Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Homemade mascarpone with Tawari honey, pistachio and dried strawberries Making mascarpone at home is one of my favourite occupations these days! A part from the 'magic' of it, and the resemblance to a chemistry experiment (I made this with Max, actually, he made it with me in the background giving instructions and liked doing it!) it is also so much cheaper, fresh and delicious that the one you buy!  For the mascarpone recipe just click   here , it is easier that you may think! When the mascarpone is ready just add a tbsp of honey (I used  Airborne Tawari Honey ) and fold. Divide the mascarpone into 4 cups and it is ready to be eaten or topped with what you fancy.  For this recipe I just toasted a few pistachios in a pan, then I rub them with a tea towel to take away loose skins and chopped them coarsely. Then I also added some  Fresh As  dried strawberries, crunchy and full of flavour and aroma. A simple dessert that everyone loved...

Making mascarpone at home is one of my favourite occupations these days! A part from the 'magic' of it, and the resemblance to a chemistry experiment (I made this with Max, actually, he made it with me in the background giving instructions and liked doing it!) it is also so much cheaper, fresh and delicious that the one you buy!  For the mascarpone recipe just click   here , it is easier that you may think! When the mascarpone is ready just add a tbsp of honey (I used Tawari) and fold. Divide the mascarpone into 4 cups and it is ready to be eaten or topped with what you fancy.  This time I just toasted a few pistachios in a pan, then I rub them with a tea towel to take away loose skins and chopped them coarsely. Then I also added some  Fresh As  dried strawberries, crunchy and full of flavour and aroma. A simple dessert that everyone loved! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

To make mascarpone at home you can use just cream or a mixture of cream and milk, plus citric acid. Lemon juice can be used instead of citric acid, and if you have lemons (preferably not Meyer lemons, but some more acidic lemons)  you can use lemon juice, but citric acid is easy to measure. Some bloggers make a similar recipe and call the result ricotta (or  creamy ricotta ), but don't be fooled, they are mistaken (or idiots) and this is NOT ricotta, ricotta is a totally different product made in a totally different way and with different ingredients. You can find a recipe for ricotta  here  or, even better,  here .  Mascarpone is delicious, rich and fat, it is used in many Italian desserts or cheese dishes (like torta di mascarpone and gorgonzola) and of course the more cream you add the highest the fat content. I used 300 ml of cream and 200 ml of full fat (grey top) milk and 4-5 g of citric acid diluted in 50 ml of hot water (the lower the d...

This is not a recipe really, more a nice way to eat mascarpone , which is another typical product of Lombardy, Italy. Mascarpone is mostly know overseas as an ingredient for tiramis ù, but it is so nice and creamy that I could just eat it by itself!!! Here I just spooned some mascarpone into glasses, then I added some raspberries and some chestnut honey (one of my favourite kinds of honey, organic, form Mielizia ). Quick and perfect! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©