Monday, June 25, 2012

How to Save Money and Food: Frozen Cream Cheese Update

Since my post about Freezing Cream Cheese and Butter seemed to be pretty popular, and several people told me that they are now freezing cream cheese because of that post, I thought that I would update you on what else I have learned about freezing cream cheese. I have been using a lot of my frozen cream cheese lately (mostly in cream cheese frosting, some dip, a couple cheesecakes, some biscuits, but a lot of frosting (for Nutella Brownies, recipe to come)) so I have learned a little bit more about frozen cream cheese that I thought I would share with you.

One thing that I learned is that frozen cream cheese works fine for dips and frostings. It is just as creamy as unfrozen cream cheese (or maybe almost as creamy, I actually haven't used much unfrozen cream cheese lately, I don't know, either way it works just fine). All you have to do is microwave it on defrost for a little bit and then stir together the solid cheese and the watery stuff that comes off it and keep stirring until it is creamy. I used a fork each time and it worked just fine.

Another thing that I learned is that Real Cream Cheese definitely comes out better after being frozen than the lower fat variety. Well actually the main difference is the creaminess. The taste of both comes out about the same as before. But real cream cheese comes out very creamy after being frozen (if you use the method described above) but the lower fat cream cheese comes out kinda lumpyish. Basically it has very small lumps in it that won't go away no matter how much you stir it.

These are cream cheeses that were frozen. The top two blocks are real cream cheese and the bottom one is low fat cream cheese. I don't know if you can see it but the real cream cheese is definitely creamier. So if you are making frosting or dip the real cream cheese is better for that. Or if you are making a lot of it you can mix the two together and no one will know the difference. For baking I suggest using half real and half fake (because it makes it slightly lower fat but keeps the great taste and texture), but really any combo works.

Another thing that I learned which is unrelated to freezing (I think) is that you should always cream your cream cheese before adding other ingredients to it. My sister and I made some cheese cake bites for the shower and we forgot to cream the cream cheese first (we actually used unfrozen cream cheese so I didn't know if it would be necessary) and it came out lumpy. No matter how much we mixed it, it wouldn't stop being lumpy. So just to be safe whether you are using frozen cream cheese or unfrozen always cream it before adding anything else (creaming with a fork works fine, or a mixer works too).



What about you? Do you have any tips for working with Cream Cheese?



Linked Up To:
While He Was Napping, Clean and Scentsible, Uncommon, Cornerstone Confessions, Serendipity and Spice, A Pinch of Joy, Addicted to Recipes, My Favorite Finds,





4 comments:

  1. Great to know. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good information! I stockpile cream cheese as it come up on sale and being able to freeze could really help! Thanks for sharing on Busy Monday

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, freezing cream cheese is a great way to save. Make sure you check out the original post too for the original ideas on freezing cream cheese :)

      Delete
  3. Some one had given me 30 lbs of cream cheese and I didn't have anywhere to store that much cheese. So I froze it. When I thawed the cheese and used it, it was all grainy and it left lumps in my cream cheese frosting. All though It tasted fine the tiny lumps bothered me. Well after reading your post above I tried the defrost method and went a step further, after I defrosted it I put it in my mixer and whipped it smooth and put it in a container and refrigerated it. When I went back to check on it, I was so pleased with the results.. it was like I had never frozen it.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear what you have to say! But please be nice, and please no spam. I do monitor every comment, if you are mean or spamming me it will not get published, so please do not bother writing it. Otherwise comment away! Can not wait to have a conversation with you!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...