German Quark Alternatives – Substitute Quark

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You probably have asked yourself what could I use instead of quark? Many of the German recipes, especially cakes, pastries and desserts are using quark as a main ingredient. And it’s this ingredient that adds that special taste to the dish.
Quark is very common in Germany and you can find it in every supermarket. There are many shelves with just quark products. Unfortunately not in the USA. In Germany every creamery makes quark, in the USA we found 3 companies so far that produce it in the USA.

Of course you always can make your own quark – We found several methods that are easy and workable:
——-> FIND OUT HOW TO MAKE QUARK <——-

German Quark Alternatives

Alternative I
Combine 9 parts of Ricotta Cheese and 1 part of Sour Cream. Some say this is the closest as you can get when imitating quark.

Alternative II
Pour 2 quarts of Buttermilk (adjust amount as needed) into an enameled Dutch Oven, a heavy casserole pan or any oven proof pan that comes with a tight fitting lid.
Set oven on 150 F  and place the pan into the oven; let cook for a minimum of 5 hours or overnight.
By using a sieve and if you have, a cheese cloth, drain the content. All liquid must be drained from the quark.
If you like a creamy quark add a bit of milk, water or heavy cream to it and blend with stick mixer.

Using milk instead of butter milk will be okay but the texture will not be as creamy even you blend with heavy cream.

Alternative III
Use mascarpone cheese as a substitute which has a very similar texture but is not as tangy.

Alternative IV
Take some cottage cheese and place in a blender. Let blender run until all curds are dissolved. If it is not creamy enough add some milk or cream to it.

Sources for Quark in the USA

There used to be more brands that made quark but they didn’t make it. Wunder quark and Ellie quark closed the doors. The ONLY that survived is the Vermont Creamery quark

• The Vermont Creamery makes quark that can be purchased in several super markets. It’s an established creamery with great milk products. The best is to call the supermarket that is mentioned on their list – See link below:
  Location Finder Vermont Creamery
  
  
  

The most popular dish using quark is probably a cake, it’s the  GERMAN CHEESECAKE 

If you go to our Cheese cake recipe you will find tips and info on how to substitute quark for this cake or check out alternative V below:

Alternative V FOR CHEESE CAKE ONLY
Combine 4 packages Philadelphia Cheese and  1 container Sour Cream, ad some cornstarch, lemon juice, 4 eggs. Mix well.