Schulz Shorts: Hila Perry

Meet Hila, our in-house pastry chef at our Creamery and Cafe. Hila joined us after working at some of Melbourne’s most prestigious restaurants, such as Bibelot, Vue de Monde, Fat Duck, and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. We pulled Hila out of the kitchen and into the sunshine of our cafe garden for a chat about some of her favourite things, working at Schulz Organic Dairy and the charm of living in our region.

Tell us what you do at Schulz in 25 words or less.

My day starts early walking through the beautiful cafe garden and into our empty country kitchen. I then spend the rest of the day, elbow deep in dough creating dishes for our beautiful customers from near and far. 

What’s your top three things to do in Timboon? 

Coffee at the Fat Cow, Picking strawberries at Berryworld and meandering along the Rail Trail.

If someone was making a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?

Gal Gadot of course

What is your favourite Schulz product to cook with? 

Quark! I love it! 

What is your favourite thing to make with Schulz Products? 

Our trademark Quark Cheesecake

What is your favourite product/dish that’s being served in the Creamery & Cafe this season? 

Quark Cheesecake!

When you get home from work, what's your go-to quick and easy meal?

Anything that my partner Andrew makes - lucky for us he’s also a chef.

What is the best thing about moving from Melbourne to Timboon? 

Spending more time with family.

How do you have your coffee?

A double shot latte with Schulz Organic Full Cream Milk of course! 

Tell us your favourite anecdote of country life.

The joy and wonder that comes with ‘shooing’ a koala off the road.


What keeps you busy outside of working at the Creamery & Cafe?

Spending time as a family with our two beautiful boys and exploring the amazing space we now get to call home.

You can taste Hila's delicious work at the Creamery and Cafe between 10am and 4pm, 7 days a week

PRODUCT FOCUS: QUARK

We have been making Quark for over 35 years and it's one of Simon’s fondest products. “I was brought up on an inch thick layer of my granddad Hermann’s Quark on homemade dark rye toast” Simon describes while looking back with nostalgia. It all started with our German family heritage and all these years later we still use Hermann’s recipe for our Schulz Organic Quark.

WHAT'S IN QUARK?

We use our certified organic full cream milk to make fresh cheese, which is then fermented like yogurt. During this process we add ABC cultures and microbial rennet, which gives it a unique mild tartness from the “yogurt like” fermentation. Due to the fermenting of the fresh cheese this means Quark is high in protein and is great for your gut health. It doesn’t stop there! Our Quark is lower in sugar than regular yogurts and higher in calcium than cream cheese. It’s a win-win, it’s healthy, a versatile ingredient and delicious!

WHAT DO I HAVE WITH QUARK?

Quark is used extensively throughout Northern Europe as an incredibly versatile dairy product, and is a tasty substitute for cottage cheese, mascarpone, creme fraiche and sour cream. We recommend using it in a similar way to yogurt or cream cheese - slather it on bread or crackers, top your winter baked potatoes with it or use it in lasagnas and quiches. For the sweet tooths out there pop a generous dollop onto bowls of fruit, or use it in your cheesecakes, and desserts!

We have two types of organic Quark - natural and mixed herb. Our mixed herb Quark pairs perfectly with crackers or crispy sourdough with smoked salmon, dill or chives, and rocket lettuce. It's a dip, a spread, a topping and a dressing!

(from the Timboon Farmhouse Cheese (now Schulz Organic Creamery & Cafe) archives circa 1988)

If you have any Quark pairing quirks please comment on here - we’d love to hear them (and taste them!)

RECIPES USING OUR QUARK

Caramelised Onion, Tomato and Rocket Tart

A versatile tart that can be filled with whatever vegetables and herbs you have on hand. The quark in the filling gives the tart a welcome zing and cuts through the richness of the eggs and cream. This tart is wonderful to eat warm or cold.

Spiced Carrot Cake with Quark Frosting

Julia Ostro kindly shared her recipe for her carrot cake with a simple frosting made with tangy quark – perfect for afternoon tea. Once frosted, the carrot cake should be stored in the fridge where it will keep nicely for days, just be sure to bring it to room temperature before serving again. Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking, adding more of one and less of another or adding new ones entirely!

Quark Cheesecake

Julia also shared another type of quark cake recipe - a perfectly simple baked cheesecake using quark instead of cream cheese, giving it a wonderful texture and flavour. The cheesecake can be made in advance and topped with the luscious strawberries just before serving, making it a wonderful dessert for entertaining. Although strawberries are used here, other fruits such as figs, raspberries, blueberries and peaches would be lovely too.

