Name: Creamy Orange Quark Cheese Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 cups quark; 2 oranges - Zest and Juice; 1 orange - peel to make filets for decorating; 1 cup heavy whipping cream (- Reserve a little for decorating if you like); ¼ cup honey; 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional); 2 tbsp lemon juice (optional); Pinch of salt (optional)

Quark Cheese Mousse is a creamy dream of sweetened cultured milk and orange juice. A healthy daily treat or fancy for special occasions.

quark cheese dessert in a bowl with a slice of orange for decoration.

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If you love to serve sweet treats to your family, but hate processed foods with unpronounceable ingredients, you’ve come to the right place. Today I revisit my favorite dessert from childhood, which is still one of my favorites today. The secret ingredient is quark.

If you’re not familiar with quark cheese, it comes as no surprise to me. It is not normally sold in American stores, and there are no true substitutes for it that are any easier to obtain. But you may get lucky in a German ethnic store or a health food store. However, quark is easy to make, tastes delicious, is full of probiotics, super versatile to use, and it forms the basis for this delectable dessert. A creamy, dreamy sweet treat that can benefit your health by eating it. How cool is that?

If you love to make easy cheeses, stop by the quark making page to get a delicious German quark cheese recipe. And you might like to try one ingredient bonny clabber cheese, the original cheese. If you have goat’s milk, don’t miss my chevre making recipe. All these can be used for the Quark Dessert Recipe!

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How To Make A German Quark Cheese Dessert

bowl with finished quark cheese dessert and an orange slice for decoration. A piece of orange is in front of it. text overlay reads dreamy, creamy dessert, quark cheese mousse. foodforlifegarden.com.

This is one of the easiest desserts to make and can be whipped up in just 10 minutes if you have quark. If you don’t, you’ll need to make quark and that can take a few days, so plan ahead in this case.

This dessert has several names in Germany. Some call it Topfencreme, others call it Quarkcreme. Then it goes by Kӓsesahne dessert, Quarkspeise or Topfenspeise. Quark and Topfen are the same thing, just named differently in different German states and German speaking Switzerland and Austria. It is a little bit like a fresh tasting yogurt but creamier and more like a mousse consistency. You’ll get a more accurate idea if you taste it for yourself.

Why you’ll love this Quark cheese dessert

bowl with finished creamy quark cheese dessert and slices of an orange for decoration.

If you follow my recipe to make quark, you’ll arrive at the traditional quark as it was prepared hundreds of years ago. A cultured fresh cheese, or bag cheese, that is teaming with live cultures to support your gut-health. It’s easy to make. Scroll down to read more.

You’ll Love Quark Because…

Quark is a gut friendly cheese that is full of live, probiotic bacteria and microorganisms, which will support your gut microbiome.

Quark dessert uses minimal sweeteners, much of the sweetness comes from the fruits used, and it tastes best when it’s not over-sweetened.

You can sweeten with raw honey for more gut friendly bacteria and immune supporting properties.

Make it your way! If you want to leave out the cream, you can and it will still taste fabulous, though less rich and not as moussey. But if you make the quark with whole milk, it will be quite creamy. Even if you make it low-fat it will taste delicious.

Quark is so awesome, once you make it and try this dessert, you’ll not be able to live without it again. It’s just so simple and so good!

Quark cheese dessert is a true down-home scratch cooking recipe if you make your own quark and you’ll feel so good about your accomplishment and having a healthy dessert that you’ll feel good about serving to your family and that your kids will love!

Where can You get Quark?

That’s the biggest challenge. While quark varieties take up a large section in the refrigerator case in every German grocery store, it is elusive in America. A health food store is probably the surest place where you’ll find quark. It may also be available at a German ethnic store if you have one near you. I found one on-line source for quark that you can try too.

Other possible substitutions that work, but the results will taste different, are fromage blanc or fromage frais, unsalted dry curd cottage cheese, unsalted fresh (not the goatey tasting) chevre, or Greek yogurt.

