Lemon Ricotta Pancakes – Day One – Homemade Ricotta Cheese
So, I made my own cheese again. Ricotta Cheese this time 
So, this week, I’m making Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Butter! I guess those Crepes and Aebleskiver last week made me think of breakfast.
Doesn’t that just look amazing? Let me tell you – it WAS!
Sometimes, I seriously impress myself.
Ok, back to the cheese. Ricotta cheese is similar to the Mascarpone and Quark Cheeses that I’ve made. You start off with milk add a little bit of magic and the next thing you know – POOF – you have cheese!
While I was making this, I was thinking back to a time I was working at a banquet hall while in college. I don’t remember the event, but a lady ordered a cup of tea. I brought her the hot water, tea, cream and a lemon. Well, she was shocked to find that the milk had gone bad because when she added the cream to her lemon and hot tea, it curdled.
Well, I really had to bite my tongue and apologize for the poor cup of tea, but the lady must never had made cheese before! That’s exactly how Ricotta cheese is made!
Here’s a little science lesson for you. Reducing the acidic level of hot milk causes the milk to curdle (source). And in this science experiment, it’s a good thing!
I just made a small amount of Ricotta Cheese. As I researched recipes and watched a few videos, I realized that I don’t need that much ricotta cheese, so I cut the recipe in half. Still 4 cups of milk produced just 3/4 cup of cheese. Double the recipe if you want more for homemade lasagna or manicotti.
I really like THIS blog where I got the final recipe from. She has easy to follow step-by-step photos of the process.
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Cook time:
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- 1¼ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 4 cups pasteurized whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pour your lemon juice and vinegar into a small bowl and set aside.
- Pour your milk and salt into a medium sized pot over medium high heat and bring to a bubble. The milk should bubble around 185 deg F.
- Remove from heat and pour in the lemon and vinegar. Stir to get the juice mixed and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir again and see if the whey has turned watery and is no longer milky. If it's still milky, add a tablespoon of vinegar, stir and let sit.
- Line a colander with two sheets of cheesecloth. Slowly pour the curds and whey into the colander. You can let the cheese drip to drain or you squeeze out as much of the whey as you'd like. I squeezed out a lot resulting in a dryer cheese.
Thank you very much for this recipe !!! Is the consistence creamy or more crumbly?
I removed a lot of the whey so it wasn’t sitting in much liquid. However, it was spreadable like butter. You can tailor the moisture to your preference and what you’ll be using it for. Remember, you can always remove more whey, you can’t add it back in.
Great post Karyn. I love making ricotta it’s so surprisingly simple and tasty. I’ve even made it with skim, 1%, and 2% milks although I’m sure whole tastes the best. I like to use Kefir to curdle the milk because I keep a culture going and always have it on hand (it’s like yogurt or buttermilk).
I haven’t ventured into cultures yet. I’ve bought Kefir at the grocery store for smoothies and such. One recipe for the Ricotta had both whole and cream in the base. I bet that was thick!
I jsut so happen to have found a recipe on Pinterest that required Ricotta! Im going make it instead!! Thanks for sharing at the weekend Re-treat hope to see you again this weekend!
Great! It’s easy to make! I hope you enjoy it! Thanks so stopping by.
So awesome! I saw someone make RIcotta on Food Network once and had forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me and for the recipe!
It was easy enough to make. Give it a try and see how how out like it!
I’m really excited about finding this recipe! My sister made some several years ago and has been too busy to get the recipe for me – now I can make some too! She snipped fresh herbs into her batch and served it as an appetizer on crackers – SO YUMMY! I can’t wait to try this!
Adding the fresh herbs sounds great! This was so easy to make and you can make it as wet or as dry as you would like it. Enjoy!
I am wondering if I could make it with coconut milk instead of cow milk??? I might have to give that a try…I am dying to make lasagna again! (Lactaid makes me sick, so I flat out cannot have dairy). Thanks so much for sharing with us at Best of the Weekend Karyn.
hmmmm…. I don’t know. I don’t know if there are proteins to coagulate in coconut milk. Is there coconut cheese? I’m not familiar with many dairy alternitives. Sorry I can’t be more help Lisa.