Schulz Shorts: Jessica Beer

Tell us what you do at Schulz in 25 words or less.

My day’s usually consist of drinking coffee, eating Hila’s (Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe chef’s) pastries, keeping Simon on the straight and narrow and facilitating all the fun team projects at work like cheese tastings and gin tastings.

If someone was making a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?

I’d like to say Isla Fisher, but my colleague Jacqui would say Gumby, because I’m so flexible.

How do you have your coffee?

Irish when Simon’s not looking, otherwise black, or with Schulz Full Cream Milk, sometimes in a shot over ice cream – depends what mood I'm in.

Do you scoop out the cream on top of Schulz Organic Full Cream milk, or shake it through?

I give my bottle a semi shake so I still get a sneaky dollop or two 😉

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you take with you? 

Gin, a book and a masseuse. 

Tell us what gets you most excited about working at Schulz Organic Dairy?

My favourite anecdote of life is from the Lion King: “...you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures; from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.
Young Simba: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope? Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.”

What would your last meal be?

Mushroom burger (and fries). 

What is your go-to knock off drink? 

A locally made gin or glass of wine.

What keeps you busy out of life on the Schulz farm?

Wrangling my four year old and two year old toddler boys and my bigger version of a toddler, aka my husband. 

Schulz Shorts: Simon Schulz

Tell us what you do at Schulz in 25 words or less.

I’m a dairy farmer and entrepreneur. Well, I’m actually a third generation Schulz with milk running through my veins.

If someone was making a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?

Jason Statham

What’s your earliest dairy memory?

Helping my father in the dairy and being "hosed down" with the high pressure wash on a hot day

How do you have your coffee?

Strong and with milk (obviously)

What’s the most unusual way to use a Schulz product?

We’ve heard from people bathing in our milk. I haven’t tried this apparent anti-ageing technique yet. Maybe I’ll dip the toes in for a special bath for the 50th year of Schulz Organic Dairy in 2022. What do you think?

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you take with you? 

I’d like to say ‘my wife and family’, however I don’t think that would go down so well...

Tell us your favourite anecdote of life on the farm.

When a dairy farmer retires, he stays farming, just slows to the pace of a cow, sheep or cropping farmer

What would your last meal be?

My Mum’s German Cheesecake - made with our Quark (set not baked).

What is your go-to knock off drink? 

A locally made Stout or Gin

PRODUCT FOCUS: CREAM


Our Pure Cream is exactly that. Made from our Certified Organic Milk with no added thickeners or stabilisers and a butter fat percentage of around 40%! It’s not surprising then that the consistency of our cream may fluctuate with the seasons and the weather. The amount of rain we get on the farm affects the grass our cows eat. And in certain seasons we supplement the natural diet of the cows with silage and organic feed - this affects the end product also. Our cream is a microcosm of our greater philosophy here at Schulz Organic Dairy - make the purest product possible by letting nature and the cows do their thing.

Schulz’s cream making process

  1. Collect the milk

  2. Separate the cream from the milk

  3. Pasteurise low and slow for 30 minutes at 63C

  4. Chill and pack (depending on how much cream we have sometimes this is hand poured by our team into tubs)

  5. We deliver to our retail and restaurant customers for drinking, whipping, cooking, and eating!

What is slow and low pasteurising? 

We choose to pasteurise all our milk low and slow. This is to ensure that the unique  flavours of our milk remain present in the final product. We believe that things like terrior (the land), the pasture, our organic processes and cow health actually come through in the flavour. 

Pasteurisation is a legal necessity in creating milk, to ensure any potential pathogens are eliminated. Our low and slow approach means heating the milk to 63°C for 30 minutes. Most commercial dairy producers use flash pasteurisation (72°C for 15 seconds), a method that is one stop short of the process used to create long life (UHT) milk.

There’s cream in Schulz organic yogurt?

Yes there is! While other dairies homogenise the milk, we believe in offering the whole product. During our yogurt’s incubation, the cream rises to the top and forms a thick layer. As we don’t add stabilisers or gelatine to any of our products, the whey liquid also remains in the pot, sitting just below the creamy top layer. This naturally occurring layer of cream can be scooped out and used as a substitute for sour cream or simply mixed through the yogurt and enjoyed as nature intended it.

