Portuguese Mixed Cow & Goat Fresh Curd Cheese with Eucalyptus Honey

Hehehe, here’s another one of those recipes that isn’t really a recipe, more of a mash-up between a reminder and a good idea! A lovely fresh cheese with honey and nuts on top is one of those sweets/desserts that’s not only as basic as bread with butter, but infinitely tastier.

Starting with the cheese, the most common choice in Portugal is requeijão (Portuguese fresh whey cheese or fresh curd cheese i heard it both ways), which already comes in a huge variety on its own, you can find a huge variety to choose from, want it funkier get one made with just goat milk, or sheep’s milk, want a sweeter, get one mixed with diferent milks or one with cows milk, you want to cut on the calories get a low fat one, lots to choose from.

Requeijão because it has a nice structure and is naturally a bit sweet thanks to its higher fat content, with a hint of acidity, a bit like a greek yogurt, it is perfect for pairing with something sweet. Usually that something is honey, and even with honey you’ve got plenty of choices: eucalyptus if you want a stronger flavor, rosemary honey if you want something lighter and sweeter, orange blossom, acacia, and so on. But really you can use any kind of sweet topping, jam or chocolate works well too, and even fruit or nuts are all good additions, that reminds me I should make a article about that ;D

That said, you can use pretty much any other soft cheese instead, ricotta, mascarpone, cottage cheese, paneer, or even a richer yogurt like Greek yogurt, quark, or skyr, all are different but you get that I’m saying. In this case, I’ve got a mixed cow and goat milk requeijão to which I added a little eucalyptus honey, that i think it pairs well whit a nice strong, bittersweet aroma. Let’s get to the recipe!

Portuguese Mixed Cow and Goat Fresh Curd Cheese with Eucalyptus Honey

Servings: 2
Time: 5mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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This isn't really a recipe, its a good lesson hehehe, sometimes a nice cheese and some bread or in this cake some honey is all you really need.

Ingredients

Requeijão Cheese – 180g (6.3 oz) (Mixed Goat and Cow Milk)
Eucalyptus Honey – To Taste

Directions

I like to add a little honey over everything first, then add more honey according to taste. As always, it’s better to add less and adjust than to drown it in honey and end up wasting it.
And that’s it, serve it plain or with some nuts on top, enjoy your meal!

Notes & Tips: Adding some chopped nuts is a good idea. The classic choice is walnuts, but it’s more fun to buy a mixed bag of nuts, it always makes the dessert more interesting, and you can leave them whole or chopped. I’m also a big fan of Seia’s sheep’s milk requeijão (Seia is a region of Portugl), because it has an interesting, creamy texture with a more grassy aroma, typical of sheep’s milk.

Since this recipe has almost no cooking involved, the quality of the requeijão is really what makes or breaks it. Look for a fresh, well chilled cheese from a good dairy counter rather than a long life packaged one if you can.

Let the cheese sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving. Straight-from-the-fridge requeijão is denser and mutes the honey’s aroma.

If your honey has crystallised, warm the jar briefly in a bowl of warm water rather than the microwave, it keeps the aroma intact.

This scales up easily for a bigger crowd, just keep the ratio of cheese to honey the same and use a bigger plate or individual small bowls for a nicer presentation, you can served sliced as well 😀

A sprinkle of flaky sea salt alongside the honey is a nice, unexpected touch if you like a sweet-and-salty contrast.

This recipe for Portuguese Mixed Cow and Goat Fresh Curd Cheese with Eucalyptus Honey was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Requeijão de Mistura de Leite de Cabra e Vaca com Mel foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.