Quark turns creamy when you mix it with oat bran. It sounds strange, but it works: the bran absorbs liquid from the quark and makes the mixture more stable without turning grainy. We have been using this for low-carb desserts for years, because it removes the need for conventional sugar-based stabilisers.
This berry nut quark is ready in 15 minutes and provides 11 g of protein per serving. The Thermomix® chops the nuts and blends the berries separately before everything comes together. That keeps the textures distinct: crunchy nuts, creamy quark, fruity berries. No mush.
Low-Carb Berry Nut Quark with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 7 ✓
- 30 g nuts
- 220 g berries
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 2 tsp sparkling mineral water with carbonation
- 1 tsp coconut blossom sugar e.g. nu3
- 20 g oat bran
- 250 g quark (20% fat)
Instructions 0 / 3
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1
Chop the nuts.
Place the nuts into the mixing bowl and chop for 4 seconds / speed 5. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, toast the nuts in it, stirring, until golden brown, then set aside.
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2
Add the berries.
Clean the berries, slit the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Place 200 g of berries, the vanilla seeds, sparkling mineral water and coconut blossom sugar into the mixing bowl, blend for 8 seconds / speed 10 and push down with the spatula.
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3
Serve.
Add the oat bran and quark to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 seconds / speed 3. Arrange the quark mixture with the toasted nuts and garnish with the remaining berries.
Tip: You can choose berries and nuts according to your preference.
Nutrition per serving
Why oat bran instead of chia seeds
Oat bran binds liquid faster than chia seeds and does not turn slimy. With 20 g of bran to 250 g of quark, just 10 seconds at speed 3 is enough, and the mixture is stable enough to plate up. Chia seeds need 10 minutes of soaking time and change the texture too much. Oat bran also has more fibre with fewer carbohydrates.
You can also use psyllium husks (5 g instead of 20 g), but the mixture will then become very firm. Oat bran keeps the quark creamy.
Toast the nuts first, then mix
We chop the nuts in the Thermomix® at speed 5 for 4 seconds and then toast them in a frying pan. This releases the essential oils and gives them a caramelised flavour. If you mix the nuts straight into the quark, they go soft and lose their bite.
Toasting time in the pan is 3 to 4 minutes over a medium heat. Do not forget to stir, otherwise they burn in one spot. As soon as they are golden brown and fragrant, take them off the heat. Otherwise they will continue to toast in the residual heat.
Coconut blossom sugar is the only sweetener
1 tsp of coconut blossom sugar is enough for 2 servings, because the berries bring their own natural fruit sugars. Coconut blossom sugar has a lower glycaemic index than regular sugar and a subtle caramel note that works well with the toasted nuts. Erythritol works too, but tastes cooler and less rounded.
If you want to stay completely sugar-free, leave out the coconut blossom sugar. The vanilla pod provides enough depth of flavour.
Scrape the vanilla pod, skip the extract
Slit half a vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. The seeds go into the mixing bowl with the berries. Vanilla extract or vanilla sugar are not a substitute here, as they mask the fruitiness. The seeds give visible vanilla specks in the quark that you can both see and taste.
Do not throw away the scraped pod. You can dry it in sugar or steep it in alcohol. For this recipe you only need the seeds.
Sparkling water makes the berries creamier
Add 2 tsp of sparkling mineral water to the berries in the mixing bowl before blending at speed 10. The carbonation lightly aerates the puree and makes it airier. Without the water, the berry puree becomes too thick and does not stir evenly into the quark.
Still water works too, but the puree will be more compact. The 8 seconds at speed 10 is sufficient because the berries are soft. Blending longer adds nothing but heat.
20 g of berries stay whole
Of the 220 g of berries, 200 g go into the mixing bowl for blending. The remaining 20 g stay whole and are placed on top when serving. This gives the dessert structure and shows that real berries are in there. You can use any type of berry: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries or a mix.
Frozen berries work too, but you need to let them thaw first. Otherwise the puree will be too cold and the quark will clump.
Quark at speed 3 for creaminess
Oat bran and quark go into the mixing bowl, and 10 seconds at speed 3 is all it takes. The bran distributes evenly and absorbs the liquid from the quark. If you blend for longer or use a higher speed, the quark becomes too runny because the structure is broken down.
We use quark with 20% fat because low-fat quark becomes too dry and full-fat cream quark is too rich for low carb. The 20% is the best compromise between creaminess and nutritional values.
Serve straight away or chill
The berry nut quark can be eaten immediately after plating or left to set in the fridge for 2 hours. When cold it becomes firmer, as the oat bran continues to absorb moisture. Do not leave it for more than 4 hours, otherwise the nuts will go soft.
Goes well with: linseed bread and wholegrain bread.
If you prepare it the evening before, add the toasted nuts just before serving. That way they stay crunchy.
For more low-carb recipes in the Thermomix®, try our rice pudding as well. It can also be combined with berries and nuts.
