Delkelekh, Cheese Danish Pastries

Serving dairy desserts and pastries on Shavuot, the holiday of receiving the Torah, is a custom that I always look forward to. But shopping for the imported farmer cheese to make cheese delkelekh (Danish) gave me pause when I saw that the price was fourteen dollars a pound. Was the cheese being flown in on a private jet, accompanied by a masseuse and stylist? At these prices, it seemed likely. But these cheese delkelekh, published in Joan Nathan’s most recent cookbook, King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World are well worth the splurge.

Delkelekh, Cheese Danish Pastries

Joan Nathan, an award-winning food writer who concentrates on Jewish food, often gets letters and emails asking for “old recipes from Hungary”. Unfortunately, with the passage of time many of the traditional recipes are becoming lost. Happily for us, Joan is a master at tracking down the keepers of family culinary traditions. While visiting Kiryas Joel, a Satmar Hasidic community, she was excited to discover that the women there are still making delkelekh and many other staples of the Hungarian Jewish kitchen in the time-honored way. These light, buttery pastries filled with sweet, creamy farmer cheese and flavored with a hint of lemon, are a Shavuot tradition that belongs in every household.

Assemble your ingredients. 

For the dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle beater, combine the yeast, milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes until the yeast begins to bubble. Add the eggs, butter, sour cream, sugar and salt. The mixture will appear curdled. Keep going. Add the flour and mix on medium speed until the dough forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

For the filling:

I used a combination of farmer cheese and cream cheese in the filling because the only farmer cheese I could get had .1% fat. I was looking for something a little creamier and so I used 2/3 farmer cheese and 1/3 cream cheese. In the bowl of the stand mixer using the paddle beater, mix the farmer cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, flour, vanilla, egg yolk, lemon zest and salt. Mix on medium speed until well blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer the cheese mixture to a resealable container and refrigerate until needed.

For the streusel:

Mix the brown and granulated sugars, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the chunks of butter and pulse 3 or 4 times until the mixture is crumbly.  (You can also do this in a bowl and pinch the butter chunks and dry mixture between your fingers until crumbs form.) Refrigerate the streusel until needed.

The next day…

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Divide the dough evenly into two parts.  Roll out a single piece of dough into a 12-inch square about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into 4X4-inch squares. Spoon about a tablespoon of filling into the center of each square. Brush the perimeter of the square with the egg wash. Pick up the corners of each square and press the points together, pinching the seams shut or alternatively, turn the square so that a point is facing up (diamond shape) and fold each corner of the dough over the filling. Arrange the pastries on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush the cheese delkelekh with egg wash and top with a sprinkle of streusel. Bake immediately for 18-20 minutes, until the pastries are light golden. Allow to cool and serve as is or dust with icing sugar.

Print Recipe

Delkelekh, Cheese Danish Pastries

Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Desserts

By Joan Nathan, Adapted From Mindel Appel, published in King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World – Serves: 18

Prep Time: 45 minutes + overnight rest for the dough – Cooking Time: 20 minutes – Total Time: 65 minutes

Light, buttery pastries filled with sweet, creamy farmer cheese and flavored with a hint of lemon

Ingredients

• For the dough:
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• ⅓ cup milk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup sour cream
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• For the filling:
• 8 ounces farmer cheese
• 4 ounces (bar) cream cheese (not whipped)
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg yolk
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• For the streusel:
• ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• For the assembly:
• Flour, for dusting
• 1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash)
• Confectioners' sugar, optional

Instructions

For the dough:

1

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle beater, combine the yeast, milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes until the yeast begins to bubble. Add the eggs, butter, sour cream, sugar, salt. The mixture will appear curdled. Keep going. On low speed, add the flour and mix on medium speed until the dough forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Refrigerate the dough overnight.

For the filling:

2

In the bowl of the stand mixer using the paddle beater, mix the farmer cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, flour, vanilla, egg yolk, lemon zest and salt. Mix on medium speed until well blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer the cheese mixture to a resealable container and refrigerate until needed.

For the streusel:

3

Mix the brown and granulated sugars, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the chunks of butter and pulse 3 or 4 times until the mixture is crumbly. (You can also do this in a bowl and pinch the butter chunks and dry mixture between your fingers until crumbs form.) Refrigerate the streusel until needed.

To bake:

4

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Divide the dough evenly into two parts.  Roll out a single piece of dough into a 12-inch square about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into 4X4-inch squares. Spoon about a tablespoon of filling into the center of each square. Brush the perimeter of the square with the egg wash. Pick up the corners of each square and press the points together, pinching the seams shut or alternatively, turn the square so that a point is facing up (diamond shape) and fold each corner of the dough over the filling. Arrange the pastries on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush the cheese delkelekh with egg wash and top with a sprinkle of streusel. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the pastries are light golden. Allow to cool and serve as is or dust with icing sugar.

Notes

The key to Danishes that keep their shape is to bake them right after forming them. These delkelekh are delicious fresh. They also freeze very well. Wrap each Danish individually in plastic wrap and freeze in a resealable plastic container. Defrost as many pastries as you want at a time. The streusel was my original contribution to the recipe. (You can never have too much streusel).