A creamy, paprika-spiced spread of soft curd or cream cheese and butter blended with onion, paprika, capers, mustard and caraway, turning a vivid orange. A classic Austrian Brettljause (snack board) staple eaten on dark bread, born from a former Habsburg-region sheep cheese.
Named after the Liptov region — German Liptau, Hungarian Liptó — in what is now northern Slovakia, a county of the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary, whose local sheep's-milk cheese is the spread's true origin. It later became a fixture of Austrian and Viennese snack culture, where local quark and butter often stand in for the original cheese.
Cool, whipped and creamy, it blooms with smoky-sweet paprika, then sharpens with onion, briny capers and a tickle of caraway. Spread thick on dark rye it is salty, tangy and moreish — the heart of an Alpine snack board.
Whipping softened butter aerates it so it carries the cheese into a light, spreadable emulsion. Paprika's fat-soluble color and flavor bloom in the butter, while onion, capers and caraway provide the sharp, briny contrast that balances the richness.
Variations
Made with sheep's-milk cheese (Brimsen) for authenticity, beer added for spreadability, with chopped gherkins, served as a sausage dip
On the Palate
Where Liptauer sits in the Austrian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 130 min
Let the butter and curd cheese come to room temperature.
- 23 min
Beat the butter until pale and fluffy.
Watch outBeat the butter until it turns pale and fluffy before anything else goes in — that air is what makes the spread light instead of a dense, greasy paste.
- 33 min
Blend in the soft curd or cream cheese until smooth.
- 43 min
Mix in sweet paprika, finely grated onion, mustard and a little caraway.
Watch outMix the paprika into the fat and watch it bloom to a deep orange-red — the color and warmth come out in the butter, not sitting dry on top.
- 52 min
Fold through chopped capers and a few anchovy or extra salt to taste.
- 62 min
Season with salt and pepper and adjust the paprika for color and warmth.
- 760 min
Cover and chill at least an hour so the flavors meld.
Watch outChill at least an hour before serving so the paprika, onion and capers settle into the butter — spread it straight away and it tastes sharp and disjointed.
- 83 min
Mound into a bowl and serve with dark bread, radishes and raw onion rings.
