Mascarpone
Italian cream cheese
title: "Mascarpone" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cow's-milk-cheeses", "cream-cheeses", "lombard-cheeses", "creamy-dishes"] description: "Italian cream cheese" topic_path: "general/cow-s-milk-cheeses" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascarpone" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Italian cream cheese ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox cheese"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Mascarpone |
| image | Mascarpone preparato in casa.jpg |
| image_size | 250px |
| caption | Homemade mascarpone |
| country | Italy |
| town | Lodi, Lombardy |
| source | Cow |
| pasteurized | No |
| texture | Soft |
| :: |
| name = Mascarpone | image = Mascarpone preparato in casa.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Homemade mascarpone | othernames = | country = Italy | regiontown = | region = | town = Lodi, Lombardy | source = Cow | pasteurized = No | texture = Soft | fat = | protein = | dimensions = | weight = | aging = | certification =
Mascarpone (, ; ) is a soft Italian dairy product obtained by acid-heat coagulation of cream. It is a dairy cream, not a cheese in the technical sense, as it is made without rennet and does not undergo true curd formation.{{cite book
|last=Walstra|first=Pim|last2=Wouters|first2=Jan T. M.|last3=Geurts|first3=Tom J.|title=Dairy Science and Technology|publisher=Wiley|year=2006|isbn=9780824727635|language=en}}{{cite book
|last=Addeo|first=Francesco|title=Chimica e tecnologia del latte|publisher=Università degli Studi di Napoli|year=2002|language=it}} It is recognized as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT).{{cite web
|title=Il mascarpone artigianale, specialità lombarda|url=https://archivio2023-2024.ruminantia.it/il-mascarpone-artigianale-specialita-lombarda/|website=Ruminantia – Journal of Dairy Science|date=2023|access-date=29 November 2025|language=it}}
Production process
After denaturation of cream, the whey is removed without pressing or aging. Mascarpone may also be made using cream and the residual tartaric acid from the bottom or sides of barreled wine.
The traditional method is to add three tablespoons of lemon juice per pint (568 ml) of heated heavy cream. The mixture is allowed to cool to room temperature before it is poured into a cheesecloth-lined colander, set into a shallow pan or dish, strained, and chilled for one to two days.
Origins
Popularly, the name is held to derive from mascarpa, an unrelated milk product made from the whey of stracchino (a young, barely aged cheese), or from mascarpia, a word in the local dialect for ricotta. Unlike ricotta, which is made from whey, mascarpone is made from cream.{{cite web
|title=Mascarpone: cos’è, come si fa e perché non è un formaggio|url=https://www.tuttogreen.it/mascarpone/|website=tuttogreen.it|date=14 March 2017|access-date=12 November 2021|language=it}}
According to the Lombard journalist and writer Gianni Brera,{{cite web
|title=Mascarpone, la tesi di Brera|url=https://laprovinciapavese.gelocal.it/pavia/cronaca/2017/12/24/news/mascarpone-la-tesi-di-brera-1.16283236|website=La Provincia Pavese|date=24 December 2017|access-date=16 January 2023|language=it}} the original form of the name should rather be "mascherpone", deriving, in his view, from Cascina Mascherpa, an unidentified locality situated in the lower Po Valley on the border between the provinces of Lodi, Milan and Pavia.{{cite web
|title=Il mascarpone cremosa delizia tutta lombarda|url=https://www.ilgiorno.it/cronaca/mascarpone-storia-ricetta-1.4980090|website=Il Giorno|date=10 January 2020|access-date=16 January 2023|language=it}} Mascherpa, a dialect term of uncertain etymology{{cite web
|title=Maschèrpa|url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/mascherpa/|website=Treccani|access-date=16 January 2023|language=it}} that means “ricotta”,{{cite book
|last=Recanatini|first=Simona|last2=Sassi|first2=Sonia|title=Dolci – Crema di mascarpone|publisher=Gribaudo|year=2018|isbn=8858044266|language=it}} is also a widespread surname in the same geographic area.{{cite web
|title=Mascherpa – Origine del cognome|url=https://www.cognomix.it/origine-cognome/mascherpa|website=Cognomix|access-date=16 January 2023|language=it}}
