Cooking with Philadelphia cream cheese

I read in a recent cooking thread that Philadelphia 'doppelrahmstufe' separates on heating, but on looking at the huge range of Philly cheese in the supermarket it seems to me that the doppelrahmstufe is what used to be the normal stuff (philly with no explanation), which is recommended for cooked dishes, with the reduced fat (15 and 5 %) and flavoured varieties recommended as a spread only.

thoughts?

I've heard that as well, but I've made cheesecake with the reduced fat stuff before and it doesn't taste too much different, just the consistency is a bit runnier..

I like philly on a good tomato pesto bagel...mmmmm

Also this is the only good thing about Philadelphia
In all seriousness though I never cook with it so I could not give a valid answer. Don_rina might be able to answer your question.

It has a lot to do with the speed in which you heat it up as well (the slower the better). I use the doublecreamstuff all the time and have no problem.

What I'd like to know is, why is it that when you mix cream cheese and honey and walnuts...mmmm... the honey seems to make the cream cheese get all runny?

What I want to know JennyL is why isnt German goulash the same as midwest goulash?

Yeah, perdido, good point. Why IS that? Midwest goulash is so gooood, too.

What's midwest goulash?

Talking about goulash makes me Hungary.

@eurovol- good one.

@Teabird-Midwest goulash does not in any way, shape or form resemble Hungarian goulash. It's a dish made with hamburger, onions, garlic, canned tomato soup and elbow macaroni. And it's dang tasty.

Except my step-mother uses ketchup instead of tomato soup. gag.

lol i love this! creamcheese to goulash... nice change

mmm. Midwest goulash sounds like what my husband (from Ohio) described to me as sloppy joes. is it?

I think I'll stick to Yorkshire pudding.

No, not really. Sloppy joes wouldn't have macaroni in them. My mom made sloppy joes with hamburger, onion, ketchup and mustard and brown sugar. They are SO good.

In my travels across the U.S. i have yet to see the same recipe for goulash untill now. Jennyl's sounds very similar to my best friends recipe. Her being from nebraska is probably the reason.

@teabird
Midwest goulash orginated from German immigrants that settled in the midwest at the end of the 1800s and the begining of the 1900s along with the hamburger.

sloppy joes are great! they are a sandwhich- this goulash stuff isn't. so yeah ground meat, tomato paste, seasoning, etc (sometimes onion or something)
esp good w/ tatortots and/or baked beans (hehehe ate that in school heaps!)

ohhhhh... tatertots. There is nothing better than some good old Ore Ida tatertots.

I forgot about those it has been so long. Speaking of tatertots now, I remember going to Sonic drive in for tatertots with cheese on top mmmm

nothing beats fried cheesecurds though people (if you're going someplace for fried food that involves cheese)

(yes, i know tatortots aren't necessarily fried. i know i don't fry them)

I'm not so much for tatertots. Twisty fries though...drool.

Has anyone seen the flavored Philly Cream Cheese here? Like strawberry, pineapple, etc? I've only seen the standard stuff.

At the Edeka supermarket at the aiport they have a large selection of flavours, including one that has a picture of something brown, like breadcrumbs or something, on it. I might get it next time I'm there just to see what it is.

@TeaBird
I am the one that made the post about double-cream philly cheese when making cheesecakes..that it is the one NOT to use.

you can find regular cream cheese at Kaufhof and sometimes at Penny.

Odd...I've made cheesecakes with the Doppelrahmstufe and they turn out fabulous. I've never had it separate on me (I've cooked other things with it as well; it's particularly nice to add to mac and cheese for that extra creaminess).

well I guess it depends what you are used to and what your expectations for the cheesecake is. I have been baking cheesecakes privately and professionally for 20 years. The double cream philly did not separate whilst baking, but after combining, the mixture tends to be more fluid. This can lead to a slightly grainy cheesecake, require longer baking times and eventually lead to cracking. Those factors also depend on the type of sugar used, whether or not it is a "speciality" cheesecakes with extra ingredients, whether you use a liquid vanilla extract or the vanilla directly from the stick (or at all) and so on. There are a lot of factors. But having baked literally hundreds of cheesecakes in my life. I still do not recommend double cream philly.

Hmm, well I haven't had problems with graininess or cracked tops either, but I certainly haven't made as many cheesecakes as you have, nor do I know how the other things you mentioned may be affecting my results.

I didn't see what you do recommend in this thread. Care to share?