Best Way To Get Quark Is Make Your Own!

making quark cheese, curds in a bag hanging from a hook with a pot below it to catch the whey.

However, Quark is easy to make. It takes about 2 days from start to finish, but hands-on time is minimal. Most of this time it just sits quietly in a corner and the probiotic bacteria are the only ones working. You just need to sit back and let them do their thing.

This is an ideal cheese for raw milk, but can be made with pasteurized milk too. I have instructions for both in my Quark Making Recipe. And although you might get ok results with substitutions, I think it’s worth trying to make this cheese because you’ll likely use it a lot once you know how and then you’ll fall in love with its fantastic taste.

Quick ‘Quark’

curds and whey in a pot for making queso fresco.

If you are in a hurry, you could also make unsalted Queso Fresco. This is a heated cheese that coagulates by adding lemon juice. It is delicious and it would work well. This cheese takes just half an hour to make, another half hour to drain and it’s still all natural. It is not exactly like quark though, it won’t have that fresh taste.

Queso fresco can be made easily with pasteurized milk and lemon juice or vinegar and no fancy other ingredients. Just drain it well and then blend it smooth before using it in this recipe. Queso fresco does not have live probiotic cultures, but many people actually make this cheese as a cheat, and call it quark. It does taste similar, but not as fresh and personally, I prefer the traditional quark over queso fresco for this dessert.

Other Quark Substitutions

You might find fromage blanc or fromage frais in your grocery, and those can be used as well. From what I hear, they are sold lightly salted, and this might influence the taste. If it is, do not add extra salt.

You can also substitute blended, unsalted homemade Chevre cheese or clabber cheese. Both of those will taste great if your goat cheese is fresh and not goaty. They are very much like quark.

Some people also use cottage cheese that they blend till smooth. I have never tried it, but it sounds like a workable option you can try. Get a low-salt or unsalted variety.

You could make this recipe with Greek yogurt which will not taste the same, but it will still be delicious.

Quark Cheese Dessert Tips

Type of Quark: In Germany quark can be low fat, full fat or extra creamy in which case, cream has been added. You can use any of it in this recipe. I prefer the full fat, and that is what’s available to me because my milk comes from goats and does not separate. But if you milk a cow, you can just skim off a layer of cream and make this with the skimmed milk.

Whipped Cream: I love adding whipped cream for two reasons: It adds loft and makes the dessert fluffy like a mousse. I adore this moussey texture. Secondly it adds a rich creaminess that is especially great for special occasions. When I make this more often during fruit season, I go easy on the cream or just leave it out sometimes. My recipe today uses whipped cream, but I don’t like too much of it, my recipe calls for a decent amount of cream, but you can add more or less to your preference.

Storage: You can store this quark dessert in the fridge for a day or two, but it will start to leak some whey after it sits. I doubt that it will last any longer anyway, because most likely it will be devoured right away.

Let It Chill: I like to refrigerate it for a few hours after making it, so it will set up and thicken a bit, and it will be more refreshing, but it can be eaten straight away too.

Use The Orange Peels – I like to make a cleaning vinegar with the orange peels. Just mix with water and 2 tablespoons of sugar and follow the recipe for making apple cider vinegar. You can also just pour already made vinegar over the peels and let them infuse for 4-6 weeks.

How To Make Creamy Orange Quark Cheese

finished quark cheese creamy dessert in a quart canning jar.

Equipment

Large bowl – For mixing everything

Hand mixer or Stand mixer

Silicone spatula

Quart sized container – For whipping the cream. Place into the freezer or refrigerator before you gather everything else. A cold container will help get the cream to whip up.

Ingredients

I always recommend that you choose organic ingredients to reduce the amount of pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics, hormones artificial ingredients and other chemicals in foods, which, when ingested, can be detrimental to your health over time.

2 cups Quark – Check the paragraph above on how to make Quark, where to source it, or how to substitute it. Any quark will work for this. I used full-fat quark from goat’s milk and it is delicious.

