Homemade flavored cream cheese is great with fresh or cooked fruits or spread it on toast with jam or preserves.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1 Tablespoon buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon sugar or honey, or to taste
- Kirsch
- Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Preparation:
Combine the ricotta, cottage cheese, buttermilk, and sugar or honey in a food processor and work until the mixture is perfectly smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and process for another few seconds. Flavor with the kirsch and lemon zest, pile into a bowl, and serve.For a sturdier cheese, line a strainer with a piece of rinsed cheesecloth and pour the cheese into it. Twist the ends and then tie them over the handle of a wooden spoon and let the cheese hang over a bowl in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. After it has drained, scrape the cheese off the cloth into a bowl and whisk it together to even out the consistency.
Serve it mounded in a bowl with fresh berries or alongside poached or baked fruits. Or use it as a breakfast cheese, spread on toast with jam or preserved fruits.
Author's Notes: Dry-curd cheese will make a firm-textured cheese that is ideal for molding. Ordinary cottage cheese will be looser and come out more like very thick pouring cream. You could thin it even further with yogurt or sour cream and use it as a sauce over fresh fruit or pancakes. Ricotta has more body, but the texture is a little grainy, so it is best to use no more than half ricotta. You need not hold yourself to the amounts given -- they are really just a point of departure for your own variations and preferences. -- Deborah Madison
Yield: 1 cup
Recipe Source: The Savory Way by Deborah Madison (Bantam)
Reprinted with permission.
