On this page you will be able to find the old-fashioned and traditional recipe for Danish Tykmælk. Not to get confused with the Tykmælk you can buy in the Danish supermarkets nowadays - this recipe for Tykmælk is a little different and not exactly the same. This recipe I am sharing here is a kind of Danish dessert or afternoon/evening snack and only consists of two main ingredients; whole milk (~3.5%) and buttermilk. Directly translated Tykmælk means 'Fat milk' or maybe even better 'Thick milk' and is a very-thick milk soup.
As mentioned above this recipe is old and therefore, it is not made that often anymore. But it does not change the fact that it is a very delicious dish. The Tykmælk is traditionally served with brown sugar mixed with small pieces of Danish rye bread. Of course, this topping is optional.
See also: Recipe for Danish buttermilk soup (Koldskaal)
This dish is made by mixing the two ingredients and pouring it into a warmed deep plate. Cover the deep plate with another warm plate and let it all sit someplace warm/room temperature, like next to a heater or in the sun, for 24 hours. The idea is that the two dairy products will turn into a thick pudding-like milk soup - from here the name 'thick milk'. The only issue or challenge with this recipe could be that it is designed using the dairy products, and the quality they had, back in the 60-70-ies. Back then the dairy products had more impurities and were not homogenized (fat particles typed into the same size) to the same extent they are today. In this recipe we rely on milk bacteria to form and turn the liquid milk products into this thick pudding we are looking for. Maybe the dairy products we have today are too "clean" to facilitate this process.
If you are having issues with the recipe you can we advantage try using organic products and also substitute some of the whole milk with heavy cream.
Let me know in the comment section below if you like this recipe and if it has been a success.
Ingredients
- 1 l whole milk 3.5% (opt. some heavy cream)
- 1 dl buttermilk
Topping
- Brown sugar
- Rye bread
Instructions
- Mix whole milk and buttermilk
- Pour the mixture into a deep plate which has been warmed a little. Cover the plate with another warmed plate
- Let it all sit someplace warm/room temperature for 24 hours. After this time the mixture should have been turned into a solid pudding
- Before serving it, let the Tykmælk cool off in the fridge for a minimum of one hour
- Serve with a mixture of brown sugar and pieces of rye bread. You also use other toppings like fruit or jam
Bronze
Sounds delicious!
If people buy fresh (local), raw milk, this will definitely work! By the way, "sour milk" is the term for milk that has been thickened in a warm environment; "buttermilk" is the word for the liquid that is left when you take butter out of the churned cream. In the old days buttermilk was often thick, because in warm season people could not keep milk cold long enough for the cream to rise to the top of the milk; nowadays most of us have fridges, so we can make fresh, sweet butter and sweet buttermilk that is not thick at all. So I assume you mean "sour milk" when you say "buttermilk" in this recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Lynette
Thank you for this recipe. My dad has been wanting some tykmælk for breakfast and it's great to be able to make some for him.
Cherbear
I first heard of this recipe from the Moosewood Bread cookbook. I tried it and it was good. now I have made my own Kefir and bought some good rye sourdough so I'm looking forward ro trying this again.
Birgit
I grew up in Denmark with an Icelandic mother who loved Tykmælk
and now I feel like making it for myself growing old and eating the
food one grew up with.
Birgit