Cream cheese: Uses, brands, tips

[yellowmnm81]

hello! i'm emily... i'm new to egullet but have had fun reading all the posts. i love baking and pastry.. i'm sure all of you do heh.

the reason why i am posting is because i have a bake sale coming up for church and i wanted to know what are usually good things to make for one? and i also was hoping that it could include cream cheese somehow.. i got some a while back to make something but i ended up not so now i have a lot of cream cheese sitting in my refrigerator that needs to be used up sooo.. if there are any suggestions/recipes.. that would be fantastic.. thanks!!

[nightscotsman]

Welcome yellowmnm81!

The obvious thing that comes to mind is cheesecake - but I'm sure you've thought of that already. You could do carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, or I'm sure there are bar cookie recipes out there that use it too. What do you like to make - cakes, cookies, pies, tarts? Are you thinking large, multiple serving items, or small individual things?

You might also want to check out this previous thread discussing options for a "baked goods stall": click.

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome. Long story I'll try to make short. My mother participated in a bake sale for years. Actually she baked all the items with no other particapants. My mother is a professional chef/pastry chef so she had alot of experience and ideas to bring to this type of event. Sister and I would help lug stuff for her.

So what I learned. People buy what people are familar with. Items they would have baked themselves but don't have time. Even though something was great tasting, with-out giving them samples to taste it first-it doesn't sell so well. Looks/presentation was extremely important. You have to cut your items cleanly, professionally looking. Double plate the bases so their sturdy to carry. The items with an extra touches, like a drizzle of frosting over a base of frosting or any decoration-sold the fastest. Wrapping your whole plate with a ribbon and bow makes it sell quicker then one not wrapped.

Items that sell...........well you probably won't have refridgeration so doing cheesecakes isn't safe.

I have a book called "The Great American Bake Sale" published by Barron's. Here's a few lines from their book. "If a contest were held for America's favorite cookie, the all-time champ would be chocolate chip. No wonder it's the bestseller at every bake sale." I'd have to agree with that!

What people LOVE and BUY:

peanut butter cookies

chocolate chip cookies

snickerdoodles

cupcakes

lemon bars

brownies

banana cake

carrot cake

fruit bread-banana, zuchini

pies-apple

baklava

carmel corn

toffee

white chocolate coated popcorn

If your dying to use your cream cheese consider using it in a dough....like a cream cheese cookie (the type you roll and decorate) or a cream cheese rugalch or kolacky.

[browniebaker]

Marbled cheesecake brownies keep fine without refrigeration.

Same is true of rugelach, which can be made with cream cheese in the dough, or any pie or tart made using this pastry.

Ditto: cream cheese danish; cream cheese poundcake.

[yellowmnm81]

ah.. yea i wasn't sure if i wanted to do choc. chip cookies b/c i thought that others would bring them.. i will check with them. i wanted to do small individual servings. i hadn't really thought about large or multiple servings, but now that you mention it. seems like a good idea! i thought about cheesecake and carrot cake but not sure if they sold as well as other items. cheesecake would def. use up all of that cream cheese though...... haha. okay i will check to see what others are making and make sure i don't repeat something. thank you for the welcome.. and for the link for the thread and also the many ideas/suggestions. very helpful info, sinclair.. thank you.

[Rachel Perlow]

Cheesecake swirl brownies, this recipe looks good.

[JeanneCake]

In the last month, I have gotten at least four different brands of cream cheese from my distributors, none of which have been my brand of preference (usually Philly or Smithfield Farms). Anyway, I have been noticing that my (plain) cheesecake batter handles differently depending on which brand I'm using. Sometimes it is more fluid, other times thicker and I can't imagine that whole eggs I'm using (shell eggs, not fluid eggs) could make such a difference, all else being the same (fruit fine sugar, a little cornstarch, whole eggs, lemon juice and vanilla). I finally gave up and bought a case of Philly at the local warehouse - much higher price, but at least I know this weeks' batches will be more consistent.

Any ideas? Do some brands use more water (or maybe the type of cream influences the amount of water)? The ingredient list is usually milk/cream, cream culture, gums, stabilizers, although each brand doesn't list identical ingredients.

Thanks!

[scott123]

I don't know how it would effect consistency, but different brands contain more salt than others. I made the mistake of buying supermarket brand cream cheese and the jacked up sodium content ruined the flavor of my cheesecake.

If the salt content can be that different, I'm sure the cheesemaking process probably varies slightly from brand to brand. Even if the ingredients match, the process can vary. Cheesemaking has many variables.

