Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Mascarpone filling help please


JeanneCake

Recommended Posts

We have a dessert for one of our clients that calls for a mascarpone filling; made simply with the cheese and confectioner's sugar. Every time they're beating it to death and it separates/curdles.  (We are usually making big quantities, 10# of cheese at a time and using a 20 qt hobart).  Yesterday I had to buy another case of mascarpone because it happened again.  Is anyone out there that makes a smooth (like a meringue buttercream smooth) mascarpone filling that is willing to share a recipe/technique?  I think this stuff curdles/separates because of the fat content and temperature (like when you try to whip buttercream that is still cool) and how long it gets mixed but I can't figure out a good solution.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even with just a few turns of the mixer, it seems to separate.  In RLB's Cake Bible, she uses a stand mixer fitted with a whip and a very small amount of granulated sugar to make a mascarpone cream; we tried this and the first time it worked, but not since.   Her recipe notes that her first attempt at it, it curdled drastically and she just kept beating it and eventually it emulsified and became smooth.  *That's* never happened to us ;) (the smooth part!)

 

I wonder if it needs something else in there besides sugar.  When you make a tiramisu filling (with egg yolks, a few tablespoons of liquor maybe, some sugar); it doesn't separate.  Even the BelGioioso site has you whipping it for a minute with a hand or stand mixer when making a tiramisu dip so I just don't have an answer :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What @jmacnaughtan said.

If you want to incur in less troubles then you can add 30%-50% cream to mascarpone. I mean 30%-50% weigh related, if you have 1000 g mascarpone then add 300-500 g of cream. I'm talking about standard cream for here in Italy, which is 35% fat, don't know what you have for sale there in the USA.

 

 

 

Teo

 

  • Like 1

Teo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Teonzo's suggestion would work.  I've heard that you can whip mascarpone with double cream for a richer chantilly, so you might want to try that.

 

Failing that, you could try not using the Hobart at all.  Put the mascarpone in the bowl, add the sieved sugar and mix by hand, either gently with a large whisk or using a vet's glove and a bowl scraper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Teonzo's suggestion would work.  I've heard that you can whip mascarpone with double cream for a richer chantilly, so you might want to try that.

 

Failing that, you could try not using the Hobart at all.  Put the mascarpone in the bowl, add the sieved sugar and mix by hand, either gently with a large whisk or using a vet's glove and a bowl scraper.

Ok. Vet's glove?   Inquiring minds want to know.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Ok. Vet's glove?   Inquiring minds want to know.

 

A really good technique.

 

Take a vet's glove that goes all the way up your arm and fasten it with a rubber band around your bicep.  Then taking a large bowl scraper in the begloved hand, your arm becomes an enormous mixing tool (and there's no risk of getting arm hairs in the mix).

 

It's the best way I've found for mixing large quantities of stuff, especially when you need to be delicate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

A really good technique.

 

Take a vet's glove that goes all the way up your arm and fasten it with a rubber band around your bicep.  Then taking a large bowl scraper in the begloved hand, your arm becomes an enormous mixing tool (and there's no risk of getting arm hairs in the mix).

 

It's the best way I've found for mixing large quantities of stuff, especially when you need to be delicate.

Like so? Glove. Wow. Who knew.  I bet James Herriot would have loved something like that. I could never don one of those without thinking I was about to deliver a calf!  Amazing how cooks commandeer stuff never intended to be in the kitchen.  

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Amazing how cooks commandeer stuff never intended to be in the kitchen.

 

Well, it should not be that strange after considering this thread!

First time I saw them in a pastry shop I said: "hahhahaha they look like the gloves you use for ____________!" (insert dirty description for the use of vet's gloves). Answer (showing me the box with explicit drawing): "they ARE those gloves...".

 

Back to the topic, @JeanneCake, I would suggest you to check the ingredients listed on your mascarpone package. It's possible they are adding some gums to it to make it firmer, this could cause the troubles you are facing. If so, try another producer that doesn't add gums.

 

 

 

Teo

 

  • Like 2

Teo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My thought was also that it was getting beaten to death, and needed more gentle handling (or, I suppose, machining).

 

Another thought: Serious Eats pointed out that organic confectioner's sugar uses tapioca starch rather than cornstarch, because it's difficult to find organic cornstarch. I wonder if switching this (and therefore switching the starch) would help.

Edited by MelissaH (log)

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

So, an update.

 

It turns out the brand of mascarpone makes all the difference. We used Vermont Creamery today and the results were perfect: it was smooth, creamy, it didn't break or curdle.

 

:) and we didn't even need the vet's glove (ok, we're still using the 20 qt for a few turns).

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...