How to make Quark from buttermilk (2024)

When Germans live abroad they have two big concerns: The first one is about getting good bread and the second is about finding Quark in a grocery. Quark is kind of the holy grail for Germans outside of Germany.

If they find it in a store they will immediately brag about it on facebook. Then they will have an inner celebration, faint a little about the high price and last decide that it’s worth it to pay $5 for a tiny jar of Quark. Nonsense! Most people don’t know how easy and cheap it is to make Quark at home. The only problem with this process is, that though it is not much work, it takes a little time.

There are different methods to make Quark and I have covered two more versions that you should definitely check out:

• Make Quark from Kefir
• Make Quark from Milk in your Oven

What is Quark anyway?

Though at a first glance it may look like yogurt, especially like greek yogurt, Quark is a different dairy product. It is a very fresh cheese and has a lot more health benefits than yogurt. 100g Quark has about 14 g of protein, this is twice as much as greek yogurt has! It also hasvery few lactose but a lot of vitaminK, which is important to keep calcium out of your vessels and in your bones.

When making quark, the caseinproteins leak out of the milk and that’s what we collect in the cheesecloth, while the whey is collected in the bowl below it.

How to make Quark from buttermilk

About this recipe

This recipe is the easiest and fastest way to make quark. It is made with buttermilk and I mainly use this quark for baking. Made with buttermilk, it has a fine buttermilk taste and I am not a big fan of that, but many people like it. However, if I want to eat my quark with fruits or herbs etc. I prefer it from whole milk.

Important: Make sure that your buttermilk really is buttermilk! Some products contain fillers and are not really buttermilk so they might not work.

Now, I usually have a quark maker in my kitchen, which makes it even more convenient for me. Right now I am in Los Angeles in a small apartment without a quark maker. I live in LA from time to time just for a couple of months. I have “an apartment in the box” meaning that I have essential things in 3 big plastic boxes which I store in a friend’s garage. When I move into an apartment, I unpack my stuff and have a kitchen equipped by Dollar Tree, towels, blankets, and a few other things. So even with a kitchen that has only some essentials, I am able to make quark and I am going to prove it in my video!

There many many uses for Quark

I could probably make an entire blog about Quark and what you can do with it.

Some uses are:

• in cheesecake
• Quark-cakes (no-bake cakes)
• desert creams (so many variations!!!)
• baking rolls
• fillings in Danish, pancakes etc.
• doughnut like baking goods
• making spätzle (a different recipe than mine here)
• for a special pizza or cake dough instead of a yeast dough
• like butter on bread with some honey drizzled on top or with some jam
• mixed with herbs, salt, and garlic as a delicious spread for bread or dip for chips and vegetables
• with fresh fruits
• … and the list could go on and on

Did you know that it can also be used for medical purposes? Every midwife and nurse knows, that a mastitis can be fixed easily with a quark wrap. Also, a sore throat or coughing gets better soon, with a quark wrap.

About the whey

Oh, and when you make the Quark you also get a lot of whey. You can use it in your fruit shake (very healthy with lots of B-Vitamines) or make soap from it. Some people take a bath in it (great for the skin) or – which I do mostly – use it instead of water when baking bread. But be aware that whey starts to break down soon and you should always only use it very fresh unless you make soap from it.

Fun fact

I am a little allergic to some fruits like cherries, peaches etc.. My lips and throat become really itchy and swell a little when I eat those fruits fresh. Not so if I cut them and put them in a bowl of Quark!