The thing is, I’m someone who absolutely loves drinking plain milk. But after consuming it in liquid form for decades, over and over, it’s only natural to get a bit bored, right?
Before I quit sugar for good (in case you’re wondering why, you can click to read this post: Last night I dreamed about eating something I don’t normally eat… fried food and sweets), I used to be obsessed with milk-based treats too. Milk ice cream, milk cake, milk cookies, you name it. I even loved those little milk tablets. But the problem is, those milky snacks usually come with a side of sugar and flour.
So, as someone who has cut out sugar and flour (the kind that doesn’t occur naturally in food), my options were pretty limited.
One day (which was actually yesterday), I was staring at the cartons of UHT milk I’d stocked up on and thought to myself, “I really want to eat some plain fresh milk that actually has some texture to chew on.”
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out. So, I decided to ask Gemini if there was a way to eat “plain milk” as a solid instead of a liquid—with the condition that it had to contain zero sugar and zero flour. Ideally, I wanted it to be 100% plain milk that stays solid at room temperature (because I love the taste of 100% plain milk just the way it is and didn’t want any other flavors messing it up).
Gemini gave me quite a few answers. Some suggested adding gelatin or agar-agar powder to make it firm, but I absolutely hate jelly-like textures. So, the “milk jelly” idea was scrapped immediately.
The last remaining option was to make fresh cheese, specifically Paneer or Queso Blanco style.
The method was ridiculously easy: just heat the milk (but don’t let it boil) and add an acid to separate the milk solids (called Casein) from the liquid (called Whey).
The acid could be lemon juice or vinegar. If using UHT milk, you should add a tiny bit of salt to help the solids separate more easily. Luckily, I already had all of this in my kitchen.
Since it was that simple, why wait? I got straight to work!
I poured 250 ml of milk into a pot, turned on the gas, added a tiny pinch of salt, and heated the milk over low heat. Once I saw little bubbles forming around the edge of the pot, I gradually dripped in about 1.5 teaspoons of vinegar and kept stirring.
Just like that, the smooth milk started turning into a lumpy, curdled texture—kind of looking like spoiled milk. I turned off the heat right then. It was so incredibly easy and took no time at all.
However, Gemini warned that if you use UHT milk, the Casein particles will be much smaller and finer than with pasteurized milk. Therefore, when separating the curds, you must use a cheesecloth. Using a strainer won’t work because the curds will just slip right through the holes.
I lined a bowl with cheesecloth, poured the heated milk in, and squeezed out the liquid until only the milk solids remained.
The result was beyond satisfying. The texture was so incredibly fine—it felt like eating a mix of whipped cream, milk ice cream (at room temperature), and cake frosting. It has that rich, milky fattiness, which makes sense because it is milk—just the dry, solid version.
This is exactly what I wanted to eat!! It hit the mark 125%. Wish fulfilled, expectations exceeded. I’m satisfied, happy, and I slept like a baby last night. 😁