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Quark – Homemade Fresh Cheese
Mom’s QUARK
A simply wonderful treat my mom makes is a creamy cheese called “quark.” This fresh cheese has a light acidic tang and my family uses it to complement everything from tacos to breakfast cereal.
Although it’s really easy to make, I honestly rarelly make it at home. When your mom has the perfect recipe, you just don’t want to mess with it! However, when I was given some raw milk from local dairy, I could not resist calling up mom and having her walk me through her methods.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 7 hours
Yield: 4 1/4 cups
Ingredients
Quark:
- 8 cups of whole milk, or substitute half whole and half 2%
- 2 cups of buttermilk, or substitute 2 cups milk + 3 ½ teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar
Special tools:
- coffee filter or 7-inch square of cheesecloth
Directions
Mom instructs us to bring the eight cups of milk to a simmer over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepot. Then, remove it from heat and let it come to room temperature. Next, whisk in two cups of buttermilk.
Transfer the mixture to a glass or plastic container and leave the mixture at room temperature for a day or so until curds form and the mixture thickens. The mixture will become the consistency of yogurt.
Transfer the thickened mixture to a coffee filter- or cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl. Refrigerate overnight allowing the curds to strain the clear whey to drip into the bowl.
Voilà!
In the morning, you’ve got the softest cheese you can imagine. You’ll notice that your quark can be best described as the kissing cousin of sour cream or soft ricotta cheese. Keep it refrigerated and stored in a covered container. Use as desired!
