Vegan Mascarpone 2 Ways

March 31, 2023
Traditional mascarpone is an Italian creamy cheese with a slightly sweet taste. Mascarpone is used in many recipes like traditional tiramisu, tarts and even as frostings. I use two, very simple recipes to recreate the original, sightly nutty and sweet flavors of mascarpone in my dishes. Well, one of them can be a bit annoying if you aren't used to using a cheesecloth but you can learn it quickly and it's really fun to create a faux cheese using the same traditional method people have used for centuries.

I love to mix it with colorful superfood powders and have it on toast with fruits or stir it in my muesli in the morning instead of my usual almond yogurt.
vegan mascarpone in a bowl of porridge with star-shaped fruits.

Vegan Mascarpone 2 Ways

Recipe Type: Appetizers Sweets
utensils YIELDS 4 servings
clock PREP TIME
clock COOK TIME
clock TOTAL TIME
herb graphic for recipe card
  • 4 cups soy milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 tbs granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut cream
  • 120 g macadamia nuts
  • 1 can/400ml full fat coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tbs coconut oil
tomato
        graphic for recipe card

Directions

Method 1:

This one resembles more of the making of real cheese, and you’ll need a cheesecloth for it.

1. Prep your straining equipment by placing the sieve on top of a large bowl. Lay the cheesecloth inside of the sieve.

2. Meanwhile start to heat soy milk and lemon juice in a medium-sized pot on low heat. Give it a good stir but after try not to stir the milk for the remaining time (the goal is to separate the fat from the liquids in the soy milk).

3. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Lots of bubbles should NOT be coming up to the surface and it should NOT be boiling but immediately curdle.

4. Once the solids bits came to the top, pour the mixture into the prepared cheesecloth. Squeeze the cheesecloth over the sieve and bowl until as many of the liquid comes out as much is possible. (Be careful because it is still hot!). If you did it right only yellow liquid should be in the bowl below, and only white soy curds remaining in the cheesecloth.

5. Move the soy curds to a food processor and stir in the sugar, salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.  If the mixture looks too thick, add in the 2 tbsp of extra coconut milk (this will depend on how much liquid you were able to remove with the cheesecloth). The cheese should be looser than cream cheese but thicker than a yogurt consistency.

6. Taste and adjust the flavors. If you don’t like the soy taste, mix in coconut cream and blend it until fully incorporated.

7. Move it to a container and keep it refrigerated.

 

Method 2:

1. Place the coconut milk in the fridge and soak the macadamia nuts in water for overnight.

2. On the day of making the mascarpone, rinse the soaked macadamias under running water and place them in high speed blender. Scoop the solid part of the coconut milk into the blender with the nuts.

3. Add maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Stop and scoop the sides of the blender as needed. As the ingredients start to warm up, the mix will loosen and becomes easier to blend. If you have problems blending, scoop the mix into a small pot and warm it up a little until the coconut cream loosens, then return it to the blender and blend until the texture looks smooth. Add the coconut oil and blend until incorporated.

4. Move it to a container and keep it refrigerated.

5. This second version does really well as a cake frosting. Simply whip the mix for few minutes until fluffy. The texture will change as you whip.

Get more like this—Sign up for our daily inspirational newsletter for exclusive content!

__

Photo: Imola Toth


Avatar
Imola is a Hatha and Ashtanga yoga teacher, tree planter and writer and editor of Raised by the Wolf, an online magazine for Wild Women, with a passion for exploring and life outdoors. Originally from Hungary but currently planting trees and rewilding the enchanting forests of France. Hop over to RBTW magazine, and blog and follow her on Instagram @yogiraisedbythewolf

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

always stay inspired!



[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]