Can I make my own cream cheese?

Good question, reader Babs! The answer is yes…and no. Home-made cream cheese can be very good, but when made with home kitchen equipment it comes out quite crumbly compared to the stuff you get in the foil packet.

Why? The reason is that cream cheese’s consistency is dependent on precise timing and control of temperature. Cream cheese is made by warming a milk/cream mixture that contains a bacterial culture and allowing it to ferment…but only briefly. The reason, because one of the by-products of fermentation, as you fermented dairy freaks out there already know, is acid — and acid causes coagulation and curds.

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Where does cream cheese come from?

So we know when cream cheese came to Japan, and from where: commercial cheese makers in America and regions Down Under, about the year 1980. But then where did those guys get it? Who invented cream cheese to begin with? The answer is: a dairyman from Chester, New York by the name of William Lawrence. He’s said to have accidentally invented cream cheese in 1872 while attempting to create a short-ripened American version of the soft French cheese, Neufchâtel. He failed, but the rest, as they say, is history.

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Chee-zoo-kaykee

My little girls love the sound of that word so much I don’t think they’ll ever pronounce “cheesecake” the same way again. But the time has come to ask: what is the technical difference between an American cheesecake and a Japanese one? I’m inclined to state the answer this way: American cheesecakes are custards, albeit very thick ones, and Japanese cheesecakes are soufflés. Again, very thick ones.

Look at the process for mixing a soufflé, then the process for mixing a Japanese cheesecake and you’ll find the two are very similar. Both involve combining a cheese and egg yolk-rich base mixture with an egg white foam, then baking the batter. The difference lies in the fact that a Japanese cheesecake batter has quite a bit more structural material in it, so it’s not inclined to fall like a soufflé.

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Wait, they eat cheesecake in Japan?

I didn’t know they even ate cheese there! But in fact they do. Despite what we here in the West hear about Asian disdain for beef and dairy, the fact is that both are now quite common in the Far Eastern regions of the globe. In fact Japan has become famous for besting the French at their own game, producing some of the finest brioche and laminated pastry in the world. Quite a reversal from the old days of barbarian invasions and butter stinkers, wouldn’t you say?

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On Instant & Active Dry

Reader Chia writes in to ask:

Why do we have to choose between instant and active dry yeasts? Which one do you recommend? How do I substitute one with the other? How do you keep the freshness when one buys that huge bag from CostCo or Sam’s?

Very good questions, Chia. Thanks for asking! I use instant yeast (SAF Red or sometimes SAF Gold) almost exclusively for one reason: it’s less fuss. Unlike active dry, instant yeast can be added directly to any recipe that calls for yeast, no “proving” necessary.

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Japanese Cheesecake Recipe

This mixing technique is a little unconventional, but heck, I’m game:

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) butter
8 ounces cream cheese
3 ounces (1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon) milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 egg yolks, room temperature
2 ounces (generous 1/2 cup) cake flour
1 ounce (1/4 cup) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
5.25 ounces (3/4 cup) granulated sugar

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Next Up: Japanese Cheesecake

Here’s something that I have absolutely no experience with, but I was so intrigued by the request that I felt I had to at least try it. Japanese cheesecake is apparently a soufflé-like version of the heavy classic that turns some people (like me) off. And anyway I feel like I need to pump up […]

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On Buttermilk Substitutes

Reader Jud writes:

There are several favorite baking recipes of mine that require buttermilk. Inevitably, I have to make a trip to the store to buy fresh buttermilk if i want to use one of them. I’d like to be able to substitute powdered buttermilk that has been rehydrated. My problem is that there appears to be two types of powdered buttermilk at stores – the kind I apparently mistakenly just bought, which makes a thin “sweet buttermilk” drinkable variety (my wife tells me this is what buttermilk originally was) – and the kind that is a powdered version of the sour buttermilk we find in store dairy cases.

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