[MarketStEl]

I don't know how it would effect consistency, but different brands contain more salt than others.  I made the mistake of buying supermarket brand cream cheese and the jacked up sodium content ruined the flavor of my cheesecake.

If the salt content can be that different, I'm sure the cheesemaking process probably varies slightly from brand to brand. Even if the ingredients match, the process can vary. Cheesemaking has many variables.

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I'm not a professional and I never make cheesecake, but I do eat cream cheese a lot, and even the store brands vary.

The A&P family store brand (America's Choice), for instance, is unusually sweet--most of the store brands are both saltier and drier than Philly or Smithfield.

[nightscotsman]

If you look on the package of most cream cheeses, you'll see they usually contain stabilizers and thickeners like carrageenan and guar gum. Some "natural" cream cheeses don't contain these additives. This would certainly make a difference in some recipes that have a high percentage of cream cheese.

[chromedome]

What you have south of the border is different from what's up here, but one of my friends in Toledo insists that only Breakstone's gives her cheesecakes the right texture.

Offered FWIW...

[niobe]

we found the brand of cream cheese most definitely can affect the finished product. Even our suppliers told us that. It was frustrating, especially when the supplier substituted a different brand because he was out of our usual.

The one constant was Philly. If you requested Philly they wouldnt substitute- they couldnt. It was far more expensive.

We actually did several experiments, and for our needs, determined that Philly was not the best for our particular products.

You are talking about salt, water content, stabilizers- all contribute to the taste and viscosity.

[Wendy DeBord]

I've never sat down and done a side by side tasting using different brands to compare them. I haven't noticed any real differences in how one brand bakes from another, nor noticeable taste variances............only handling ease. But when it comes to handling them, yes there are differences. I like Philly brand for it's consistency and handling. Less expensive brands almost always leave small lumps that proper handling won't/can't get rid of. Typically there not too noticeable, but in darker colored batters they are visually unappealing.

[LT Wong]

There is variation even from the same brand. Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese is available from both US and Australia, but they both perform differently in my cheesecake recipe.

I was told by the supplier that sometimes it is also due to improper handling during the transportation of the cargo, but unfortunately we won't know until we've purchased and made use of it.

[Moopheus]

If you look on the package of most cream cheeses, you'll see they usually contain stabilizers and thickeners like carrageenan and guar gum. Some "natural" cream cheeses don't contain these additives. This would certainly make a difference in some recipes that have a high percentage of cream cheese.

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Have you ever made cheesecake with thickener-free cream cheese? Wondering if you knew how much difference it makes. I've always used Philly, but always up to trying something different if it works.

[MarketStEl]

There is variation even from the same brand. Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese is available from both US and Australia, but they both perform differently in my cheesecake recipe.

I was told by the supplier that sometimes it is also due to improper handling during the transportation of the cargo, but unfortunately we won't know until we've purchased and made use of it.

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How can you tell from the package whether your carton of Philly came from the US or Down Under? And how widespread is Australian Philly in the US?

(Aside: This reminds me of a label change Anheuser-Busch made some years ago on its flagship beer. It used to be that on the Budweiser label [and the labels for its other beers], the company would list which brewery produced the bottle or can in your hands. For instance, a typical Philadelphian would probably see a label that read, "Brewed by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., of St. Louis, Mo., at Newark, N.J."--the Newark brewery being closest to Philly.

(Word spread among beer lovers that longneck bottles of Bud brewed "at St. Louis, Mo." were better than those from the other breweries-"after all, Gussie Busch drinks this himself." Soon the price of St. Louis Bud got bid up as Bud drinkers elsewhere began to demand the hometown brew.

(Not long after that, A-B changed the label to list the headquarters, followed by all their brewery locations. Today's label omits the list of branch breweries.)

[rlibkind]

If you look on the package of most cream cheeses, you'll see they usually contain stabilizers and thickeners like carrageenan and guar gum. Some "natural" cream cheeses don't contain these additives. This would certainly make a difference in some recipes that have a high percentage of cream cheese.

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I've yet to find a "natural" cream cheese that doesn't contain carrageenan or a vegetable gum (both are "natural" products), not even at my local Whole Foods store or my high-end cheese purveyor. Do you know of a specific brand or source for such a product? I'd love to try it.

[Jaymes]

we found the brand of cream cheese most definitely can affect the finished product.  Even our suppliers told us that. It was frustrating, especially when the supplier substituted a different brand because he was out of our usual.

