Quark? That's that character from Star Trek, right? Sure, that's his name but today I am talking dairy!
I first discovered quark in Munich, Germany. Although at the time I didn't really know what it was. I just knew that I had been seeing the runnier, semi sour European yogurts up until that point in my trip. This one was drizzled with walnuts and honey and looked thicker. I took a small scoop to try. It was so delicious! Super creamy and just a little sweet. I was pleasantly surprised.
I belong to a German page on Facebook and one day she was discussing this treat called "quark." I was pretty sure then that it was what I had in Munich. I set out to see if I could make it from my goat milk. I found a few recipes for using cultures and this is what I came up with. Every milk is a little different so you may have to play with the draining times to get what you want but it is easy to make so give it a go!
We'll still make our runnier type of goat yogurt for smoothies but this is my new go to thick yogurt type of recipe! I also found that if I don't sweeten it that it works similar to sour cream. I plan to try it with a baked potato soon. I read that the un-thinned version can be used like cream cheese for käsekuchen (cheesecake.) Maybe we'll have a go at that too!
Quark Printable Recipe
1 gallon whole milk (not ultra pasteurized)*Buttermilk culture - USE 1 packet from New England Cheesemaking Culture or 1/8 teaspoon bulk from GetCulture
3 drops liquid rennet
Extra whole milk (amount needed depends on amount of quark making at serving time)
pure maple syrup or honey
pecans or walnuts
