The category of triple-crème cheeses arose from cheesemakers testing the limits. How rich, luscious and irresistible could cheese be? How much fat would it take to make a cheese as plush and spreadable as buttercream frosting?
The answer is in. If you add enough cream to milk to produce a cheese with a minimum fat content of 75 percent, you achieve triple-crème status and all the characteristics described above.
Triple-crème cheeses like Brillat-Savarin, Explorateur and Pierre-Robert bring milk into the realm of the angels. They feel like silk on the tongue, and they have an intriguing sour-cream or cheesecake flavor that makes you crave another taste. They pair beautifully with raisin bread or walnut bread, with dried fruits, fruit compotes or fresh pears. For an elegant salad course, toss baby greens with walnuts and sliced pears, then garnish with a slice of triple-crème cheese on a crouton.
Remember that most cheeses are at least half water. When labels indicate a cheese's fat content, it is measured in the dry matter alone — the cheese minus its water. So a triple-crème cheese that measures 75 percent fat is really only half that. Nobody would claim that it's diet food, but it certainly trumps butter nutritionally.
Look to triple-crème cheese to give your favorite desserts some French chic. Used in ice cream, it contributes a certain je ne sais quoi, which loosely translates as "hmmm... I can't quite put my finger on it." Made with Mimolette cheese in the crust and served with triple-crème ice cream, pie à la mode becomes a triumph.
See It Made: Apple Pie Á La Versaille with Triple Crème Ice Cream
Bing Cherry Compote and Brillat-Savarin
Cook's Tip: The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, based on the healthful ways of traditional cultures, recommends cheese or yogurt in "moderate portions, daily to weekly." Replacing butter or meat with cheese is one smart change you can make on occasion. Consider spreading your morning whole-grain toast with Brillat-Savarin instead of butter. In place of bacon and eggs, start your day with a Comté sandwich on walnut bread — a nutritious and portable breakfast.
