Mascarpone

Mascarpone, one of the richest cheeses imaginable (close to 80 percent milk fat), is essential to several Italian desserts, among them tiramisù. Excellent mascarpone, imported from Italy, is available under several different labels. Unfortunately, it is not very widely distributed and, outside major cities with large Italian populations, may be difficult to find.

To develop a recipe for mascarpone, I spoke with Paula Lambert, president of