Topfen substitute

Best substitute

Quark

Use the same amount as the topfen you are replacing

Best for Topfenstrudel

Close match

Topfen is simply the Austrian word for quark, so a tub labelled quark is the exact ingredient and goes in 1:1 with no adjustment at all; the same is true of Polish twarog and Czech tvaroh. What matters far more than which name is on the tub is how dry and how lean it is, because in every Austrian Topfen recipe the cheese is the filling and its water content decides whether the dish works. For Topfenknodel and Topfenstrudel, where a wet filling means split dumplings and soggy pastry, farmer cheese or dry-curd cottage cheese is the best supermarket stand-in. For Topfentorte and Topfenpalatschinken, strained full-fat Greek yogurt or drained blended ricotta is easier and works well. Austrian recipes almost always mean lean Magertopfen, so reaching for cream cheese makes the dessert far heavier than intended.

Other topfen substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Polish Twarog, Czech Tvaroh or Hungarian Turo
Close match
Use the same amount
The same fresh curd cheese under its Central and Eastern European names, and usually far easier to find than an Austrian tub.
What changes
Best for
Topfenstrudel, Topfenknodel, Topfentorte, cheesecake
Polish, Czech and Russian groceries almost always carry this even where no German deli exists, which makes it the most practical exact match for most people. Twarog is graded chudy for lean, poltlusty for half fat and tlusty for full fat, so buy chudy for a classic Austrian recipe. It is often sold pressed into a firm block rather than as a soft tub cheese, in which case grate or sieve it and loosen it with a spoonful of milk, since block twarog can be drier than Topfen and will make a stiff filling.
3Farmer Cheese or Dry-Curd Cottage Cheese
Different taste
Use the same amount
Pressed fresh curd with the whey already removed, which makes it the closest match on the one measure that matters most in Austrian fillings.
What changes
Best for
Topfenknodel, Topfenstrudel, Topfentaschen, savoury fillings
The best choice for anything boiled or wrapped in pastry, because it is dry enough that the dumplings hold together in the water and the strudel pastry stays crisp underneath. Blend it or press it through a fine sieve until completely smooth first. It tastes blander than Topfen and is usually saltier, so add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup to bring back the lactic tang and check the recipe's salt before adding any. Buy the brick rather than the tub, which is drier and better here.
4Whole-Milk Ricotta, Drained and Blended
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
A whey cheese rather than a curd cheese, which is exactly why it is sweeter, milder and wetter than Topfen.
What changes
Best for
Topfenstrudel, Topfentorte, Topfenpalatschinken, baked cheesecake
Good in anything baked, provided you deal with the water. Drain it in a sieve for an hour, then blend it for thirty seconds until completely smooth, because unblended ricotta leaves a grainy filling where Topfen would be silky. Stir in a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup to replace the tang it lacks. Expect a distinctly sweeter, milder filling, which is pleasant in a Topfentorte and least convincing in a savoury dish. Avoid part-skim ricotta, which is watery and bland.
5Strained Full-Fat Greek Yogurt
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight after straining
Yogurt hung until it sheds its whey, which brings it very close to Topfen's thickness.
What changes
Best for
Topfentorte, Topfenpalatschinken, cold and no-bake desserts, Topfenstrudel
The easiest option in most countries and it bakes reliably. Line a sieve with muslin or a clean tea towel, tip the yogurt in and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours until it has lost about a third of its weight; weigh it before and after, because unstrained yogurt will make the filling run straight out of the pastry. It is sharper and more acidic than Topfen, which shows as a slightly sour edge in a sweet Topfentorte, so a teaspoon of sugar per cup rounds it off.
6Homemade Topfen
Close match
2 litres whole milk yields about 500 g
The real thing from milk and a spoonful of culture, and the answer if nothing above is available where you live.
What changes
Best for
any Topfen recipe, Topfenknodel, Topfenstrudel
This gives you genuine Topfen rather than an approximation, and it lets you set the dryness exactly, which is the single most useful thing for strudel and dumpling fillings. Heat 2 litres of whole milk to 185F/85C, cool to 100F/40C, stir in 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk or a spoonful of live yogurt, hold warm for 12 to 24 hours until set, then drain in muslin for 4 to 6 hours: four hours for a soft spoonable Topfen, six or more for a firm filling. Do not use ultra-pasteurised milk, which sets poorly. Keep the whey for bread dough or soup.
7Cream Cheese Thinned With Yogurt
Taste and texture differ
Use 8 oz cream cheese plus 3 Tbsp plain yogurt for every cup of topfen
The swap most English-language recipes suggest, and the one that departs furthest from an Austrian dessert.
What changes
Best for
no-bake cheesecake, 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 Magertopfen along with stabiliser gums, so a Topfenknodel made with it comes out dense and pasty instead of fluffy, and a Topfentorte sets firm and heavy rather than airy. Beat the cream cheese smooth first, then beat in the yogurt, and stop as soon as it is combined. Reduce any butter elsewhere in the filling to compensate for the extra fat.

What is Topfen?

