Mascarpone may also be made using cream and the residual tartaric acid from the bottom or sides of barreled wine.

The traditional method is to add three tablespoons of lemon juice per pint of heated heavy cream.

The mixture is allowed to cool to room temperature before it is poured into a cheesecloth-lined colander, set into a shallow pan or dish, and chilled and strained for one to two days.

[8] Mascarpone originated in the Italian region of Lombardy in the area between Lodi and Abbiategrasso south of Milan, probably in the late 16th or early 17th century[citation needed].

Popularly, the name is held to derive from mascarpa, an unrelated milk product made from the whey of stracchino (a young, barely aged cheese), or from mascarpia, a word in the local dialect for ricotta.