Cream Cheese
A soft, unripened cheese containing at least 33% milk fat, standard for cheesecakes and frostings.
1 Package Cream Cheese = 227g (8 oz) • Minimum fat content: 33% milk fat
Cream cheese is a soft, unripened fresh cheese made from a mixture of milk and cream. By law, it must contain a minimum of 33% milk fat and a maximum moisture content of 55%. In baking, cream cheese is highly valued for its smooth, spreadable texture, rich mouthfeel, and mild, lactic tang. When beaten with sugar and eggs, it forms the dense, custard-like structure characteristic of New York style cheesecakes. It is also the key ingredient in cream cheese frosting, providing enough fat and protein structure to support heavy cake layers while cutting down on the sweetness of powdered sugar.
When baking cheesecakes or frostings, it is critical to use brick-style cream cheese. Spreadable cream cheese sold in plastic tubs has added whey, stabilizers, and water to keep it soft at refrigerator temperatures. Using tub-style cream cheese will cause cheesecakes to turn watery and frostings to become thin and runny.
Using spreadable cream cheese from a tub instead of brick cream cheese. Tub cream cheese contains extra water and stabilizers, which will cause your frostings to melt and run.
US brick cream cheese (like Philadelphia brand) is firmer than European style cream cheese sold in tubs. If using European cream cheese for a cheesecake, drain it through cheesecloth first.
Cheesecakes, cream cheese frostings, danish fillings, and pound cakes.
Replace brick cream cheese with mascarpone (1:1) or drained cottage cheese blended with cream.
Refrigerate in its original foil wrapping. Do not freeze, as freezing breaks the curd structure, turning the cheese crumbly and chalky.
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