Topfen is the Austrian name for quark, a fresh unripened curd cheese with a clean lactic tang and a texture between thick yogurt and ricotta, and the ingredient behind the Austrian classics Topfenstrudel, Topfenknodel, Topfentorte and Topfenpalatschinken.

Cooking tips

Water content decides everything in an Austrian Topfen recipe. The cheese should be dry enough to hold its shape on a spoon, so if your substitute is loose, hang it in muslin for an hour. Wet filling is the reason strudel pastry goes soggy from the inside and the reason Topfenknodel burst open in the water.
Austrian recipes usually mean Magertopfen, the lean version at roughly 0.2 to 1 percent fat, unless they specify otherwise. Using a 40 percent tub or full-fat cream cheese where lean was intended makes the filling greasy and the dessert cloying.
For Topfenstrudel, stir a tablespoon of semolina or fine breadcrumbs into the filling. It absorbs the whey that weeps out in the oven and keeps the pastry crisp, and it is the single most useful correction for any substitute on this list.
For Topfenknodel, cook one test dumpling before you shape the rest. Drop it into barely simmering salted water; if it slumps or splits, work another tablespoon of semolina or fine breadcrumbs into the mixture, and if it comes out heavy, loosen the rest with a spoonful of milk.
Never boil Topfenknodel hard. They go into water at a bare simmer and are done when they float and firm up, usually 10 to 12 minutes. A rolling boil tears them apart, which people mistake for a problem with the cheese.
Weigh it rather than measuring in cups. Austrian recipes call for 250 g or 500 g packs, and cup volumes for a soft drained cheese are wildly inconsistent depending on how hard it was pressed.
Do not over-beat. Whipping Topfen or any substitute too long breaks the curd and it turns loose and watery, which you cannot reverse. Mix only until smooth, then stop.
Blend, do not mash, ricotta and cottage cheese. Thirty seconds with a food processor or immersion blender gets you Topfen texture; a fork never will.

Frequently asked questions

Is Topfen the same as quark?

Yes. Topfen is the Austrian word, Quark is the German word, and the product is the same fresh curd cheese. A tub labelled quark will work identically in Topfenstrudel, Topfenknodel, Topfentorte or Topfenpalatschinken at the same weight. Match the fat level, since Austrian recipes generally assume lean Magertopfen. Our quark page covers the general-purpose swaps in more detail.

What is the best Topfen substitute for Topfenknodel?

Farmer cheese or dry-curd cottage cheese, blended smooth, because dryness is what keeps the dumplings intact in the water. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup for tang and check the salt, since both are saltier than Topfen. Avoid unstrained yogurt and untreated ricotta here, as the extra whey is exactly what makes dumplings split, and always poach one test dumpling before shaping the batch.

What can I use instead of Topfen in Topfenstrudel?

Drained blended whole-milk ricotta or strained full-fat Greek yogurt both work well. Drain the ricotta for an hour, or hang the yogurt for 8 to 12 hours, and blend either until completely smooth. Whichever you use, stir a tablespoon of semolina or fine breadcrumbs into the filling to take up the whey released in the oven, which is what keeps the pastry from going soft underneath.

Is Topfen the same as cream cheese?

No, and swapping them straight across is the most common mistake with Austrian recipes. Cream cheese has several times the fat of lean Topfen, contains stabilisers and lacks Topfen's clean lactic tang, so the dessert comes out dense and rich rather than light. It works thinned with yogurt as a last resort, but expect a noticeably heavier result and cut any butter elsewhere in the filling.

Is Topfen the same as ricotta?

Not quite. Ricotta is made from whey rather than curdled milk, so it is sweeter, grainier and wetter than Topfen. Drained for an hour, blended smooth and given a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup, it becomes a good stand-in for baking. In a boiled dumpling it is riskier because of the extra moisture, so drain it harder and test one dumpling first.

Can I just leave the Topfen out?

No. In Topfenstrudel, Topfenknodel, Topfentorte or Topfenpalatschinken the Topfen is the entire filling, so removing it leaves you with pastry and nothing to put in it. Pick a substitute from the list instead; strained Greek yogurt and drained blended ricotta are both reliable, and farmer cheese is best for dumplings.

Where can I buy Topfen outside Austria?

Austrian and German delis, and ordinary supermarkets that stock quark, which is the same thing and is usually shelved near the yogurt rather than with the cheese. Polish and Eastern European groceries reliably carry it as twarog, Czech shops as tvaroh and Hungarian shops as turo. Failing all of those, it is easy to make at home from whole milk and a spoonful of live yogurt.

Can I use low-fat quark for a sweet Austrian recipe?

Yes, and usually you should, because lean Magertopfen is what most Austrian recipes assume. Lean quark is slightly drier and tangier than the full-fat kind, so if the filling seems stiff, loosen it with a tablespoon of cream or milk rather than adding more sugar, which would throw the balance of the dessert off.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Topfen substitute

Other topfen substitutes

2Polish Twarog, Czech Tvaroh or Hungarian Turo

3Farmer Cheese or Dry-Curd Cottage Cheese

4Whole-Milk Ricotta, Drained and Blended

5Strained Full-Fat Greek Yogurt

6Homemade Topfen

7Cream Cheese Thinned With Yogurt