Who doesn’t love delicious desserts? A delicious basic ingredient, especially for Italian desserts in Mascarpone a delicious Italian cream cheese. Mascarpone is used in the well-known and popular Italian dessert tiramisu, but can also be used in other dessert recipes
Mascarpone
Discovered around 1600, Mascarpone originates from Lombardy, southwest of Milan, in northern Italy. Mascarpone is a thick, intensely rich cream cheese with a high fat content (38-42 percent). Mascarpone is prepared by heating semi-skimmed cream to about 90 degrees Celsius. The cream is acidified with (lemon) acid and must then cool. After 12 hours the whey is drained. The cheese is then stored in cheesecloth or in porous barrels so that it can drain further to the desired thickness. Due to the high fat percentage, mascarpone can be used as a kind of cream in very different dishes. Mascarpone is often used as a base in various desserts. Mascarpone is used, among other things, in the well-known Italian dessert tiramisu.
Savory uses
In addition to being used in desserts, Mascarpone is also used in savory applications. The rich cheese lends itself well to savory pies. Sometimes it is mixed with gorgonzola and used for topping crostinies and crackers. Marscarpone is generally eaten very young. Italian cheese is often compared to yogurt because the two products use similar manufacturing processes.
Mascarpone de Italia
Preparation time: approx. 15 minutes
Necessities
- 2 cups of mascarpone
- 250 ml of whipped cream
- liquid sweetener or sugar to taste
- 1 bag of cantuccini (Italian almond biscuits)
- 250 grams of strawberries
Preparation method
Wash the strawberries and keep 4 beautiful strawberries separately. Cut the rest of the strawberries into pieces and keep the strawberry pieces separately (under foil). Break the cantuccini into small pieces and keep them separately to avoid softening. Beat the whipped cream with sugar or sweetener until stiff. Put the mascarpone in a bowl and stir it a little. Then mix it with the whipped cream. Then mix in the strawberries and leave it covered in the fridge until you need it. Just before serving, mix the broken cantuccini into the mixture and put it into nice glasses. Consider, for example, a small ice cream sundae.
Garnish
Garnish the dessert with a sprinkle of whipped cream and, for decoration, with the strawberries that you have set aside.
variation tip
For a tropical version, replace the strawberries with 200 grams of mango cubes or 200 grams of sliced peaches.
Italian Dream
Preparation time: approx. 20 minutes
Waiting time: at least 1 hour in the refrigerator
Necessities (4 persons)
- 50 grams of white raisins
- 6 macaroons
- 1 dl Amaretto
- 250 grams of Mascarpone
- 2 dl lawyer
- 4 thin wafer rolls with chocolate
Preparation method
Put the white raisins in a bowl. Cut the macaroons into pieces and add them to the raisins. Pour in the Amaretto and let it soak for about 10 minutes. In another bowl, stir the Mascarpone and eggnog until smooth. Add raisins, macaroons and Amaretto and mix well. Divide the cream over 4 sections and put the cream in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Garnish the Italian dream with the wafer rolls.