No Waste Homemade Cream Cheese

What could be any better than homemade cream cheese.  The fact that it only takes 1 ingredient, is ready in next to no time and there’s no waste.

Homemade cream cheese lasts maybe an hour in our house as everyone loves it.

Here’s what you need:

A bowl or jug, wooden skewer or spoon, a large piece of muslin or cheesecloth, a strainer (optional) and a tub of good quality, full fat yoghurt preferably organic.

Here’s what to do:

Empty yoghurt into cheesecloth inside strainer.

Next you will need to gather cheesecloth up around the yoghurt in order for the whey to drip out.

Tie cheesecloth and knot quite firmly around wooden skewer and hang over bowl or jug. I used a glass jug as my bowl was not deep enough.

While it’s hanging all the whey will separate from the yoghurt. This takes about 12-24 hours.

The finished product!

Store the cheese in an air tight container in the fridge for no longer than a week. The whey can also be stored in a glass jar or container in the fridge ready or when you want to ferment some vegetables!

At first you might think that it’s too sour but after a few mouthfuls I guarantee you will be won over.  My kids were!What is so great about this cream cheese is the taste and the texture – it’s so creamy. Not to mention that it has no gums, numbers or additives like the shop bought ones.

No Waste Homemade Cream Cheese

I mentioned that there’s no waste to this cream cheese, so don’t throw the whey out.  The whey is perfect to ferment vegies and for making pickles and has many nutritional benefits.

• It’s full of minerals and probiotics making it a great digestive aid.
• Store it in the freezer or the fridge to use for fermenting.
• Use it to soak grains with.
• Add to smoothies or juices.
• Some say you can even dab it on pimples.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you do with it.

Here’s some tips:

• Use as a dip with vegie sticks and crackers or spread onto toast.
• Change the flavour by adding:
• Finely chopped spanish onion and a dash of sea salt.
• Finely chopped chilli and crushed garlic and a dash of olive oil.
• Mix through some home made pesto.
• Serve with meat, chicken or fish as an alternative to mayonaise.
• Serve with fruit as a dessert or snack.

Enjoy!