Your Guide to Coffee Cheese (Kaffeost)

There are hundreds of coffee recipes out there. But many of our readers continue to inquire about any possibilities of pairing coffee and cheese.

Yes, you got that right. Coffee and cheese together!

Many people are enthusiastic about coffee. At the same time, many coffee lovers are crazy about cheese. But imagining a combination of cheese and coffee together sounds a bit strange. It even gets a bit weird if you are new to it.

Interestingly, coffee and cheese share notable characteristics. They feature similar tasting notes and flavor profiles, making a coffee and cheese pairing pretty possible.

And while there are several ways to pair cheese and coffee, we will focus on something less known to you, kaffeost.

What is Coffee Cheese or Kaffeost?

Coffee cheese, kaffeost, or whatever name you want to give it, is simply coffee with cheese. It is a simple cuisine made from dropping dry chunks of cheese into a mug of hot coffee. Alternatively, you can make coffee cheese by simply pouring hot coffee over cheese cubes.

The cheese doesn’t melt but absorbs the coffee to form a rich and moist cheese sponge. Often, this drink or meal is served in carved mugs.

Kaffeost is native to Finland, Sweden, and other parts of Europe. It is more common among the Sami people. However, it is now pretty standard here in the United States and across the world.

The cheese and coffee pairing in coffee cheese delivers something that is excitingly magic. It gives your coffee drink a unique Tiramisu taste.

But besides the coffee part of coffee cheese, you also end up with the cheese part of the dessert. You can call this part bread cheese or Finnish Squeaky Cheese if you are from the United States.

Top 3 Coffee Cheese Recipes

With coffee cheese continuing to gain popularity, everyone is trying to find out about easy coffee cheese recipes. You will find one or more of these three recipes pretty amazing if you want to attempt and enjoy kaffeost.

Recipe 1: Making Coffee Cheese with Reindeer or Whole (Cow’s) Milk

This is the most popular way of making coffee cheese. Let’s get to the details!

Ingredients

• 67.5oz (2 liters) of reindeer milk or whole (cow’s) milk
• 2oz (60 milliliters) of heavy cream
• 2 tsp. of rennet

Rennet can easily be bought online or at most supermarkets.

You will need a saucepan, a slotted spoon, an extra pot, an ovenproof dish, a cheesecloth, a knife, and a coffee cup.

Method

1. Mix the milk and the cream.
2. Pour the mixture into a spacious 3 quart (3-liter) saucepan.
3. Heat the mixture until it is around body temperature, 98.6 F (37 C). You can use a kitchen thermometer if your not sure what 98.6F (37C) feels like. Turn off the heat and cover the pan.
4. Prepare the rennet as you continue to warm the cream and milk combination. Dissolve the rennet into distilled water in case it came in the form of tablets. That should take about 15 minutes.
5. Open the pan and add the rennet into the mixture.
6. Leave the mixture to allow the liquid to solidify or curdle itself. That should take between 30 to 40 minutes.
7. Gently stir as you reheat the liquid to 98.6F (37C). You can use a slotted spoon for easy and effective stirring.
8. Gently steer the curds from the edges of the pan. It should all be around the center.
9. Once the cheese is centered in the middle, heat the ball to its boiling point. However, take off the saucepan from the heat source just before the whey begins to boil. The cheese should be hot so that when you strain later, the cheese will stick together, leaving you with solid cheese.
10. Place the mixture in a large strainer or a cheese mold. You can also use a mesh colander if you have neither of the two.
11. Strain into a container whey out of the cheese. You can set up some weight and let it stay for some hours as this ensures that you get as much as possible amount of liquid from the mixture and leaving the curd in the cheesecloth or strainer. You can do this overnight.
12. Ensure that you are left with cheese that is a minimum an inch (3cm) thick.
13. Now, preheat your oven to 400F (200C) degrees.
14. Bake the cheese in the oven until it turns golden brown. You can position the ovenproof dish containing the cheese in the center of your oven. However, you can still skip this step and make some perfect coffee cheese.
15. Soften the edges of the cheese by wrapping it in an aluminum foil.
16. Cool the cheese and cut it into reasonable cubes using a sharp kitchen knife. The cubes should be nearly the same sizes of sugar cubes.
17. Put the cubes into a coffee mug and fill with fresh steamy coffee. The cheese will conveniently float on top. Besides, the cheese won’t melt into the hot coffee but will instead absorb cheese.
18. Stir properly, and use a spoon to enjoy your kaffeost.

That’s homemade coffee cheese for you!

Biting into the spongy cheese feels squeaky and fills your mouth with sweet, creamy cheese and tasty coffee.

Recipe 2: Making Kaffeost from Full-cream Milk

Ingredients

33oz (1 liter) of full cream milk

1 cup of heavy cream

1 tsp. of rennet

Method

1. Mix the milk and cream and stir.
2. Heat the mixture to 98.6F (37C).
3. Add the rennet into the mixture and use a slotted spoon to stir for about one minute.
4. Leave the cream, milk, and rennet mixture to stand still for about 15 minutes. This should ensure that all the curds are set.
5. Slice the curds into small cubes. The process helps to separate whey from the curds.
6. Place a strainer or colander over a bowl and spoon the curds into the strainer or colander.
7. Leave the entire set up in the refrigerator overnight. Whey will conveniently collect into the bowl, leaving you with solid cheese in the strainer.
8. Preheat your oven to about 400F (200C). Put the curd into an ovenproof dish and bake for about 40 minutes.
9. Allow the cheese to cool in the open air for about 30 minutes then refrigerate.
10. Slice the cheese into 16 equal wedges.
11. Put each wedge into a coffee cup and pour hot coffee.
12. Serve for sixteen.

Recipe 3: Making Kaffeost from Store Cheese

Finally, if making your cheese seems too intimidating, you can make coffee cheese from store-bought cheese! This recipe is for anyone who doesn’t want to go through the hustle of making cheese from scratch.

Pick a cube of store-bought cheese and place it at the bottom of a coffee mug or carved wooden cup. Pour boiling coffee into the mug and stir for a few seconds.

Serve in the mugs.

You can spoon the chunks of cheese from the mug and enjoy in between sips of tasty coffee.

Final Thought

Whichever method you intend to use, ensure that you don’t let your kaffeost sit for too long. A mixture of curds and cold brew produces a less inspiring taste.

But don’t throw away whatever is left. You can package it, freeze it down, and use it to make a tasty dessert with raspberry coulis or warm cloudberries. You can also use the whey you strained as a substitute for baking water in your favorite baking recipes.

We hope that you can now enjoy an incredible coffee and cheese pairing in a kaffeost!