Marscapone - what can I do with it (other than smear on rice cakes etc.) any ideas?

[designerbaby]

Pead recommended it as a high calorie food that babies enjoy, but now I've got some i'm at a bit of a loss...

Have smeared some on rice cakes but it just ended up on the floor (cheese side down, naturally) and as I'm trying desperately to fatten up my DD does anyone have any ideas of things I could do with it which might ACTUALLY get some inside her?

My only experiences of it to date are Tiramisu (bit young for that in any quantity, I reckon!?) with figs at PizzaExpress (yummy) and when making cheesecake!

Can I mix it with veggie purées? Fruit?

Any other ideas? All suggestions gratefully received...

db
xx

BTW DD is 7 1/2 months and progressing with weaning VERY slowly, so things with too much texture don't really work for her at the moment.

Maybe I should just mix it with an Ella's Kitchen pouch - she'll eat ANYTHING mixed with an Ella's Kitchen pouch, it seems... would that be gross?

db
xx

Yes, mix with fruit - use as you would cream, basically. Very good with slightly tart fruit, like stewed plums or rhubarb or gooseberries. You can mix in some orange juice and grated zest as well. And vanilla seeds or essence, if you want (maybe unnecessary for babies though!)

I used to mix it with cooked chopped spinach and pasta. Grated cheese on top depending on how much salt you want to add.

Oh, maybe too early for pasta, but it's good when they can have it.

Hi designerbaby, how are things? I am Mascarpone Queen, I bloody love the stuff! I stir it into pasta sauces (which DS eats, as long as it's fusilli - the sauce sticks to the pasta). You can stir it into any puree at all, the taste is so mild that it wouldn't afefct any flavours. It's also good in mashed potato... does anybody know if you can freeze it? We never get through a whole pot before the 3 days are up...

You can freeze it - in the form of icecream

It's really versatile and can be used to replace cream, milk, cheese, butter etc.

Stir it in to tomato pasta sauce. Takes the sharpness out of the tomatoes.

You can stir it into tomato sauce for pasta. I'm a bit about the use of creamy things for extra calories, Italian paediatricians recommend adding olive or other oils to food as rich dairy can be difficult for small babies to digest. I was told to avoid mascarpone until my baby was at least a year old, and I had a slow gainer too.

Hi Tinkjon...

Things going better, thanks... Went to see Paed, who basically said there's nothing wrong with her, apart from being a bit anaemic and a bit skinny. However, she's very tall (clearly follows her Dad's side of the family, mine are Hobbits all...) and Paed said that provided she's growing length she doesn't care how thin she is, within reason! A relief after all the panic from the HVs...

Also prescribed a multi-vitamin, which seems to have worked wonders - her eating has improved markedly since she's been taking them. I'm almost a bit annoyed as the HVs had said not to give multi-vitamins as the extra iron would make the constipation worse - guess what, Dalivit doesn't have iron, just loads of vit C to help her absorb more from the iron she's already getting . To think that something SO simple could have eased the past 3 months of stress...

Paed suggested marscapone as a good way of getting more calcium in (as she's only barely getting her 500mls) as well as calorific.

I've decided that it's FAB stuff - stirred into almost anything it seems to make it suddenly all creamy and delicious and far more palatable to my DD...

So far no adverse effects Brangelina, but I'll keep a look out for tummy aches or a worsening of her constipation... thanks for raising it. I only use a teaspoon or so at a sitting - a little seems to go a long way.

So it's OK to freeze then? Might put some little pots on the freezer as, like you Tinkjon, I was thinking it might be an expensive product to waste if we don't get through it - and Lord knows, DH and I don't need lots of Marscapone in our lives!!

Cheers all...

db
xx

So glad to hear things are better, designerbaby, what a relief. how weird about the vitamin drops affecting appetite - I remember saying to you that my HV said this might happen once DS started on them and I thought it was rubbish but it worked. I thought maybe it was a coincidence but if it's happened with your lo too then there must be something in it! Yes, mascarpone is delicious but having it in the house is a disaster when you're on WeightWatchers

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I know knickers... I'm just at the stage now, where, if she'll eat it, I'll give it to her... I'll worry about later, later. I'm in 'coping mode' still and will be for a while to come, I think!

I know what you're saying though...
xx

Stir it into risotto, especially with fresh chopped tomatoes and chicken mmmmmmm its a hit with both my dds

HI Jelly - could you give me a recipe for this? Sounds good but never managed to make risotto successfully...

Nom Nom...

db
xx

We love it on pizza here, homemade, natch. Not weaned yet so not sure if age appropriate but it's very yummy!

I used to make a pudding for DD with mascarpone, Cow and Gate biscuits and banana all blended together. It was one of the very few things that DD ate.

I use it in loads of stuff - fish pie made with salmon, cod, potato and sweetcorn or chicken, pasta, red pepper and tomato and then stir in the mascarpone and try not to scoff it all before you can get the blender to it. It also makes a very yummy desert with some frozen summer fruits blended in, which also tastes delicious when frozen and is very moreish in ice cube form