Mascarpone is an Italian cheese best known as an ingredient in tiramisu. Mascarpone, sometimes called Italian cream cheese, is different from American cream cheese.
Both are rich, but while cream cheese is dense, with a pronounced tanginess, mascarpone is mellower and more buttery and lends a lighter texture to the finished cheese cake.
The high fat content and smooth texture of mascarpone cheese made it suitable as a substitute for cream or butter.
At 70-75% milk fat, mascarpone is almost as high in fat as butter. Its flavor and texture are a cross between cream cheese and butter or similar to a very rich clotted cream.
Delicious in desserts, spread thinly in toast, or swirled into hot pasta, mascarpone is a great alternative to traditional cream cheese.
Mascarpone originated around 1600 in Lombardy region of Northern Italy, where it is believed to have taken its name from Mascherpa, which is the local term for a short of ricotta cheese.
Mascarpone cheese
