In this post:

Quark Recipe
List of Ingredients
Instruction
Quark Whey
Term ‘quark’

Quark is a fairly dense, pressed fermented dairy product that can be separated into pieces with a spoon.

It is good to eat it by itself with some natural yogurt/smetana/kermavilli, it could be a great base for dough, which turns into a bundt cake or a lot of cookies, just look at the links at the end of this post. You will be surprised but quark is a very interesting dressing for morning porridge. I guess there are enough reasons to test and to taste it.

The main ingredient for the quark recipe is whole milk with a short shelf life. If you will use quit fat milk, the quark will be softner and fatter, which is only good for it in my opinion.

The second ingredient is kefir or piimä. It would be better if there is no extra additions there.
At last smetana or natural yogurt. All these ingredients need to be as fresh as it possible and with the whortest shelf life too.

---

Quark

product yield about 600 g

---

Ingredients

2 l whole milk, as fat as you like
1 l kefir or piimä
150 g smetana with ~20% fat
50 g natural yogurt

Equipment

Saucepan, colander, a piece of cheeseclothes or a linen towel

Method

1. Boil the milk in a large saucepan with a thick bottom. Make sure the milk doesn’t run away.

2. When milk starts to move up add kefir, after that smetana and yogurt. Mix well,

turn off the burner and set aside for 30 minutes. You will see that milk turn into the inhomogeneous mass. It’s ok.

3. Line a colander with a piece of cheeseclothes. Transfer the mass to a colander, let the whey drain.

4. Put aside for up to 2-4 hours. The time depends on the consistency you want to achieve: the longer the cottage cheese spends in this stage, the drier the product you will get. Sometimes I increase the time up to 6 hours to get a drier product.

5. Put the quark into a glass container and enjoy the view. Store in the refrigerator.

Quark Whey

The whey left over from making cottage cheese is extremely beneficial, as it’s rich in vitamins (A, C, and B vitamins) and minerals (calcium, potassium, and magnesium). It improves digestion, detoxifies, and strengthens the immune system. Its low calorie content makes it ideal for dietary use, and the amino acids it contains promote muscle recovery.

Quark Whey can be used as a liquid in the preparation of pancakes, fritters, baked goods, sauces or soups, as well as for making desserts.

Term ‘quark’

Quark has different names in different countries e.g., cottage curd, tvorog and sometimes even – cottage cheese. In my blog, I stick to the word quark, although in Finland the word refers to a soft fermented dairy product that is similar in taste and consistency to yogurt. In Russian I prefer the word tvorog (stress on the second syllable) in part to avoid confusion with that local product.

---