Ingredients
Quark - German spreadable cheese
- 100 grams buttermilk, for culture
- 250 grams full cream milk, fresh or UHT - for culture
- 4 litres full cream milk, fresh
Accessories you need
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Spatula TM5/TM6
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I'm cooking this todayRecipe's preparation
- Measure milk (250g) into TM bowl. Heat on speed 1 until it reaches 70C, and continue heating for one minute - this pasteurises the milk and is an important step even if the milk is already pasteurised.
Allow milk to cool to 37 degrees (a bit cooler is also is fine). Stir in buttermilk on speed 2 for about 30 seconds.
Pour this mixture into a small container, cover and stand 12-24 hours at room temperature. This step can be done in an Easiyo - fill the thermos up with hot water to the red baffle, place sealed container with culture on top, and close the lid.
The culture should thicken and slightly separate during this time. It will smell slightly soured but not "off". - Measure milk (250g) into TM bowl. Heat 3 mins/37C/sp 1.
(No need to pasteurise.)
Stir in buttermilk on speed 2 for about 30 seconds.
Pour this mixture into a small container, cover and stand 12-24 hours at room temperature. This step can be done in an Easiyo - fill the thermos up with hot water to the red baffle, place sealed container with culture on top, and close the lid.
The culture should thicken and slightly separate during this time. It will smell slightly soured but not "off". - Pour 2 litres of milk into the bowl and heat on speed 2 until it reaches 37 degrees (around 5-7 mins). Add half the culture and stir 30 sec/sp 2. Pour into a bowl.
You can now either repeat the above step or store the remaining culture for later (see tips).
Cover the bowl and stand 24-48 hours in a warm place. (In winter you could stand the bowl on top of a Thermoserver half-filled with hot water and wrap in a towel.) You should end up with a white, thick and smooth mass which is separating from the yellowish whey. - Line a strainer with a thin cotton tea towel or cheesecloth and place in a bowl. Pour cheese mixture into the strainer, cover with a plate and strain for 6 - 10 hours in the fridge. The finished product should be smooth and creamy.
If the quark looks a bit crumbly you can stir in some milk, or add back some of the whey. It's best to do this in the TM on speed 5-6 until you are happy with the consistency.
Quark keeps about one week in the fridge.
Make the culture (with fresh milk):
or- Make the culture (with UHT milk):
Make the quark:
Tip
-I often make this in 2 goes (i.e with 2L milk and half the culture at a time). If using homemade buttermilk, the culture will keep 1 week in the fridge; if using store bought buttermilk, it will last 2 weeks in the fridge. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. Ensure defrosted/refrigerated culture is back to room temp before making quark with it.
-Whey can be used in baking (esp bread - gives a sourdough-like flavour) or added to smoothies; it can even be drunk as it is, although this is an acquired taste. I would not recommend using this whey to make ricotta as most of the whey protein will be in the quark.
-Quark is an extremely delicious and versatile cheese. Of the cheeses common in Australia, it is most similar to cream cheese but it is lighter and less tart. You can use quark in sweet and savoury dishes. Stir through some fresh herbs & spices (and finely diced tomato if desired) and serve with boiled potatoes and a bit of butter. Mix half-half with sour cream as an alternate pizza sauce, then sprinkle with finely diced onion and bacon (this is a German meal called "flammkuchen"). Add a spoonful to your fruit salad or fresh figs and drizzle with a little honey or maple syrup. Use it to make cheesecake. There are lots of recipes out there!
Thermomix Model
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Recipe is created forTM 31
This recipe was provided to you by a Thermomix ® customer and has not been tested by Vorwerk Thermomix ® or The Mix Australia Pty Ltd and The Mix New Zealand Ltd.
Vorwerk Thermomix ® and The Mix Australia Pty Ltd and The Mix New Zealand Ltd assume no liability, particularly in terms of ingredient quantities used and success of the recipes.
Please observe the safety instructions in the Thermomix ® instruction manual at all times.
Comments
This is great, Ive never had quark before, it has a lovely flavour. The recipe worked perfectly, thanks.
maerrie:
thanks for the tips, I might try again before I resolve to the shops 😄
Nutes: that's a shame, I'm so sorry it's not working for you. It sounds as though it could be that the ambient temperature is a bit cool and the mixture is not fermenting properly, but I'm not sure. I move mine around to be in the warmest parts of the house (e.g. in the sunshine near a window); overnight when it's cool I put hot water in a Thermoserver and sit the bowl on top, wrapping the whole lot in a blanket. This recipe has always worked for me, though it does sometimes take a lot longer (e.g. in winter it takes the mixture at least 2 days to ferment properly). The quark should be quite firm and clearly separating from the whey in the bottom of the bowl before you drain it. Again, I'm sorry you've had no success
maerrie:
i just am not having any luck with this! I've tried it twice more now with full fat dairy milk - once with a nut bag and once with a tea towel and the milk just runs through the bag/towel immediately. I think I'll just have to buy the quark next time!
Nutes: yes I'm afraid the milk cannot be substituted by alternative 'milks'. The bacteria feeds off the lactose during the fermenting process. You'd need to use a different cream cheese recipe specifically for soy milk to have success, I think.
Mine came out too runny. Maybe because I used soy milk? Should I beat an egg into it to thicken it up?
My neighbour has a friend visiting from Europe and she's been baking all sorts of delicious pastries and has very kindly given me a few. She was saying how expensive Quark was to buy in Aust. I looked online and found this recipe and made it. I have never used or seen Quark before so wasn't sure if I got it right. I took it over for her to try and she said it was just right and in fact better than the supermarket one. I have another batch fermenting and will keep making this as I see it can be used for a lot of recipes and is good for the gut.Thankyou for such a straightforward recipe.
irenecam
heids88: Hi, sorry I'm terrible at checking messages so have only just found yours! You could make the culture as described, freeze half, and use the other half to make cheese with 2 litres of milk. I do this regularly. the culture keeps a good 3 months in the freezer, but it absolutely must be at room temperature before using it to make quark
I'm wondering if you could do this with half the ingredients? I'm not sure I want such a big amount of quark but would love to make some 'kwark taart' for my Dutch husband - it's his favourite cake and quark is so hard to find here!!
I ended up with 1.7 kg of quark and I had about 2.5 L of whey leftover.