This interpretation is consistent with one of the earliest official attestations of the product name outside Lombardy, dating to 1933–1934, when the dairy of Cison di Valmarino (Treviso), owned by Count Gerolamo Brandolini d’Adda and directed by Remo Dolce, registered the trademark "Mascherpone Valmarino" with the Ministry of Corporations and with the Intellectual Property Office of Treviso (trademark no. 48371).{{cite web
|title=Il Mascherpone: una storia trevigiana che inizia nel 1933|url=https://www.qdpnews.it/valdobbiadene/cison-di-valmarino/il-mascherpone-una-storia-trevigiana-che-inizia-nel-1933/|website=QDP News|year=2023|access-date=21 November 2025|language=it}}{{cite web
|title=Registro marchi n. 48371 – Latteria di Cison di Valmarino|url=https://www.mascherpone1933.it/registro-marchi-48371/|website=Confraternita Mascherpone 1933|date=1934|access-date=20 November 2025|language=it}} The registration, made public through local archival and journalistic sources,{{cite web
|title=Cison rivendica il mascarpone: marchio registrato nel 1933|url=https://www.ilgazzettino.it/nordest/treviso/cison_mascherpone_storia_1933-2023.html|website=Il Gazzettino|year=2023|access-date=20 November 2025|language=it}}{{cite web
|title=Riemerge il marchio Mascherpone Valmarino del 1933|url=https://www.oggitreviso.it/riemerge-marchio-mascherpone-valmarino-1933-302223|website=Oggi Treviso|year=2023|access-date=20 November 2025|language=it}} testifies to the start of production and commercial distribution in the Treviso area already in the early twentieth century. As highlighted by recent food-historical reconstructions, it is described as a cream-based, acid-set dairy product already at that time.{{cite web
|last=Toppino|first=Nadia|title=CastelBrando: trittico di storia, gusto e Princess Spa|url=https://www.storiedicibo.it/castelbrando-trittico-di-storia-e-benessere/|website=Storie di Cibo|date=31 October 2023|access-date=29 November 2025|language=it}}{{cite web
|last=Minazzi|first=Alberto|title=Mascherpone e tiramisù: la sorprendente storia veneta dietro i dolci di Natale|url=https://www.metropolitano.it/mascherpone-e-tiramisu-la-sorprendente-storia-veneta-dietro-i-dolci-di-natale/|website=Metropolitano.it|date=26 November 2025|access-date=29 November 2025|language=it}}
Previous historical uses of the term “mascarpone” may not have corresponded to the modern dairy cream produced by acid-heat coagulation of cream.
Uses
Mascarpone is milky-white in colour and is easy to spread. It is used in various Lombardy dishes and is considered a specialty in the region.
Mascarpone is one of the main ingredients in tiramisu. Sometimes it is used instead of, or along with, butter or Parmesan cheese to thicken and enrich risotto. Mascarpone is also used in cheesecake recipes.
Mascarpone is also commonly used in the UK on pizzas with prosciutto and mushrooms.
Notes
References
References
- Shilcutt, Katharine. (2011-06-30). "20 More Commonly Mispronounced Food Words".
- Mahe, George. (2020-04-03). "Ask George: Have you ever compiled a list of mispronounced foods?".
- Bilyeu, Mary. (2019-05-08). "Macarons, macaroons, what's the difference? A lot.".
- "Mascarpone Artigianale".
- Turismo Provincia di Lodi. (2004). "Mascarpone".
- Tessa Buratto. (2010). "Mastering Mascarpone: What it takes to make a perfect batch of Mascarpone Cheese".
- Regione Lombardia. "Elenco dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali della Regione Lombardia – Quinta revisione".
- David B. Fankhauser. "Making Mascarpone at Home".
- "Mascarpone".
- Pinarelli, Caterina. (2020). "Il mascarpone artigianale, specialità lombarda".
- Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. (27 October 2015). "Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine: Everything You Need to Know to be a Great Italian Cook". Appetite by Random House.
- Luigi Veronelli. (23 October 2012). "Food of North Italy: Authentic Recipes from Piedmont, Lombardy, and Valle d'Aosta". Tuttle Publishing.
- Jason Atherton. (18 June 2015). "Social Sweets". Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Heston Blumenthal. (2007). "Further Adventures in Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics". Bloomsbury.
- Barbara Fairchild. (14 September 2010). "Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful". Andrews McMeel Publishing.
- Victoria Wise. (3 December 2004). "The Pressure Cooker Gourmet: 225 Recipes for Great-Tasting, Long-Simmered Flavors in Just Minutes". Harvard Common Press.
- "Sainsbury's Prosciutto Mushroom & Mascarpone Pizza, Taste the Difference 480g".
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