Quark substitutes

Cultured yogurt hung until it loses its whey, which brings it to almost exactly quark's thickness and protein content.

Best for

cheesecake and baked desserts, dips and herb quark, breakfast bowls, creamy sauces off the heat

The closest everyday swap, and the one most kitchens can manage. Line a sieve with muslin or a clean tea towel, tip the yogurt in and refrigerate it for 8 to 12 hours until it has shed roughly a third of its weight; skipping this step is why fillings run. It is noticeably tangier and more acidic than quark, which reads as a sharp edge in a sweet dessert, so a teaspoon of sugar per cup rounds it off. Do not boil it in a sauce, because yogurt protein splits at a simmer where quark is a little more forgiving.

The same family of fresh curd cheese, just left in visible lumps instead of being broken down.

Best for

cheesecake, savoury dips and spreads, pancake and blintz fillings, high-protein breakfasts

Cheap, available everywhere and genuinely close once you deal with two things. Drain it in a sieve for 30 minutes, then blend it for a full 30 seconds, because a fork will never break the curds down and unblended cottage cheese leaves obvious white lumps in what should be a smooth filling. It is also considerably saltier than quark, so cut the salt elsewhere in the recipe and taste before sweetening. Buy small-curd, and low-salt if your shop carries it.

A fresh cheese made from whey rather than curdled milk, which is exactly why it tastes and behaves a little differently.

Best for

baked cheesecake, sweet fillings, pancakes and crepes, baked pasta and savoury bakes

Reliable in anything baked. Ricotta is sweeter, milder and grainier than quark, and blending it for thirty seconds with a stick blender is what turns it from grainy to smooth. It also holds more water, so drain it in a sieve for an hour or a wet filling will soak whatever pastry is underneath it. A teaspoon of lemon juice per cup puts back the lactic tang that ricotta lacks. Do not use the part-skim kind in a dessert; it is watery and bland.

Pressed fresh curd with most of the moisture already removed, sold in a brick or a tub.

Best for

dumpling and pierogi fillings, baked cheesecake, savoury fillings, anything where a wet filling would ruin the dish

The best match for dryness and protein, which makes it the right choice whenever a loose filling would be a disaster. The flavour is blander than quark and usually saltier, so add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup for tang and check the recipe's salt before you add any. Press it through a fine sieve or blend it until smooth. The brick form is drier than the tub form and is the better buy; if it seems too stiff, loosen it with a spoonful of milk rather than cream.

Icelandic strained fresh cheese, technically a very lean curd cheese rather than a yogurt.

Best for

breakfast bowls, dips, cold desserts and mousses, high-protein baking

Closer to lean Magerquark than almost anything else on a supermarket shelf, and it needs no straining, which is its real advantage. It is thicker, denser and sharper than quark, so it can taste austere in a sweet dish and often wants loosening with a little milk. Like yogurt it splits if you boil it, so keep it out of hot sauces and add it off the heat.

The genuine article from two ingredients, worth knowing because it is the only option in much of the world and the result is quark rather than an approximation.

Best for

any quark recipe, when no deli is within reach, controlling the dryness exactly

Heat 2 litres of whole milk to 185F/85C, cool it to 100F/40C, stir in 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk or a spoonful of live yogurt, hold it warm for 12 to 24 hours until set, then drain it in muslin for 4 to 6 hours. Draining time is the only variable that matters much: four hours gives a soft spoonable quark, six or more gives a firm one for fillings. Do not use ultra-pasteurised or UHT milk, which sets into a weak curd. Keep the whey for bread dough or soup.

The default swap in most English-language recipes, and the one that changes the dish most.

Best for

no-bake cheesecake, frostings and rich fillings, when the shop has nothing else

It will not fail, and it will not be light. Cream cheese carries several times the fat of lean quark along with stabiliser gums, so the result is denser, gummier and much richer, and it lacks quark's clean sour finish. The yogurt thins it and puts back some acidity. If you use it, cut any butter elsewhere in the filling to compensate, and beat it only until smooth, since over-whipping makes it pasty. Expect a heavier dessert and plan the rest of the meal accordingly.