🧀 Cream cheese

Cream cheese is a soft, fresh, unripened cheese made from pasteurised milk and cream: smooth, spreadable and mildly tangy from lactic fermentation. Under the US standard it must contain at least 33 % milkfat and no more than 55 % moisture. People spread it on bread and use it in baking, frostings and sauces.

Factory-made cream cheese began in New York State: around 1872–1873 William Lawrence started producing it in the small town of Chester. From 1880 it was sold under the "Philadelphia" brand, introduced by the distributor Alvah Reynolds. Despite the name, the city of Philadelphia had nothing to do with making it.

Milk, cream or a mix of the two is pasteurised, homogenised if needed and soured with lactic acid bacteria, while rennet or another clotting enzyme helps the curd set. The curd may be warmed and stirred before the whey is drained off. The mass is then pressed, chilled and worked, and sometimes heated until fluid and homogenised again. Salt is allowed, and stabilisers may make up no more than 0.5 % of the finished cheese.

According to USDA, 100 g of cream cheese provides 350 kcal, 34.4 g of fat (20.2 g of it saturated), 6.15 g of protein, 3.76 g of lactose and 314 mg of sodium. That is almost six times less protein than in parmesan (35.8 g). Cream cheese with herbs, vegetables or fruit has its own US standard: up to 60 % moisture and at least 27 % fat.

Cream cheese or cottage cheese, mascarpone, butter? By process, cottage cheese and quark are soured milk with the whey drained off, while cream cheese starts from milk with cream added, which is why it is richer and smooth: the US standard asks for at least 33 % milkfat and no more than 55 % moisture. A product with 20–33 % fat is no longer cream cheese under US rules but Neufchâtel. Protein is low: 6.15 g per 100 g, almost six times less than in parmesan.

The classic label lists milk, cream, culture, salt and perhaps stabilisers, which may make up no more than 0.5 % of the finished cheese. Look for "cream cheese" or "soft cheese" with the fat level on the pack; versions with herbs, vegetables or fruit have their own rules, with up to 60 % moisture and at least 27 % fat in the US. It is sold in tubs and foil packs in the chilled dairy aisle of a supermarket, next to other spreads.

Why it matters to you. The classic label lists milk, cream, culture, salt and perhaps stabilisers. Under US rules, a product with 20–33 % fat is no longer cream cheese but Neufchâtel. Keep it in the fridge and finish it within about two weeks of purchase; USDA does not recommend freezing it. It does contain lactose, so if you are lactose intolerant, watch the portion.