Baked cheese is a cheese that is baked during the cheese-making process, originating in Scandinavia. It has a distinctive golden brown crust and is served cold or hot with sweet jams or on a cheese plate. It can be made from cow’s milk or reindeer milk and has a long shelf life.
Baked cheese is a type of cheese that is baked during the cheese-making process to create a distinctive golden brown crust. The technique for making baked cheeses originated in Scandinavia, where baked cheese is very popular in some regions. A growing push for artisanal or unusual cheeses elsewhere in the world increased consumer awareness and demand for baked cheeses in the 1990s. Cheese is easier to find in some parts of the world than others, but it can be easily ordered from an assortment of suppliers for people who live in areas where cooked cheese is not readily accessible.
To make baked cheese, the cheesemaker heats the milk with rennet and bacterial cultures, forming cheese curds which are pressed into molds. The cheese is left to mature and harden before being cooked at a high temperature. During cooking, the natural sugars in the cheese are pulled to the surface, where they caramelize and form a brown cracked crust with an intense sweetness that pairs well with the cheese’s rich, buttery interior. Cooked cheese has a long shelf life and can be frozen for up to a year before using.
In Finland, cooked cheese is called juustoleipa, which means “bread cheese,” a reference to the loaf-like appearance of the finished product. It is also found labeled as simply juusto, with many American manufacturers marketing cooked cheeses as juusto. In Sweden, the cheese is called ostbröd.
Served cold, the baked cheese goes very well with sweet jams and other sweet cheeses. It can also be served hot with sweeteners or on a cheese plate and won’t melt when heated, even if it softens. Finns like to dip baked cheese into their coffee, and the cheese is also served with omelettes and other breakfast foods. It also makes a very suitable standalone snack.
The cheese has nearly 200 years of history and a small but dedicated fan base. In some Scandinavian countries, baked cheese is traditionally made from reindeer milk, as cows don’t thrive in extreme conditions. Since then many companies have switched to cow’s milk to produce baked cheeses, although some traditional producers still use reindeer milk. Cow’s milk gives a more buttery, creamy flavor to cooked cheese which can make it more decadent to eat.
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