Cream cheese vs mascarpone
Sold side by side and made from different things — one is cultured milk curd, the other is drained acidified cream, and the swap changes both the tang and the set.
The short answer
Mascarpone is often labelled Italian cream cheese and is not one. Cream cheese is made from milk with a starter culture, which is where its distinct cheesy tang comes from; mascarpone is made by acidifying cream directly and draining it, with no culture and no ripening, so it tastes of cream with only a faint sharpness. Because it starts from cream it is much higher in fat and lower in water, and that reverses several behaviours: an icing made with mascarpone is firmer than the cream cheese version rather than softer, and it stabilises whipped cream rather than loosening it. Swapping them is a real change in both directions, and the mascarpone one splits more readily under a mixer.
Where they differ
| Dimension | First | Second |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | Milk, with a starter culture. | Cream, acidified directly and drained. |
| Acidity and flavour | Distinctly tangy and cheesy. | Tastes of cream; only faintly sharp. |
| Fat and water | Lower fat, more than half water. | Much higher fat, less water. |
| In an icing | Softer, and it will not hold a sharp piped edge. | Firmer, and it holds better. |
| Folded into whipped cream | Loosens it, and adds acidity. | Stabilises it — a common reason for using it. |
| Splitting under a mixer | Resists it reasonably well. | Splits readily from cold, because there is more fat and less protein. |
| Reacting with bicarbonate of soda | Enough acid to react in a batter. | Not reliably. |
What ricotta is, and why it is not a third option
Ricotta is asked about in the same breath and belongs to a different category again: it is made from the whey left over from other cheesemaking, so it is low in fat, high in water, and grainy rather than smooth.
In a cheesecake it produces a lighter, drier, more granular set — which is exactly what an Italian-style baked ricotta cheesecake is supposed to be, and exactly what somebody expecting a New York one will read as a failure. In an icing it does not work at all, because there is not enough fat to hold a structure.
So the three are not points on a scale. Cream cheese and mascarpone are close enough to substitute with a stated cost; ricotta is a different ingredient that happens to be white and soft.
Related
Compares
Cultured milk curd against drained acidified cream — the swap changes both the tang and the set.
Cultured milk curd against drained acidified cream — the swap changes both the tang and the set.