Home made Cream Cheese ~ Mariella

I love cheese, cream cheese especially. But I’m not mad about the preservatives and additives that come with it, especially as many of them are known to aggravate existing allergies. So in other words they turn mild intolerance into adverse reaction! 

And you thought it was the dairy! 

I now make my own cream cheese and its so easy!

First you need to make yoghurt:

http://freshearthorganicfood.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-make-your-own-yoghurt.html

I find that it works out well to make the yoghurt in the evening, leave it overnight and prepare the cream cheese before work so that it’s ready by the time you get home.

Step 1:

Separate the curd and whey - Tip the yoghurt out into a clean cloth. The easiest, tidiest way to do this is to lay the cloth out in a colander in the sink, tip the yoghurt into it and close it up with string to make a little bag. Then tie up the bag above a bottle to catch some of the whey which can then be used in smoothies and cooking. If you’re short on time you can leave the bag in the colander and place a heavy weight on top, placing the colander in a bowl to catch the whey.

 

Step 2:

Turn the cheese out into a bowl. Depending on what consistency you like, you can leave it as is and stir in some salt and pepper/chives/Cayenne pepper etc and serve straight away or bottle and store in the fridge (remember to sterilize your bottle) or you can add your flavourings and blend with a handheld blender to make it smooth.

That’s it! It practically makes itself!