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Homemade Cream Cheese
Many creams for pastry products are properly prepared based on cream cheese. Such cream is suitable for layering cakes, making cheesecakes, and as a filling for various cupcakes. The cheese can be used for spreading on sandwiches at breakfast time.
It is genuinely very simple to make cream cheese at home from simple and accessible products. You will spend no more than five minutes of your active participation in its preparation. As a result, you can get such cheese with the proper taste of simmered milk from the simplest fermented baked milk.
The whole recipe takes about 24 hours total (mostly unattended freezing and thawing). The recipe yields 1 generous serving, perfect for using in cheesecakes or cake fillings.
Preparation time: 24 hours.
Ingredients
Show ingredients
Products for the preparation:
- fermented baked milk (4%) – 2 packages (450 ml each).
Preparation
- Send two packages of fermented baked milk to the freezer for six hours, preferably overnight. It is necessary to achieve proper deep freezing of the product.
- The next day, prepare a deep mixing bowl, place a strainer in it, and cover it with cheesecloth in 4-6 layers. You can also use clean cotton fabric instead.
- Place the frozen fermented baked milk in the strainer, having previously freed it from the package wrapper.
- Cover the fermented baked milk with the fabric and leave it on the table at proper room temperature until completely thawed. This may take a whole day, depending on the room temperature. Do not heat this cheese; it should thaw without any intervention.
- If the cream cheese turns out to be too moist, you can place a small weight on top. This way, the moisture will drain out faster.
- As a result, you will have beautifully smooth and elastic cream cheese at home from fermented baked milk, which has a lovely taste of simmered milk. It is completely unsalted and not sour, since the fermented baked milk was not heated during the process.
Such cheese is perfect alongside morning coffee. You can add powdered sugar to the cheese, carefully mix it into a homogeneous mass, and get a beautifully delicious dessert with seasonal fresh fruits.
Using the same exact technology, you can make cream cheese from kefir (2.5%-3.2% fat content).
Make cream cheese at home according to our recipe. Bon appetit.
Tips and Tricks
Tip 1. Freeze the fermented baked milk thoroughly before thawing through the cheesecloth, since the freeze-thaw cycle naturally separates the cheese curds from the whey without any added rennet or culture. The brief patience for proper deep freezing genuinely matters for the most beautifully smooth finished cream cheese every single time at home. Allow at least 6 hours of freezing for the best results.
Tip 2. Use 4% fat fermented baked milk for the most beautifully creamy finished result, since lower-fat versions produce a noticeably less rich finished cheese. To pair this beautifully simple homemade cream cheese with another properly classic homemade dessert that uses cream cheese as a key component, try our beautifully classic Classic New York Cheesecake as the perfect showcase recipe.
Tip 3. Allow the cheese to drip naturally at room temperature rather than heating it, since heat would denature the proteins and produce a noticeably grainy finished texture. The brief patience for proper room-temperature thawing genuinely matters for the most beautifully smooth finished texture. Place a small weight on top to speed up the draining if pressed for time.
Tip 4. Use the homemade cream cheese for cheesecake fillings, cake frostings, sweet or savoury sandwiches, baked pasta dishes, or even mixed into mashed potatoes for properly varied finished applications. For another properly classic homemade dessert recipe to add variety to your weekly menu, try our beautifully tender royal curd pie in the oven (Tsarskaya Vatrushka) as a contrasting curd-based alternative for properly festive celebration spreads.
FAQ
Can I use kefir instead of fermented baked milk?
Yes, regular kefir works absolutely brilliantly as a substitute for fermented baked milk in this recipe. Use kefir with 2.5% to 3.2% fat content for the best finished result. The kefir version produces a noticeably tangier finished cream cheese with a fresher cleaner flavour profile compared to the warm caramel notes of the fermented baked milk version. Both versions work equally well as cream cheese substitutes in cheesecakes, frostings, dips, and sweet or savoury sandwich spreads at home.
Why won't my cheese drain properly?
Cheese that won't drain usually means either the fermented baked milk was not frozen deeply enough (try a longer freezing time), the cheesecloth has too few layers (use 4-6 layers minimum), or the room is too cold for proper thawing. Move the dripping setup to a warmer room (about 22-24 degrees Celsius) for the best draining speed. You can also gently squeeze the cheesecloth bundle to encourage faster draining if needed for the most beautifully drained finished texture.
How long does this cream cheese keep?
Store the homemade cream cheese covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to one week for best results. The cheese is at its absolute freshest within the first three days, after which it begins to develop slightly tangier notes that some cooks actually prefer. For longer storage, freeze the cream cheese in airtight containers for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using; note that the texture may become slightly grainier after freezing and thawing.
What can I do with the leftover whey?
The drained whey is genuinely nutritious and can be used in many ways: substitute for water in bread baking (produces beautifully tender crumb), add to smoothies for protein, use as the cooking liquid for grains like rice or quinoa, ferment into a probiotic drink, or even use to water acid-loving garden plants. Don't pour the whey down the drain — it's properly valuable and adds flavour and nutrition to many other home-cooked preparations across the week.
