I am an unabashed dairy fan and avid baker, which suggests there’s all the time—all the time—cream cheese in my fridge. The ingredient is important for a lot of desserts, pastries, and frostings, its tang serving to to stability desserts that will in any other case be too candy. In most recipes, cream cheese must be at room temperature earlier than you incorporate it; for those who do not, you danger grainy outcomes.r Softening a chilly block of cream cheese, although, can really feel prefer it takes ceaselessly, which isn’t any enjoyable when a towering cheesecake or tangy-sweet pastelitos is ready to be made.

In my haste and desperation, I’ve tried many strategies to melt cream cheese rapidly. The web abounds with suggestions and tips: Some suggest microwaving it; others dunk packaged cream cheese in heat water; and impatient bakers use their stand or hand mixers to beat it till it is tender and workable. Decided to search out the easiest way to melt cream cheese, I zeroed in on 5 fashionable approaches to see which might work greatest—and get me nearer to a chew of cheesecake the quickest.

Why Soften Cream Cheese?

In the event you, like me, have added cream cheese or butter to a recipe earlier than it was prepared to make use of, you’ve got most likely regretted it. What you may acquire in time, you lose in texture: When cream cheese is totally softened, it blends seamlessly into frosting or cake batter, making a {smooth}, silky end. Use it chilly, and your batter or frosting can be marred by grainy specks, seen blobs, or streaks of white. That is most evident in cream cheese frosting, which ought to have an ultra-smooth, billowy texture. (Baking knowledgeable and former Critical Eats editor Stella Parks even goes as far as so as to add a custard ingredient to her cream cheese buttercream frosting recipe to make sure it’s as {smooth} as doable.)

Inform When Cream Cheese Is Correctly Softened

One of the simplest ways to evaluate the softness of your cream cheese is to verify its inner temperature with an instant-read thermometer, inserting the probe into the middle, the place will probably be coldest. Some recipes name for “room temperature” cream cheese, however this may be complicated, as ambient temperatures range broadly relying on the time of yr and your location. As former Critical Eats editor Kristina notes in her information to softening butter, 70°F (21°C) is usually thought of room temperature. This, nevertheless, is on the nice and cozy facet for cream cheese. At this temperature, the cream cheese might grow to be too tender and runny throughout mixing, particularly as friction from mixing continues to lift its temperature. 

Typically, an inner temperature of 60 to 65°F (15 to 18°C) yields correctly softened cream cheese for baking. It ought to yield simply to mild stress, leaving an indent when pressed with a finger or spoon, however should not be so tender that it gives no resistance. It is also essential to not go away cream cheese out for too lengthy, even after it has been included right into a frosting. The FDA advises leaving perishable meals at room temperature for not than two hours. Any longer, and the ingredient might start to harbor micro organism that may trigger foodborne sickness. As soon as softened, cream cheese must be used instantly—and any leftovers promptly refrigerated.

The Testing

In my analysis, I got here throughout a number of widespread strategies for softening cream cheese: leaving it at room temperature entire and cubed; submerging a sealed bundle in heat water; microwaving it; or utilizing a stand mixer to beat it till tender. These are probably the most broadly beneficial approaches, and those I examined for this text.

Throughout testing, my kitchen’s ambient temperature was 71°F, very shut to plain “room temperature.” I used 8-ounce blocks of Philadelphia Unique cream cheese, a nationwide model that is broadly obtainable and customarily considered the usual for baking. Utilizing an instant-read thermometer, I recorded the beginning temperature of every refrigerated block, then timed how lengthy it took to achieve 60 to 65°F (15.5 to 18.3°C) within the heart. I additionally famous any inner temperature variation (e.g., whether or not the ends warmed quicker than the middle in entire blocks) and assessed every technique’s remaining consistency, comfort, ease, and cleanup necessities.

