how to make a cheese candle

yes, you read that right, and it’s really really easy

as you may have caught in the newsletter i sent earlier this week, i made cheese candles for my holiday party. below is a tutorial so you can make some at home.

the idea came about because candles were one of the recurring visuals of the evening. i decided to make a butter candle, which led me to wonder, what other foods can i candle? then it came to me – cheese.

photo via weirdoldfood

you might wonder: does it act like a scented candle perfuming your house with cheese?

the answer is: not any more than cheese normally does.

scents aside, this is incredibly easy to make, but it is a little finicky (you have to pick the right kind of cheese so the burn lasts), but if you pick the right cheese the candle can easily last an hour (maybe longer, but an hour is as long as i can personally stand before digging in), and keeps the cheese nice and soft and warm while it does last. but, please do note, after a few dips into the cheese the candle will likely extinguish (as the oil moves away from the wick).

this recipe needs no more words, please enjoy.

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cheese candle:

one important note on the texture of the cheese as i have had some more and some less successful attempts at this. if the cheese you choose is quite liquidy at room temperature (eg. a very very ripe camembert) you will 1. need to use more oil (in fact a whole layer of oil on top of the cheese is needed, see video below, as the divot you have made will disappear as the cheese warms, and displace the oil inside) 2. as you dig your knife into the cheese, the flame will likely extinguish rather quickly (the oil will move away from the wick and into the space where the cheese just was).

ingredients

1 cheese that is soft at room temperature, and depending on how soft it is has some sort of sturdy container holding it (some soft cheeses come in their own crock or wrapped in bark, do not use a cheese where the container is something that can melt eg. plastic). all the cheeses i tried for this were cows milk, and (all but one) matured for 5-7 weeks: the cheeses i used were: langres, greensward, st. marks, delice, and rush creek (i am linking to murrays as 1. that’s where i purchased my cheeses 2. they have a softness scale, and as you can see all the cheeses were from the lower 1/3rd of softness). at room temperature.

organic hemp and beeswax wick

olive oil

for serving: bread, crackers, crudités, etc.

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take your wick and cut it to about 5” long. in the center of the wick tie a knot so you have two even lengths on either side of the knot. bring the two wicks together and twist them together.

use a melon baller or a palette knife to create a small divot in the cheese, just large enough to hold about 1 teaspoon of oil.

wearing kitchen gloves or using kitchen tweezers, insert the wick into the center of the divot you made. press it down to the bottom of the cheese (you may need to get a finger in there, which is why you are wearing gloves). any wick that is longer than 1/2” trim off.

fill the divot with olive oil and let it overflow to coat the top of the cheese (the more oil you add the longer the wick may burn).

place your cheese on a plate. if your oven is running feel free to place the cheese on top of the warming oven to help soften the insides, or if your cheese is on the firmer side, you can warm the oven to the lowest temperature, turn it off a few minutes after the oven started to warm, and place the cheese inside, and let it sit for about 10 minutes to warm up (this will aid in the meltiness, too long through and the cheese will fill into the divot you made).

then light it! let the candle burn for a while before digging in to help the insides warm up. how long it burns will depend on the cheese you use and the amount of oil you add. i have had a number of the tests last for an hour before i could no longer resist and dig in, but i did have a round of testing with incredibly liquidy cheeses that i had warmed in the oven for too long and didn’t use enough oil and the candle went out too quickly - so, please choose your cheese wisely. enjoy!