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Serniki Migdałowe Polish Almond Cheesecakes

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 60 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Polish

Description

Beautiful individual little almond cheesecakes wrapped in leaves of a sweet yeast dough


Ingredients

Scale

for crust:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 4 cups flour
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 packet dry yeast
  • 7 tablespoons butter, melted

for filling

  • 1 1/4 cups Twarog, farmers cheese
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 1/2 cup finely ground almonds (almond meal)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 egg beaten for egg wash
  • thinly sliced almonds for garnish
  • powdered sugar for garnish

Instructions

for dough

  1. Add 3 egg yolks and salt to a bowl, whisk to combine
  2. Stir in 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla
  3. Add milk
  4. Stir in flour, lemon zest, and yeast
  5. Add melted butter and knead until uniformly incorporated
  6. Cover, let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes

for filling

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F
  2. Combine twarog, orange zest, and ground almonds
  3. Stir in sugar and vanilla
  4. Add 1 egg yolk

to assemble

  1. Divide dough into 12 equal portions
  2. Roll each piece into a circle approximately 6 inches wide
  3. Take 1/12 of the filling (approximately 2 tablespoons), shape it into a ball and place in the center of the dough circle
  4. Make four cuts in the dough from the edge, almost up to the filling, at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00.
  5. Dip your fingertip in water and lightly moisten the outside edge of the dough
  6. Fold one petal up on the filling, securing the edges at the bottom of the dough
  7. Repeat with the three remaining petals, the filling will just peek out of the center
  8. Use your hands to round out the bottom of the bundles
  9. Place on a parchment line baking sheet
  10. Brush with beaten egg
  11. Press a few almond slices into the sides of the dough petals
  12. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown
  13. Cool, dust with powdered sugar

Notes

My health food/farmers market style store had tubs of farmers cheese, but I opted for ricotta because it was cheaper and closer to the quantity I needed. I figured once I added all the other things, any difference would not be noticeable. But the texture of the mixture was a little runny, so I popped it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up and make it easier to form a golf ball shape for the filling.

I warmed a bit of lingenberry jam, put a spoonful on the serving plate and gave it a smear to add a bit of color to this yummy but beige dessert.