Out of the almost 15 billion pounds of cheese sold in the US this year, cream cheese is the queen. According to Nielsen Quick Facts, cream cheese accounts for 10% of all the cheese sold in the United States.
This fresh cheese, made of cow’s milk and sometimes cream, is used for everything from cooking and baking to just eating on its own. Angela Wiggins, spokesperson for Kraft Foods, said Kraft has surveyed consumers to see how they’re using all that cream cheese. The vast majority report using cream cheese as a spread or dip.
It’s obvious that cream cheese is smeared on countless bagels and here in the South we know that many a block of cream cheese has found itself doused with pepper jelly and set out as an hors d’oeuvres offering to be spread on crackers. But for today, we’re focusing on the sweet uses for this creamy favorite.
Cream cheese frosting for carrot cakes is a hands down favorite in many households. There’s just something about that combination of sugar with the tangy flavor of the cheese that appeals to just about everyone. That tanginess makes cream cheese a natural partner for lemon as well.
Cream cheese is widely used as a substitute for part of the fat in pie crusts. In “Cookwise,” Atlanta food chemist Shirley Corriher remarks that cream cheese’s high fat content makes an easy-to-work crust that bakes up with good color. She credits the protein and milk sugars in the cream cheese for that extra help with browning.
Cream cheese is used as a substitute for some of the milk in flans labeled as “Puerto Rican” or “Cuban,” and it makes its way into fillings for all kinds of pastries. Mixed with sugar and an egg or two, it gets swirled into coffee cakes and bar cookies. Cream cheese brownies anyone?
Cream cheese is easy to find. Sold in three- and eight-ounce packages, it’s available in every grocery store. Neufchâtel, also widely available and sometimes labeled “low-fat cream cheese,” is made from whole milk and has 30% less fat than regular cream cheese.
On Hilderbrand Drive in Sandy Springs, Robin Schick of CalyRoad Creamery is making fromage frais, a fresh cheese that is the equivalent in fat content to commercially available Neufchâtel. The creamery makes a variety of cheeses from the fresh fromage frais to hard cheeses like Cheddar and sells its product at 11 metro Atlanta farmers markets from Roswell to the Piedmont Park Green Market.
Their fresh soft cow’s milk cheese is available year round, generally in two flavors, one sweet, one savory. Honey nut and “Italiano” flavored with fresh basil, oregano, thyme, sundried tomatoes, black olives and garlic are favorites. Unflavored fromage frais is available but you’ll have to ask for it.
Fromage frais is made almost every week. The process begins with heating thirty-five gallons of fresh milk from dairy suppliers Johnson Family Farms and Southern Swiss to 145 degrees and holding it for 30 minutes. This low heat pasteurization kills any pathogens or bacteria.
The milk is cooled to 72 degrees, cultures and organic vegetable rennet are added and the mixture is left to sit overnight.
In the morning the mixture is tested for Ph, the curds are cut and then bagged. The bags drain until the next day, the cheese is lightly salted (1% salt to total weight) and then packaged. The 35 gallons of milk will yield about 50 pounds of finished cheese.
The fresh cheese is softer in texture than commercially produced Neufchâtel. The texture is perfect for spreading and would work well in cream cheese fillings. Using it in pastry would require a little experimentation.
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Both cream cheese and Neufchâtel, will work fine in any of these recipes, although Neufchâtel is specified. If you’re using fresh locally made fromage frais, it will work well in the coffee cake, crostata or tiramisu.
Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 16
Cake:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 7 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sour cream
Zest and juice from 2 lemons, divided
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
8 ounces Neufchâtel, softened
Topping:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch tube pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn off mixer and add baking powder, baking soda, salt and eggs. Beat mixture 1 minute, then add sour cream and lemon zest and beat just until mixed. Turn off mixer, add flour and beat again just until mixed. Remove bowl from mixer.
Remove 2 cups batter and set aside. Put remaining batter in prepared tube pan and smooth top. Return bowl to mixer and beat Neufchâtel, lemon juice and remaining 5 tablespoons sugar until fluffy, about 1 minute. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in 1/4 cup reserved batter.
Spread cream cheese mixture over batter in pan, staying 1 inch away from sides of pan. Spread remaining reserved batter over cheese mixture and smooth top. Using a butter knife, gently swirl filling into batter using a figure-8 motion, being careful not to reach all the way to the bottom.
In a small bowl, make topping by combining almonds sugar and zest.
Sprinkle topping evenly over cake batter and gently press into batter to adhere. Bake 45 minutes or until cake is just done. Remove cake to a wire rack and cool 1 hour. Then run a knife around outside edge of tube pan and place a cookie sheet on top. Reverse cake onto cookie sheet and remove pan. Put wire rack on bottom of cake and reverse. Now cake is on wire rack with topping side up. Allow to continue to cool, about 1 hour, before serving.
Adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated magazine, January 2010.
Per serving: 332 calories (percent of calories from fat, 48), 6 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 18 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 91 milligrams cholesterol, 262 milligrams sodium.
Cream Cheese Pastry for Tarts and Cookies
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Makes enough pastry for 24 mini tarts or cookies
Cream Cheese Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 ounces chilled Neufchâtel, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 ounces (1/2 cup) chilled butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, Neufchâtel and butter until clumps form. Turn dough out onto a work surface and gather into two balls. Flatten each into a 1/2-inch thick circle, wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate one hour, up to 2 days.
When ready to use, remove dough from refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature about 5 minutes before rolling out.
Per portion: 65 calories (percent of calories from fat, 68), 1 gram protein, 4 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 14 milligrams cholesterol, 58 miligrams sodium.
Mini Lemon Tarts
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Makes: 24 tarts
Cream Cheese Pastry (see recipe)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.
Roll one circle of dough out to a 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Using a 2 ½-inch cutter, cut out 12 rounds of pastry, gathering scraps and rerolling as needed. Gently press one round into each cup of muffin pan. Repeat with second circle of dough.
Make filling by whisking sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice and sour cream in a medium bowl.
Pour a teaspoon into each pastry-lined muffin cup. Bake tarts 15 minutes or until pastry turns golden. Remove from oven and allow tarts to cool in pan 10 minutes. Then remove tarts to wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
Per tart: 89 calories (percent of calories from fat, 54), 2 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 32 milligrams cholesterol, 65 milligrams sodium.
Cream Cheese Strudel Cookies
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Makes: 24 tarts
Cream Cheese Pastry (see recipe)
1/2 cup jam (we used strawberry)
1/2 cup chopped dried fruit (we used dried cherries)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll one circle of dough out to a 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup jam over rectangle and sprinkle with 1/4 cup dried fruit. Starting with one long side, roll dough up jelly roll-style. Press on seam to secure. Slice roll into 12 pieces and arrange, cut side down, on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with second circle of dough.
Bake cookies until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool.
Per tart: 93 calories (percent of calories from fat, 48), 1 gram protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 14 milligrams cholesterol, 61 milligrams sodium.
Peach and Cream Cheese Crostata
Hands on: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8
1 refrigerated pie crust, room temperature
1/2 (7-ounce) can almond paste
3 ounces Neufchâtel, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large peaches, cut into wedges (peel if desired)
1/4 cup peach jam, heated
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll pie crust out to a 14-inch circle and arrange on baking sheet.
Crust will overlap sides.
In the bowl of a food processor, make filling by combining almond paste, Neufchâtel, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds, and then spread in 10-inch circle in center of pie crust. Arrange peach slices in concentric circles over filling.
Fold sides of crust over filling leaving center exposed. Spoon jam over exposed fruit. Bake tart until crust is browned and peaches are tender, about 30 minutes. Leave tart on baking sheet and allow to cool 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine, August 2006.
Per serving: 254 calories (percent of calories from fat, 44), 5 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 13 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 35 milligrams cholesterol, 198 milligrams sodium.
Chocolate Tiramisu
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes, plus chilling
Serves: 12
1 (1-pound) prepared pound cake, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 1/2 cups strong brewed coffee
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, divided
5 tablespoons coffee liquor, divided
1 pound Neufchâtel, at room temperature
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
6 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided
2 cups heavy cream, very cold
Cocoa powder for dusting
Line bottom of an 8-by-8-inch pan with one layer of pound cake slices, cutting if necessary to fit.
In a one-quart measuring cup, stir together coffee, granulated sugar,
1 tablespoon cocoa and 4 tablespoons coffee liqueur. When sugar is dissolved, pour half this mixture over pound cake slices. Reserve remainder.
In large bowl, whisk together Neufchâtel, chocolate, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and remaining tablespoon coffee liquor. In another bowl, whip cream with remaining tablespoon cocoa and remaining 3 tablespoons powdered sugar until cream forms stiff peaks. Fold half the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and spread evenly over pound cake in pan.
Make a second layer of pound cake slices and pour reserved coffee syrup over cake. Top soaked cake with remaining whipped cream. Put pan in refrigerator to chill at least 2 hours. Dust whipped cream with cocoa when ready to serve.
Per serving: 473 calories (percent of calories from fat, 66), 8 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 35 grams fat (21 grams saturated), 167 milligrams cholesterol, 319 milligrams sodium.
