What is the difference between Mascarpone and Philadelphia cream cheese?
Mascarpone is made out of cream only, while Philadelphia is made with 33% milk-fat. Mascarpone is actually less dense than cream cheese. If a recipe calls for mascarpone, like for a tiramisu, you would not be able to substitute for cream cheese. If you were to substitute mascarpone with cream cheese, you would have a final product that has a much more pronounced “cheesy” flavor, and the cream cheese would need to be worked a bit in order to be the consistency of mascarpone.