I think Danarae recommends generic 'cream cheese' which I've seen usually sold by weight.

so - at the risk or repeating myself, is the double cream stuff just 'original' Philadelphia or is is really double-creamy (?)

@saan

Can I PM you concerning that mac and cheese receipe w/cream cheese ?

I use the good ole fashioned Philadelphia cream cheese and beat the mixture by hand. Use lemon peel instead of lemon juice (sometimes) and fresh vanilla.

But that mac and cheese recipe is making me hungry!

Which kind of cheesecake would you like to know about?
I also offer services through TT. I have a post somewhere (can't seem to find it) in the services offered threads and have baked for a couple TTers. The prices range between 18-30€ for a cheesecake.

edit: I also have references! from satisfied (and full) customers

Of course you can, or you can just take a look here.

Never saw that before. Thanks Saan.

Looking for velveeta.

But that's what's confusing. I swear I've never seen "regular" Philadelphia cream cheese here, just the Doppelrahmstufe or the reduced fat kind. (I'm not really that picky though, I have no problem using another brand).

speaking of velveeta cheese/wax/whatever.
my step-mother and and I used to use a crockpot and slowly melt velveeta and add salsa. Then mix it up and eat it with chips. I haven't eaten that in, hmm..about eight years. I would also like to find some velveeta to let my son do this when his friends come over. Think they would like it and it is easy for children.

Beyond that, there is a Mexican shop in Neuhausen that sells cheese especially for melting for dips and they have great tortilla chips as well.

I understand. How long have you been here? For the first 4 years I was here, I had no problem
buying the regular philadelphia from Penny or Kaufhof. Lately though, I notice that some stores are only stocking the double cream. Which has, on occassion been an irritant for me. This is why I posted about it before.
But you can still find it sometimes. If not, stores like V-Markt have very similar generic cream cheese in large quantities.

Last month, I broke down and bought the double cream again from Minimal because I was baking a cheesecake for two other TTers at the last minute and could not be bothered to go into town to find the regular cream cheese.

I wasn't happy with the results

Mmmmm, that's how we made queso at my house! (Sacreligious, I know!)

I'm sure velveeta can be found somewhere in Munich; I was able to buy it in Aachen. I think those toast "cheese" slices that are individually wrapped are basically the same thing, one could always unwrap a bunch of them.

oh..now I am getting hungry!
Does anyone else here miss the good TexMex restaurants in the States where you get free chips and white cheese dip with jalapenos in it for 1$ a bowl? yuuummy

Yes a lot of us do. The subject only opens up a can of worms on the true definition of TexMex
Mexican Rest.

I don't miss TexMex but I do miss NewMex! In about a month I'm going home for the first time in nearly three years and I fully intend to gorge at all my favorite New Mexican restaurants.

take me with you Saan! Please!

On my last trip to Munich I found the regular, original Philidelphia brand cream cheese at the Kaufhof gourmet at Marienplatz.

Original Philidelphia, is everywhere... Penny, Lidl, Hertie, Kaufhof, Aldi, etc.. Some of them even have the Flavored ones too.

No, Darkknight not necessarily..at least it hasn't always been. For a while most people could only find the double cream philly.

The Waldfrucht (fruits of the forest) one has just been launched along with a red chili one - Philadelphia German website.

I'm glad I found this thread. I'm just about to make mini-cheesecakes for my friends birthday and upon closer inspection of the package, I noticed the word doppelrahmstufe. And let me tell you, it's not obvious at all. The package looks just like regular Philly Cream cheese like I used to buy in the states.

I bought it at V-Markt, but I'm going to take a ride to Feneberg and see if they have the normal variety. If not, I'll let you guys know how it comes out with the double cream kind.

Wish me luck!

a couple of spoonfuls stired into a tomato pasta sauce just before serving makes it nice and creamy.

We love flavoured Philadelphia cream cheese as a spread, but for baking I've switched to using the Buko brand of cream cheese because a couple of times I had problems with the Philadelphia they sell here - both the regular kind, whatever Stufe that may be, and the lower fat versions- they all seemed kind of watery in comparison to the more solid N. American block type stuff.

I have not been able to find the normal variety anywhere. Are you positive that the "regular" kind you had wasn't doppelrahmstoff? The reason I ask is because the packaging looks identical to the stuff in the states, but in 14 pt. font underneath it always says "Doppelrahmstoff" (in my experience.)

It probably was - I didn't really look. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm out shopping.