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Home-made Quark Cheese
Home-made Quark Cheese is a traditional German recipe for a classic creamy fresh cheese flavoured with mesophilic starter and made with calcium chloride and rennet that is the classic German cheesecake filling. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic German version of: Home-made Quark Cheese.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
15 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Additional Time:
(+draining)
Makes:
1.75kg
Rating: 
Tags : Milk RecipesCheese RecipesGermany Recipes
Quark is a creamier version of curd cheese that is a Western European staple and is essential in making many authentic European cheesecakes. As it's not readily available I've sourced a recipe so you can prepare this tasty ingredient at home. Traditionally quark is made with raw (unpasteurised and un-homogenised milk). However, as many people can only access pasteurised milk I've added liquid calcium chloride and rennet as these help pasteurised milk to curdle. They are readily available on-line. If you have access to raw milk you can do without them. You will need a metal skimmer, muslin (cheesecloth) and a thermometer. As in any recipe including a bacterial culture make sure to sterilize and equipment that will touch the cheese, you can do this by boiling.
Ingredients:
7.5l (2 gallons) whole milk
1/4 tsp mesophilic culture
1/2 tsp liquid calcium chloride (omit if using raw milk)
1/2 tsp liquid rennet
double cream, for a creamier quark (optional)
Method:
Pour the milk into a large, sterilized, pot over medium heat. Slowly heat to 25C. Don't be hasty here, slow and steady heating will give more and richer curds. However, do stir the mixture with a sterilized stainless steel spoon to prevent the milk from catching on the base of the pot. Once the milk reaches temperature take the pot off the heat.
Sprinkle over the mesophilic culture and let it sit for 5 minutes to rehydrate before stirring it it. Use a top to bottom folding motion to ensure the culture gets to the bottom of the milk. Do this gently to try and avoid breaking the surface of the milk.
Now stir the calcium chloride into 125ml (1/2 cup cool non-chlorinated water [boil and cool the water beforehand if needed]). Give the milk a gentle stir to set it swirling then add the diluted calcium chloride.
Immediately stir the milk with the same up and down motion as used for the mesophilic culture. Stir the rennet into 125ml (1/2 cup) cool non-chlorinated water then mix this with the milk in the same way as used for the calcium chloride.
Ensure that both the calcium chloride and rennet are thoroughly and evenly mixed into the milk,
Cover the pot with a cloth and let it sit in a draft-free location at room temperature for 24 hours (if it's winter you might want to wrap the pot in a large towel).
After 24 hours, carefully uncover the milk. Tilt the pan slightly to drain off the whey so you can see the curds. If the milk is properly set it will have pulled away from the sides of the pan.
Now, using a long, sterilized, knife make a cut in the curds. It should induce a clean break. If it doesn't re-cover the pot and let it sit for a further 30 minutes. Repeat this process as needed.
When the curds are properly set, use a long, sterilized, knife to cut 5cm (2 in) wide strips across the curds. Cut in the same fashion crossways to make squares. Line a strainer with muslin (cheese cloth) then use a sterilized skimmer or slotted spoon to transfer the curds inside (depending on the size of the strainer you may need to do this in batches). Let the curds drain naturally for 4 hours, or until you attain a thick, spreadable, consistency.
Transfer the finished quark to a bowl, give it a stir (or three) to break up any lumps then cover and refrigerate ready for use. For a creamier consistency, you can prepare Sahnequark (literally 'cream quark' by stirring a little double cream into the quark).