We actually did several experiments, and for our needs, determined that Philly was not the best for our particular products.

Which brand is it that you prefer?

[nightscotsman]

If you look on the package of most cream cheeses, you'll see they usually contain stabilizers and thickeners like carrageenan and guar gum. Some "natural" cream cheeses don't contain these additives. This would certainly make a difference in some recipes that have a high percentage of cream cheese.

←

I've yet to find a "natural" cream cheese that doesn't contain carrageenan or a vegetable gum (both are "natural" products), not even at my local Whole Foods store or my high-end cheese purveyor. Do you know of a specific brand or source for such a product? I'd love to try it.

←

I don't know a brand or source off-hand, but I've seen it at small healthfood/co-op stores in the past. I remember it being softer and lighter in texture than the Philly stuff. I'm not a big fan of cream cheese in general, so I don't buy it very often. At work we use huge blocks of Phillidephia brand from Kraft.

[therdogg]

I've yet to find a "natural" cream cheese that doesn't contain carrageenan or a vegetable gum (both are "natural" products), not even at my local Whole Foods store or my high-end cheese purveyor. Do you know of a specific brand or source for such a product? I'd love to try it.

←

[JeanneCake]

With the other brands I got (Raskas, Axelrod, SommerMaid and now I can't remember the first one) the cheesecake batter was more fluid, and the centers of the larger (8, 9 and 10 inch cakes) were very very soft - to the point that one of my clients returned three of the plain cheesecakes saying they weren't cooked in the middle! This week, using only the Philly, everything baked the way it was supposed to, all the cheesecakes are "cooked" all the way through, all the clients are happy....

What could be the source of the problem? What's the function of the gums and stabilizers? The only difference in ingredients is that Philly lists a cheese culture where none of the others did; and while they all listed milk and cream, I'm curious about the cream. When I order heavy cream, I'm always asked whether I want 36% or 40% (butterfat) so, I wonder if the type of cream used in the production of cream cheese has a different amount of water and this could be it?

[NulloModo]

Hmmm, I have never really thought about this, but now that I do, the cheesecakes I have made with Philly have all come out better than those when I use generic store brands...

I guess from your experience as well, something is obviously happening. I wonder to save costs if you could maybe use the cheap cream cheese and just add a bit of xantham gum or guar gum or something to the batter to help it stick together?

[Wendy DeBord]

Are you baking your cheesecakes by timing or by feel? I haven't found a difference in my finished products texture from one brand to another, but I bake by looks and feel not time.

I find it's what I add to my cream cheese that determines it's finished density/texture not the cheese or so much the mixing method. To thicken a cheesecake or make a denser cheese cake add less whole eggs and more yolks and flour or melted chocolate. To make a thinner softer cake add more sugar and cream.

The differences in heavy cream............I notice it when I whip it, but not (so far) when I'm baking with it. I've used recipes that call for milk or half and half instead of heavy cream and they work find with the right balance of thickeners.

[JeanneCake]

I'm baking by feel. One restaurant client gets one or more of the 10" size for their weekly brunch, and depending on what flavor I'm making, it might bake for anywhere from 90 mins to 2 hrs in a water bath at 350. I'm looking for the center to barely wiggle, because this is a big cake (I'm using anywhere from 2.5 to 3# of cream cheese for this size) and usually give it some time in the turned-off oven. That's where I first started to see the difference - the unfamiliar brands of cream cheese were taking a lot longer than usual, and since the ovens had just been recalibrated, I could rule that out as a possibility. And one, white chocolate toffee, baked to the point where it didn't jiggle in the center, and still this client said it was soft in the middle, but not as much as the others.

I would really see a big difference in the batter consistency when I was making up the plain cheesecakes; with Philly, the batter is thick (like sour cream), with the other brands, it would pour like water! I couldn't figure it out, and since there's a huge swing in the price ($1.80/# for the other brands, $2.10/# for Philly) I was hoping I could use the less expensive stuff (I'm using 50# a week). But now I know I can't let the distributors substitute because I can't easily make up for whatever is in the cheaper brands.

Two more weeks, then everyone is on a diet and I can get a week off!!!

[Wendy DeBord]

I can relate JeanneCake. Perhaps after the New Year you might have time to experiment with recipes. At least that's the approach I would take, I would look for a recipe better suited to the non-philly brands. Money/profit is a serious issue and I firmly believe there has to a really good compromise out there for you. If you want, I use non-philly cheese at my current job and I'd be happy to share my formula if you'd like to give it a try? I get alot of compliments on it.