Bagels are good, cream cheese is better…but homemade cream cheese is the best! Seriously, if you’ve made other fresh cheeses (ricotta, anyone?) before, what’s stopping you from whipping up your own whipped cream cheese? It’s easy, we promise — you only need three ingredients! After that, the possibilities only widen: bagels and lox, creamy cheesecake, frosting for red velvet cake…
What about flavored cream cheese, you say? We say yes, absolutely! Just tack on a few extra steps to the homemade cream cheese making process, and you can have yourself a fluffy spread with an extra kick of whatever flavor your desire. Or, if you’re short on time, you can even add your own flavor to store-bought cream cheese.
Need some flavor inspiration? Since berry season is just around the corner, this Berry Cream Cheese recipe from blogger What Jew Want to Eat couldn’t be more timely. Take her word for it: “Basically, cream cheese is a canvas for awesomeness. You can quote me on that.” (And so we did.) 10 minutes are all you need to take your cream cheese from plain Jane to tart, juicy, and berry-riffic. Well, what are you waiting for? Go get your cream cheese on!
Photo by Amy Kritzer
Alicia Hahn
Alicia Hahn excels at eating and enjoys writing, crosswords, and cooking (preferably with cheese). Originally from San Francisco, she moved to Boston for school and fell in love with the city (despite an annual campaign against winter). Her favorite place to be is the farmers’ market, where she finds weird and exciting ingredients to make or break her next meal.
