How can I replace the Philadelphia cheese?

To begin with it is necessary to clarify one point. "Philadelphia" is just one of the brands of cream cheese, just the most famous. In Russia, this cream cheese is considered a premium product and is not sold everywhere, and even if available, it is not cheap.

However, in addition to "Philadelphia" there are otherbrand of cream cheese (or, as it is called in America, "chime chiz"). So if the "Philadelphia" cheese is listed on the list of ingredients, chances are most likely simply cream cheese. Therefore, you can safely replace "Philadelphia" with other brands of cream cheese.

Just remember that you need a real creamycheese - soft, sweet, with a gentle consistency, without additives. Conventional inexpensive soft processed cheeses such as "Friendship" and "Amber" are not very suitable for this purpose. Perhaps, for the preparation of rolls, the processed cheese will come down (although it is unlikely that the taste will still not be the same), but you will not make a good cheesecake with it. Some mistresses instead of cream cheese put in rolls soft unsalted cheese or Fetaki cheese.

For baking, you can replace the cheese "Philadelphia" quality cheese cheese without pronounced curd taste. Often used, for example, such cheeses as "Almette", "Viola", "President", "Cream Bonjour", "Buco", etc. Watch only to make sure that there are no additives in the cheese. Often these cream cheese mixed with cottage cheese in a 1: 1 ratio (the result should be a homogeneous mass): they say, the result is similar to the original "Philadelphia".

Some mistresses manage to replace the cheese "Philadelphia" a mixture of fatty cottage cheese with sour cream or fatty cream. Cottage cheese should be taken not coarse-grained,it was possible to whip the mass to a homogeneous creamy consistency. Beat curd, cream or sour cream add portionwise to get the desired consistency. Such a substitute for "Philadelphia" is used for baking, for rolls, it does not suit.

You can try to make cream cheese at home. It turns out, of course, is not the original "Philadelphia", but very close to this. For cheese making, take the following ingredients:

• 
  1 liter of pasteurized milk


• 
  500 ml of kefir


• 
  1 egg


• 
  1 tsp. salt


• 
  1 tsp. Sahara


• 
  citric acid at the tip of the knife

Pour the milk into a saucepan and put it on the fire. Heat the milk, stirring constantly. Just before boiling, add sugar and salt. When the milk boils, turn off the stove, immediately add kefir and mix until the mass cools. Throw the contents of the pan on a layer of gauze folded in several layers, hang and allow the serum to drain. Egg whisk with a small amount of citric acid, add to the curd mass and whisk until smooth.

A simpler version - home cream cheese from sour cream. You need to take thick and fatty sour cream (such,spoon "), pour it into a thick canvas bag or folded in several layers of gauze and hang overnight, substituting a container for draining the liquid. Note that the volume of sour cream will be halved, so initially it should be taken twice as much as you need cream cheese.

As you can see, there are several options for what can be replaced by "Philadelphia". Naturally, the substitute will never be able to compare with the original, but if you do not have the opportunity to purchase a real "Philadelphia", this is not an excuse to give up your favorite dishes.