Kaimak

Ingredients

Cream

• 2 litreswhole milk, unhomogenised if possible, or
• 1 litredouble cream with 500 ml whole milk

To serve

• baursak, fresh bread
• jam or honey
• black tea with milk

Directions

1. Pour the milk into the widest shallow pan you own. The cream sets at the surface, so surface area decides the yield entirely.
2. Heat gently to just below a simmer, around 85°C (185°F), and hold it there for an hour to an hour and a half. The surface should barely move.
3. Do not stir. Every disturbance breaks the skin that is forming, and the whole method is letting that skin thicken undisturbed.
4. Turn off the heat and leave the pan completely still somewhere cool for eight to twelve hours.
5. Refrigerate for a further four hours until the top layer is firm and wrinkled.
6. Run a knife round the edge and lift the sheet off whole with a wide spatula, or roll it as you lift it.
7. Serve cold with baursak and jam at the start of a Kazakh tea table — kaimak comes before any savoury food, not after.
8. Use the milk left underneath in tea or for cooking.

Technique

• Wide pan, low heat, no stirring, long wait. Each of those four is a way it goes wrong.
• Unhomogenised milk gives far more cream. Homogenised milk has had its fat deliberately broken up so it will not rise.
• Do not let it boil — a boil gives a thin scorched skin and a scalded taste.

Substitutions

• Double cream with whole milk, the reliable supermarket route.
• Sheep’s or buffalo milk, both of which set far richer.

Variations

• Turkish kaymak, Persian sarshir and Iraqi geymar are the same preparation.
• Some households whip a little of it with sugar as a sweet cream.

History

Served with baursak and jam at the start of a Kazakh tea table, before any savoury food.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kaimak?

Kaimak is a cheese & dairy from Kazakhstan: thick clotted cream skimmed from scalded milk, eaten with bread and tea. Served with baursak and jam at the start of a Kazakh tea table, before any savoury food.

How long does Kaimak take to make?

Kaimak takes 10 min plus 12 hours setting of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 300 g. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kaimak?

Yes, within limits. Double cream with whole milk, the reliable supermarket route. Sheep’s or buffalo milk, both of which set far richer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kaimak?

Do not stir. Every disturbance breaks the skin that is forming, and the whole method is letting that skin thicken undisturbed.