protected designation of origin. It is smooth, thick and very rich in fat.
Unlike ricotta, which is made from whey, mascarpone is made from cream and is therefore far richer. It is the base of tiramisu and of sweet creams.