Lemon cheese was most often served with a marmalade. But, a raspberry or blueberry compote or jam would be very tasty as well.
You'll need a fine sieve, and fine muslin or cheese cloth. Adjust the sweetener to your own taste or make a savory version with fresh herbs to spread on croissants, scones or biscuits. You can easily adjust the quantity to smaller portion.
Ingredients
1 Quart Sweet Thick Cream
Juice from 3 lemons
Finely grated lemon rind
Sweetener (to taste)
Marmalade or Preserved Oranges
Original Instructions
Into a quart of thick sweet cream put the juice of three lemons, with the rind finely grated; sweeten it to your taste; beat it very well; then put it into a sieve, with some fine muslin underneath it, and let it stand all night. Next day turn it out, and garnish with preserved orange or marmalade.
Half the above quantity makes a large cheese. Do not beat it till it comes to butter, but only till it is near coming. It is a very pretty dish.
Source
The Lady's Own Cookery Book (1844).
Tip: From my own experience, beat the cream until it thickens and is almost curd like and just starting to turn a yellow tint, this stage is getting very close to butter. Add as little or as much of the lemon zest as you prefer. I used about 1/2 of one lemon zest. Juice from one lemon is about 1 Tablespoon, so if you are making the full recipe and using a bottled juice, you'll know how much of the juice to add. Adjust the amount if you are making a smaller quantity of the cheese. If the cheese doesn't come together to your liking, add more lemon juice. I added 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar just enough to offset the tartness of the lemon. Honey, Molasses or Maple Sugar or Syrup would most likely have been the sweetener in 1844. It is possible Pure Cane Sugar was used, or even Vanilla Extract. The original recipe did not indicate what the sweetener may have been. The Original recipe did not mention refrigeration or even chilling and since there was most likely no way to chill unless from a spring house, this was more likely placed in a cool pantry overnight. I did however refrigerate mine. I used a coffee filter, simply because I think it's easier to remove the cheese from that, than from Muslin or Cheese Cloth.
Note: This is a soft cheese, not too much unlike cream cheese, except possibly lighter texture. I do believe it could be used in place of cream cheese, in the same way you already use it, as a dip, or for cheese cake or even frosting. It's a fun recipe to make, with about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour hands on time, if using an electric mixer, it will take longer if beating by hand, which would of course been how it was originally prepared. The rest is waiting time for the cheese to drain fully and become more firm overnight. So you can make this the evening before and have it to spread on your croissant or bagel in the morning. Keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. It will likely keep longer, just as cream cheese keeps longer.
Serving Suggestion: Try using this in place of cream cheese for dips, filling for celery sticks or spread on your favorite crackers.
For a savory version of Lemon cheese, refer to the link:
justfowlingaround.weebly.com/recipes-for-self-reliance/savory-lemon-cheese-spread
To make Scrambled Egg-Bacon Salad with Lemon Cheese, refer to the link:
justfowlingaround.weebly.com/recipes-for-self-reliance/scrambled-eggbacon-salad-with-lemon-cheese
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