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orange quark creme dessert in a small bowl, decorated with an orange filet slice.

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
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Dessert, Party, Potluck, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine German
Servings 4

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 while you gather everything else.

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups quark * - see notes for substitutions!
  • 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

Instructions
 

  • Take your quart jar out of the freezer or refrigerator and add the whipping cream.
  • Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form and set aside.
  • Place the quark into the large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
  • Add the honey, orange juice and zest, vanilla and lemon juice and salt if you want to use it.
  • Blend everything till well mixed.
  • Fold the whipped cream into the quark creme.
  • Pour into a serving dish or several small dishes.
  • Serve immediately or place into the fridge to chill for a few hours. It will become firmer and I think it tastes better chilled.
  • Decorate with orange filets and pipe a rosette of whipping cream on it if you like.

Notes

* Quark Substitutions

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 only about 15 minutes 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.

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. 

You can also use Cottage Cheese and blend it till smooth. Get a small curd, low-salt or unsalted variety. And you might be able to find a cottage cheese with live bacteria. Even better.

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

And you can use Cream Cheese, which will yield a denser dessert, or mix it half with yogurt for a lighter and fresher cheese.

Ricotta could also work. Be sure to drain it and blend it smooth.

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 or preserves, which will yield a much sweeter dessert, but it will be super tasty too!
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 small glass container with finger biscuits and fill the inside with the quark. 

Enjoy Your Delicious Creamy Orange Quark Cheese Dessert!

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.
Keyword chevre, clabber cheese, fresh cheese, healthy foods, mild soft cheese, preserved milk, probiotic foods, quark cheese, queso fresco