Homemade Quark Cheese – For Beginners

 

 

 

 

 

What is Quark cheese?

 

Quark Cheese is commonly known as curd cheese. Quark cheese is soft, fresh cheeses made without rennet. Although traditionally made with cow milk, goat milk quark is every bit as appealing and useful.

 

Quark has a texture similar to that of a thick sour cream, and is most often used in baking. Its smooth texture and mild, tangy taste add lightness and moisture to baked goods. It is simple to make Quark at home from buttermilk. It can also serve as a substitutes for ricotta in dishes such as lasagna, and as a base for dips and toppings. Alternatively, it can also substitutes in recipes that use sour cream, yogurt cheese or cream cheese.

 

 

How to make Quark Cheese

 

 

Quark cheese in colander

 

It will takes up to 48 hours before it is ready for your recipes, although the actual time that you will need to spend with it is only about 10 minutes.

  • To make quark cheese, heat 1 quart of goat milk to 88 °F, and add 1 Tablespoon. buttermilk with active cultures. If your buttermilk is not quite fresh, you may want to add an extra tablespoon, as the culture activity declines over time.
  • Cover the pot, and leave it at room temperature for 24 hours. At the end of that time, the mixture should have a consistency very similar to yogurt.
  • Pour the mixture into a cheese cloth-lined colander. Either leave the cheese in the colander and cover, or tie the cheese cloth corners together over a wooden spoon or stick and hang over a pot.
  • Leave the cheese to drain for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator. Remove from the cheese cloth, place in a dish, and Enjoy! Normally, you will get about 8 oz. of cheese from 1 quart of milk.

 

More Goat Cheese Recipes. Click the link to view the recipes!

 

 

Draining homemade cream cheese

Cream Cheese

Canus Li’l Goat’s Milk Body Wash/ Tearless Shampoo 16 – Ounce (Pack of 3)

 

Homemade Cream Cheese – For Beginners

 

Draining homemade cream cheese

 

 

The recipe is a full-fat version for making cream cheese that uses only goat milk cream. If you prefer a lighter version, you can substitute part of the cream with goat milk. Anyway, I do not recommend using less than half cream, though, in order to get the best flavor and texture for homemade cream cheese. The small amount of rennet used to make cream cheese is what gives it the additional firmness over other soft cheeses such as quark or cottage cheese. *Remember, always add liquid rennet to a few tablespoons of water first and never directly to the milk.

 

 

Ingredients

 

  • 1 quart goat milk cream
  • 2 Tbsp. cultured buttermilk
  • 1 drop double strength liquid rennet dissolved in 2 Tbsp. Water

 

 

Direction:

 

  • In a stainless steel pan, warm the cream to about 70° F, stirring to ensure even heating. Add the buttermilk, and mix thoroughly. Stir in the rennet and water mixture, and again mix thoroughly.
  • Cover the pot and allow to sit for 24 hours at room temperature. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. salt over the mixture, and then whisk lightly to mix.
  • Pour the cream into a cheese cloth lined colander placed over a bowl to save the whey for future  use. Let drain for about 12 hours.
  • At that time, you can collect the cream cheese from the cheesecloth and place into a bowl for storage in the fridge.

 

 

*Optional – If you’d like a drier, molded cheese, you can place the cream cheese into a cheese mold or a small plastic container with holes in the bottom to further drain and increase the body of the cheese.

 

 

More Cheeses recipes for Beginners. Check them out!

 

 

Ricotta Cheese in a Bowl

Ricotta 

 

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