DIY: Homemade Quark Cheese

In my kitchen, I like making things from scratch. Although it requires more time and effort and it's rather much easier to just go to the market and buy ready made ingredients to use for cooking or baking. 

The second option is easier to practice but it's not only high on pocket and the ingredients are processed with chemicals and kept on the shelf for god knows how long. When it comes to the choice of food for my family, I would any day prefer fresh food. Hence, I prefer to follow this rule while baking also. 

I wanted to learn making homemade cream cheese for so long and have been just avoiding doing it for no reason for a very long time. I know, I am a classic example of a procrastinator. That's the reason I have been avoiding many recipes which calls for cream cheese as a main ingredient as I wanted to make it from scratch.

Finally, when I tried making Quark Cheese at home, I realised how effortless it was to make. I didn't have to do a lot of things. I just had to give some time for the ingredients to do its work. I am now so addictive to this cheese and have used the cheese in frosting a classic Red Velvet Cake, an eggless red velvet cake, a No Bake Mango Quark Cheesecake and the list will increase in future for sure.

Without taking much time of yours, lets get started to making it.

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DIY: Homemade Quark Cheese

Here's what you would need to make Homemade Quark (Curd Cheese)

adapted from recipe @ GermanFood.About.com

• 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk (you can make buttermilk at home by adding 1 tbsp vinegar to 1/2 cup milk) (I used Amul buttermilk non spiced 1/2 ltr pack)
• 3 and 1/2 cups full cream milk (you may use low fat milk also)

Here's how you can make it:

• If your milk is not pasteurised you should bring it to the boil, then allow it to cool to room temperature (covered with a lid).
• Stir the buttermilk into the milk in a container you can cover.
• Put the container in a warm place. 
• Allow the culture to proceed for 18 - 24 hours, or until the curds and whey separate. At first the milk will look grainy, and eventually the curds will float on the whey. The grainy stage is probably sufficient, but might give a lower yield.
• Dampen a clean tea towel/cheesecloth or muslin cloth and use it to line a sieve. 
• Place the sieve over a basin. 
• Pour the curds and whey into the strainer. 
• Bring the tea towel together so that it covers your quark and do it up with a rubber band. 
• Place the entire draining apparatus in the fridge.
• Allow to drain in the fridge overnight, or for 24 hours. The drained quark should have a consistency similar to sour cream, but it has a more sour taste.
• You may use the whey in making dough for breads at home.

Here, you have it... Hope, you would like to try making this cheese and including it in your cakes or desserts. All you need is some planning and some time to let the buttermilk do its work and let you enjoy the wonderful fresh cheese.