Cream cheese
Dairy
Spreadable soft cheese for fillings, dips and frostings — it holds its shape warm instead of running.
What to know
Take it out of the fridge half an hour before you use it. Cold cream cheese beaten straight from the tub stays lumpy, and the lumps do not smooth out later.
- Choosing it
- The tub sort, not the spreadable-triangle sort — processed spreads carry more water and loosen when they warm.
- Storing it
- Refrigerate sealed and use within a week of opening; it takes up other smells from the fridge readily.
- If you cannot get it
- Widely sold in Indian cities. Curd hung overnight in muslin until it stops dripping, then beaten smooth, stands in for it in a filling — sharper and looser, but it works.Try: curd
- Allergens
- milk
Measures
- 1 cup ≈ 195 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 15 g
Cups here are the Indian 200 ml cup, not the 240 ml US cup — a common reason a recipe does not work. Weigh where you can; the grams are the figure we cook to.