Creole cream cheese is Louisiana's answer to ricotta or burrata cheese. It’s made with skim milk, buttermilk, and rennet and has a dry texture, though it’s slightly sweeter and more tart than ricotta or burrata. Traditionally, it’s eaten with cream, sugar, and fruit spooned over the top or used as a substitute for yogurt.
Creole cream cheese nearly became extinct in recent history, and there was a huge local movement to help save it from disappearing. More recently, there’s been an uptick in popularity, and it’s now a flavor in almost all ice cream shops in NOLA.
I personally like to smear it on a biscuit and top that with fruit preserves as a breakfast go-to (or, let’s be honest, a middle-of-the-day snack). At Willa Jean, we use it in various applications: as an ice cream on our red velvet dessert and also as the (not-so) secret ingredient in our banana bread. We periodically offer cheesecakes and Creole cream cheese custards at our front counter as well. To make your own Creole cream cheese, you will need rennet tablets, which are available at many health foods stores and online.
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