Oranges – Zest and Juice of 2 oranges and one orange for peeling the sections to make orange filets for decorating (or use a can of mandarin oranges)

Heavy whipping cream (reserve a little for decorating if you like)

Honey – I recommend raw, unfiltered honey for its many health benefits. I don’t like my quark super sweet, and this is my preferred amount, but taste it and adjust the sweetness to your taste. Other healthy options are maple syrup, coconut sugar, or organic evaporated cane sugar.

Vanilla extract (optional) – This quark will taste great with or without. Get reasonably priced, organic vanilla extract at Azure Standard.

Fresh Lemon juice (optional) – Naturally cultured Quark can have quite a bit of tang from the souring process, so you might not want it more sour, but if you do, lemon juice heightens that fresh tangy quark taste.

Pinch of salt (optional) – As always I recommend that you choose an unrefined, mineral-rich and additive free salt, which will supply important micro nutrients. My favorites are Redmond’s Real Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, or Celtic Sea Salt. Salt is not necessary, but a pinch of it tends to balance the flavors in sweet dishes.

Instructions To Make Orange Quark Cheese

Take your quart jar out of the freezer or refrigerator and add the whipping cream.

whipping cream whipped up in a glass jar.

Beat the whipping cream till soft peaks form.

bowl that has quark cheese and orange zest added to it.

Place the quark into the large mixing bowl with the orange zest.

bowl with whipped quark cheese and orange zest.

Beat until smooth and creamy.

bowl full of whipped quark cheese with orange juice and honey added.

Add the honey, orange juice, vanilla, lemon juice and salt if you want to use it.

creamy sweetened cheese getting blended with ingredients.

Blend everything till well mixed.

bowl full of orange quark dessert and whipped cream that is getting folded in with a rubber spatula.

Fold in the whipped cream.

bowl full of orange quark cream dessert with a slice of orange for decoration.

Pour into a serving dish or several small dishes. Serve immediately or, I recommend this, place into the fridge to chill for a few hours. It will become firmer and I think it tastes best chilled.

Decorate with orange filets and pipe a rosette of whipping cream on it if you like.

Variations and Serving Ideas

Mix in any fruit you like for a delicious variety of this fantastic dessert. You can try peaches, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, mixed berries, raspberries, melons, plums, bananas, kiwis and whatever other fruit you feel inspired to use. If you do, use a squeeze of lemon juice instead of the orange juice and zest.

You could even mix in jam, compote, or preserves, which will yield a sweeter dessert, but it will be super tasty too! For a more dramatic display, you can also make the quark creme and layer it with the preserves.

Layer with Butter cookies, vanilla wafers, finger biscuits or madeleines. You can drizzle these with orange liquor for an adult treat or orange juice.

Sprinkle cookie crumbs, granola or toasted nuts on top.

Bake sugar cookies and top with fruity quark creme and extra fresh fruit for fruit tarts.

You could also line the edge of a wide glass dish with finger biscuits and fill the inside with the quark.

Enjoy Your Delicious Creamy Orange Quark Cheese Dessert!

glass bowl full of quark cheese dessert with an orange slice for decoration and a piece of orange in front of it.

This is a great example of what you can do with Quark. There are hundreds of amazing recipes that fill German cookbooks, which use quark and I hope to bring you a few more of them over the next few months and years. (I need to find my cookbooks, lol, they are still packed away in a box somewhere). But this one is a great start and it’s so easy to make.

I’d love to hear your favorite uses for quark, and I’d love to hear how you like this recipe if you get to make it. Ask me any questions in the comments below.

To get more recipes like this and other information on homesteading and traditional skills, sign up for my Food For Life Garden News, and I’ll let you know when I post new information.

Creamy Orange Quark Cheese Recipe

Quark Cheese Dessert is a creamy dream of sweetened cultured milk and orange juice. A healthy daily treat or make it fancy for special occasions.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Course Dessert, Party, Potluck, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine German

Servings 4