• Entire Block on a Sheet Pan: I unwrapped an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and laid it flat on an aluminum baking sheet. As former editor Kenji famous in his information to defrosting meals rapidly, aluminum is without doubt one of the greatest kitchen conductors of warmth. To maximise contact, I set the block flat, inserted a probe thermometer into the middle of the block, and began a timer, recording the temperature each 5 minutes. Initially, the middle’s temperature rose by three to 5 levels each 5 minutes, climbing from a cold 37°F (2.7°C) to 52°F (11°C) in 20 minutes. After that, the temperature plateaued, rising only one to 2 levels per interval. It took 50 minutes for the cream cheese to achieve the minimal benchmark of 60°F (15°C), and a full hour to achieve 63°F (17.2°C). The ends of the block warmed barely quicker than the middle, studying usually only one or two levels hotter than the center. 
• Cubed Block on a Sheet Pan: For this technique, I used the identical setup, however lower the block into eight 1-ounce cubes. I spaced the cubes about 1/2-inch aside on the baking sheet to permit air to flow into. This technique proved a lot quicker: The cubes reached 61°F (16°C) in simply 25 minutes and 65°F (18°C) on the 30-minute mark. Every dice was at a constant temperature all through the check.
• Wrapped Block in Heat Water: Many bakers suggest a heat water tub to hurry up softening. For this check, I left the cream cheese in its foil wrapper and positioned it in a bowl of 90°F (32°C) water. The block’s inner temperature rose from 37 to 60°F (2.7 to fifteen°C) in simply 10 minutes, and reached 64°F (17.7°C) after quarter-hour. Nevertheless, this technique solely works for those who’re planning to make use of a full 8-ounce block of cream cheese, and piercing a thermometer by means of the foil lets water seep in. And not using a probe, it is exhausting to inform by really feel how tender the block is thru the packaging.
• Entire Block within the Microwave: When velocity is the purpose, the microwave is usually the primary answer that involves thoughts. For this check, I unwrapped a block of cream cheese and laid it flat on a plate. Utilizing 50% energy, I microwaved it in 10-second bursts, checking the interior temperature after every. Beginning at 39°F (3.8·C), the middle hit 61°F (16°C) after 4 10-second bursts. The ends of the block, nevertheless, warmed up a lot quicker: At 20 seconds, the middle was 54°F (12.2°C) whereas the ends had been already at 63°F (17.2°C). By 40 seconds, that they had reached 72°F (22.2°C), and had been visibly tender, runny, and starting to bubble—indicators of not simply over-softening however overheating.
• Cubed Block within the Microwave: For this check, I adopted the identical technique within the microwave as above, however lower the cream cheese block into eight 1-ounce cubes and positioned them about 1/2-inch aside on the plate earlier than microwaving. Much like the outcomes from the room-temperature baking sheet check, this technique proved considerably quicker than leaving the block entire, taking simply 20 seconds for the entire cubes to register 60°F (15.5°C) or above when microwaved at 50% energy. Nevertheless, just like the entire block within the microwave, the cubes on the outer fringe of the plate heated quicker than these on the heart, registering 71°F (21.6°C) on the 20-second mark, whereas the middle dice had solely reached 60°F (15.5°C) and confirmed indicators of being over-softened.
• Entire Block in a Stand Mixer: Many bakers suggest utilizing a stand mixer or hand mixer to paddle cream cheese as a fast technique to soften it. For this check, I unwrapped a block and positioned it immediately within the bowl of my stand mixer. Utilizing the paddle attachment, I beat the cream cheese on medium-low velocity (to keep away from incorporating extra air), pausing each 30 seconds to verify the temperature. After 2 1/2 minutes, the middle reached 60°F (15.5°C), and it took a full 5 minutes to hit 65°F (18.3°C). I scraped down the bowl periodically to make sure the cream cheese was totally agitated, however regardless of my efforts, loads of it remained caught to the beater, spatula, and bowl—leaving me with lower than the total 8-ounces by the top. 

The Outcomes: What’s the Greatest Technique to Soften Cream Cheese?

One of the simplest ways to melt cream cheese is to chop the block into smaller parts, similar to 1-ounce cubes, place them on an aluminum baking sheet, and allow them to sit at room temperature for 25 to half-hour. As a result of aluminum is such a wonderful conductor of warmth, it softens cream cheese rapidly and evenly. The cubes come to temperature in about half the time of an entire block, with no particular tools or further cleanup required. In the event you do that step first, your cream cheese will doubtless be prepared by the point you’ve got measured your different elements and preheated the oven. 

Whereas a microwave can soften cream cheese in seconds, it is simple to overdo it, leading to uneven texture and overly tender spots. Energy ranges range considerably from one mannequin to a different, so the settings that work for one microwave might not work in one other. You may, in fact, be taught your specific microwave’s quirks and alter accordingly, however doing so requires trial and error, and should still pose the danger of overheating some parts of the cream cheese.

As for the warm-water technique, the 5 to 10 minutes saved is not definitely worth the danger of water seeping into the cream cheese by means of a gap made by the thermometer’s probe—or the uncertainty of skipping the thermometer and attempting as an alternative to gauge its softness by means of the wrapper. The mixer technique, in the meantime, was by far the messiest and least sensible: It requires cleansing a bowl, paddle, and spatula, and also you lose valuable cream cheese to the tools. Subsequent time I would like softened cream cheese, you may wager I will be reaching for my trusty quarter-sheet pan and exercising a bit little bit of persistence.