Dairy-Free Mascarpone Cheese

On a whim, I decided to attempt to make mascarpone cheese without heavy cream.  I used full-fat coconut milk instead.  Most of the recipes I found used cashews, but since my younger son is sensitive to nuts, I try to keep things nut-free if I can.

Ingredients

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk (approximately 2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

• Bring the coconut milk to a boil in a small sauce pan.  Reduce heat to simmer.
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Simmer approximately 10 minutes, stirring frequently to keep it from burning.  (I stopped when it looked like it started to thicken.)
• Pour into a fine-mesh strainer (or cheesecloth) and let the thinner liquids drip-drain out.
• Refrigerate overnight.
• The solids in the strainer are your "cheese."

This was definitely picky-kid tested and approved.  (He's asked for seconds twice!)

Notes:

• I usually use the organic version of this brand of coconut milk.  It's one of the very few brands that do not contain any gums or fillers.
• I used a nut-bag to strain the cheese because it's easier to clean than cheesecloth.
• Add a little salt and/or sweetener, depending on your intentions for it.  Or eat plain...it's delicious either way!
• As you can imagine, it's heavy on the coconut flavor.  But if you don't mind that, give this a try!