How to Soften Cream Cheese

By Kitchenistic

14 Nov 2019

Lots of tasty recipes require cream cheese and so it is useful to know how to soften it in a hurry. It will never be too late to educate yourself on how to soften cream cheese, as it is an essential ingredient for lots of recipes it is a handy skill to learn. There are a number of easy and effective ways for you to soften cream cheese in your own home that do not take up all of your busy time.

Slice of bread with cream cheese for breakfast

Uses for Cream Cheese

This kind of cheese is so much more than just a humble party dip or a breakfast spread: you can use it to make virtually any recipe a creamier, thicker, and an overall more tasty product.

Soft cream cheese can be used in frosting for your home bakes and can even be used to replace butter as a slightly healthier option in cakes and it is equally a lighter substitute for heavy cream. It has a flexible texture which means that it is brilliant for mixing together diverse ingredients in any sort of recipe.

You can likewise keep softened cream cheese in your freezer for up to two months, but frozen cream cheese does not always taste as nice as it does when it is fresh and frozen cheese might become a tad crumbly.

Soften Cream Cheese at Room Temperature

Family life can keep us all busy at times so this method of softening cream cheese works out well in everyday cooking, particularly when days get very busy as you can leave it to do its own thing. This is a low effort method with the added bonus of adding extra flavor to your dishes.

Room temperature softening of cream cheese is a fantastic method if you design your cooking activities to match your daily timetable, especially when you need your softened cream cheese to be ready and waiting for you when you arrive in your kitchen. All you require is a plate to put your cream cheese on and you are set. Simply take the cheese from your refrigerator and leave it on your counter for between 2 to 3 hours. After 1 hour has gone by you can give your cheese a helping hand by squeezing it to test for its softness. Leave the cheese for as long as it requires to turn out to be soft. This technique ought to take no more than a few hours to soften the cheese so that you can add it to your recipes.

Never leave cream cheese at room temperature for any longer than 3 hours as it may spoil the same as most dairy products would do. In comparison to hard cheese, most soft cheeses have more moisture content and so and have a habit of spoiling quicker.

Set a reminder on your phone to help you with the process, so you will know when your cheese is ready.

Cream Cheese Softening in the Microwave

This is the quickest and easiest technique to soften cream cheese and takes very little skill. You will need a microwave-safe bowl to tolerate some fast bursts at high temperature like a ceramic or glass bowl. Use a knife to cut up the soft cheese into regular sized bits so it will be able to soften in a more uniform fashion.

Heat the cheese for 30 seconds and then remove it from your microwave. Press the cheese with a fork to check how soft it is getting. Return it to your microwave and check every 20 seconds until it is soft.

The slight increments in heating your soft cheese are essential so that you can pay attention to the texture carefully. If you heat the cheese for too long you will melt it far too much.

This technique works to your advantage if you need soft cream cheese in a hurry. Soft cream cheese will break down very rapidly in a microwave and you will be able to use it in your recipes within minutes.

Cream cheese with chili and tomato

Add Extra Dairy to Soften Cream Cheese

Neutral-flavored dairy foods such as milk or cream are great at softening cream cheese without it having to lose any of its natural taste. This process is unassuming, takes no time at all, and it will provide you with a lovely creamy taste to your softened cream cheese.

All you require is a bowl where you can put the soft cream cheese after you have cut it up into tiny pieces enabling you can stir the mixture together easily. You only need to use a small amount of cream or milk to make a big difference your softened cream cheese.

All you have to do is simply add a tablespoon of dairy product to your cream cheese and mix it together until it become wonderfully soft. If you are not getting the right consistency, and it is not getting soft enough, you can add a little more milk to make it softer. To get the softening processes completely right, ensure that you use a room-temperature milk or cream and make sure to take your cheese out of your refrigerator around an hour before you try softening it with dairy products.

Soften Cream Cheese with Warm Water

This method is an easy technique used often to soften cream cheese when you have more time to spare. It will be the method more often adopted by professional chefs. It will help you to achieve the finest, malleable, softest texture for use in a variety of recipes especially when you are trying to avoid liquefying your soft cheese.

In a large glass bowl, fill it with warm water ready for your soft cheese. Use plastic wrap or a plastic food bag to stop any water from touching your cream cheese when you place it into the bowl. Put the completely sealed cheese into the bowl and leave it for around 10 minutes in the warm water. Never put the cream cheese in boiling water as hot water will simply melt the cheese into a gloopy mess.

Take the cheese out of the water and lightly squeeze it to make sure it is soft. Where the cream cheese is still not soft, place it back into the warm water for a few more minutes and you might even want to change the water to make it warmer and put the cream cheese into it for an added 5 minutes. It had better be softened after 20 minutes or there may be a problem with the cheese itself.

Softening Cream Cheese by Blending

It is possible to soften cream cheese with a blender straight from your refrigerator. Just cut up the cream cheese into equal segments and put them in your mixer. Never use a hand mixer as it will be very difficult for you to use it to soften cream cheese.

When using your blender to soften cream cheese, it will work best with the addition of a small amount of water with the cheese as in this way you will also achieve a smooth and creamy appearance which you really notice.

Cream Cheese Softening Benefits

Selecting the precise way to soften cream cheese hinges on exactly how much time you have in your day to spare. Every one of the ways discussed above works well, and none of them really require too much effort, and anybody can easily do it with comfort.

Using the blender or the microwave will work really well if you want a fast and speedy cheese softening, but then again, from time to time, these methods will have a tendency to change the texture of the cheese. Consequently, ensure that you only use these techniques only when you are struggling to find enough time to spare. What you are aiming for is a creamy light texture rather than a cream cheese which is lumpy

When you do have enough time, you should soften cream cheese with warm water or leave it to melt at room temperature. This is because these are possibly the most natural way to soften cheese without you even needing to be there.

Whichever way you decide to soften your cream cheese you will not regret the small amount of effort that it takes to get it just right. Just ensure that you never leave your soft cheese outside of your refrigerator for any more than 3 hours as it will not work out well for you in the end. You can use it more than once as soon as it has been softened and kept in the refrigerator, but you must make sure that you do not keep it for longer than 10 days as it will go off and spoil any of your future recipes.

Overall, if you know how to soften cream cheese it will be perfect to use in numerous recipes that your family regularly enjoy: from broths to baked cakes, from ice-cream to hearty soups, softened cream cheese it is a tremendously adaptable ingredient which is why we all love it.