Those. Three. Words:

Cream-on-top

We believe, cream on top fresh dairy is one of life’s simple pleasures. However, the cream quantity isn’t always the same in each bottle. One factor is how the milk is transported or stocked as this can shake up and disturb the cream from the top of the bottle. Secondly, as grasses and organic feed change with the seasons, so does the fat content from which cream is naturally derived. That’s a natural and desirable element that we embrace, so we choose not to "standardise" our milk through homogenisation. So, this is why sometimes you’ll get a bottle of our milk with a heathy cap of cream on top and other times there may not be as much. What to do with the cream on top? You can shake it back through the milk, scoop it out and put it in your coffee or simply spoon it out and gulp it down! If you have a hot tip for how you use your cream on top please comment below!

Recipes using our cream

Who doesn’t love cream? We love it on top of our freshly made scones at our Creamery & Cafe and on a slice of cake with a cup of tea in the afternoon. For those with a sweet tooth, we have recipes for delectable desserts such as bread and butter pudding, cheesecake or pistachio gelato. Or, if savoury bites are more to your tastes, we have recipes for tarts, linguine, tortellini and pumpkin soup.

SCHULZ PURE CREAM - AUSTRALIAN FOOD AWARDS WINNER 2016

TROPHY · BEST IN CLASS · GOLD

Five Health Benefits of Eating Organic Yogurt

Our creamy organic yogurts are favourites among growing kids and health conscious adults. We have received such lovely feedback about our yogurt’s delicious flavour and its versatility for sweet and savoury occasions. Thanks to everyone who provides us feedback online and at farmers markets! We believe the yogurt’s foundation, our organic full cream milk is the hero and our girls are the champions! Looking a little deeper, just underneath the lid... lies our nutrient rich pot-set yogurt, which is an amazing source of proteins and calcium. It also contains vitamins, potassium and magnesium. It doesn’t end there either! Yogurt can also improve metabolism and can aid in the muscle recovery process.

Yogurt for gut health

We make our yogurt from our Certified Organic Milk, then add probiotic cultures, acidophilus, bifidus, and L. Casein. While other dairies homogenise their milk, we believe less-is-more when it comes to delicious dairy. We don’t add stabilisers or gelatine to any of our products, the whey liquid also remains in the pot, sitting just below the creamy top layer. The whey is one of the best bits of all – you can stir-it back through the yogurt, drink it, or do what Simon does and add it to a juice for a health kick. This results in our organic yogurt being packed with good gut bacteria, called probiotics. This friendly bacteria can help boost your immune system, ease digestion troubles and can even elevate your mood! Go yogurt!

Yogurt for stronger bones

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Yogurt is an excellent option for older adults who want to maintain their bone health. Not to mention growing children with growing bones. Now, you probably know that calcium is a key ingredient to building muscles and healthy strong bones. Although, did you know that our bodies don’t produce calcium on their own? Luckily, a serving of our organic Greek or Natural yogurt has around fifteen percent of your daily value of calcium. Tip: add chia seeds to yogurt to increase your daily dose of calcium. Scroll down to see our quick and easy breakfast recipe with chia, yogurt berries.

Yogurt for post workout recovery

Yogurt can be a fulfilling and healthy post-workout addition to your recovery meal routine. Recovery starts with protein and our organic yogurts have about nine grams of protein per serving! Try a dollop or two to your next post workout meal, shake or smoothie for a protein boost! Want to level up? Try adding a banana or some berries to your yogurt for vitamin rich post-workout snacks. Lastly, the consistency of yogurt combined with protein may help you feel satisfied for longer after a tough workout.

YO! Get your vitamin B-12

Your body needs vitamin B-12 for red blood cells to form and to aid brain function. Instead of supplementing vitamin B-12 into your diet, try Greek yogurt. It offers a powerful, natural and more delicious alternative - for example, one serving of yogurt can have around twenty percent of your daily intake. Natural or Greek yogurt is an excellent, meat-free way to add more vitamin B-12 to your diet.

Yogurt helps balance out sodium

One small serving of yogurt can have up to around eleven percent of your daily potassium intake value. Health tick! Potassium can even aid in lowering blood pressure and help fight against rising sodium levels in your body. However, if you just can’t give up salt you may want to combat this through eating more foods high in potassium. You can easily add more potassium to your diet by just adding a banana to your yogurt.

Yogurt is a versatile substitute

Greek yogurt’s consistency is thicker than Natural yogurt, so it can be used as a healthy alternative. Our recipe page offers alternatives such as overnight chia seed fruit bowls, dressings, and cheesecakes.

Alternatively, you can use yogurt as a substitute for complimenting other dishes. Schulz team member Jess uses our yogurt as a healthier substitute for sour cream in potato salad. Some of our staff even enjoy substituting butter and mayo with Greek yogurt on top of baked spuds.

If you have any tips for substituting an ingredient out for yogurt please share on our socials! In the meantime here are some savoury and sweet yogurt recipes.