Is it really a cheese? Or do we just call it that because Carmelized Whey With Cream takes too long to say?
If you’ve ever made cheese, you probably had LOTS of leftover whey!
Brown Cheese is simply carmelized whey with added cream. It has the texture and appearance of peanut butter fudge. Tastes smooth and mildly sweet with a bit of mineralized salt flavor. Color ranges from a light Carmel to a dark brown, almost chocolate color. Best eaten in small amounts or spread on crackers/toast. It keeps quite well in the fridge. I’ve seen numerous recipes that use it as the base of a Carmel sauce. So far we just munch on it plain.
My technique can be rather vague and unmeasured.
I take 2-3 gallons of fresh sweet whey, evaporate about 75% of the volume. Sometimes Ricotta forms on the top, sometimes it doesn’t. If it does, I remove it.
It gets stirred occasionally to keep it from burning—a heavy bottom pan is definitely worth using!
Once it gets evaporated down pretty good, I add about 1.5-2 cups of HEAVY cream. I’ve done it with milk instead, less cream, and no cream. It’s nicest with cream.
At this point it should be like a thick Carmel sauce, keep cooking if it isn’t.
Once it’s a thickish sauce, it needs to be stirred almost constantly. It’s also a good idea to run a stick blender through and make sure it’s completely smooth. Once it becomes very thick—almost like a whipped butter texture—take it off the heat.
Place your pan/bowl in cold water and continue stirring until it’s almost a fudge consistency. Quickly pour/spoon it into your mold—I use a bread pan lined with parchment paper.
Stirring while cooling helps it have a smooth dissolvable texture, otherwise it can become grainy. It can also be grainy/sugary if cooked too long.
**You must use a sweet (not sour) whey for this cheese. It relies on the sugar content in the whey to caramelize. If you’re using a sour whey—like after Greek yogurt or a lactic cheese, the lactose/milk sugar is all gone. Therefore there’s nothing left to caramelize. Same goes for a cheese that uses vinegar or lemon juice or acid to coagulate the curd. You need SOME lactose to make a Mysost.