Apricot Kolaches with Curd Cheese Filling and Almond Crumble

Step-by-step method

At a glance

You're making delightfully pillowy yeasted kolaches filled with tangy curd cheese and fresh apricots, topped with a crunchy almond crumble. The real magic happens when you brush the hot pastries with Amaretto butter straight out of the oven — a step that's definitely worth the extra minute. The dough needs two risings and some careful shaping, but the result is worth every bit of the effort and aroma that'll fill your kitchen.

1/13

Mix the dry ingredients

Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Add the caster sugar, dried yeast and grated lemon zest, then mix everything together while still dry.

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500 gram
All-purpose wheat flour

1 gram
Salt

100 gram
Granulated Sugar

10 gram
Dried Yeast

1 piece
Lemon
2/13

Add the wet ingredients

Make a well in the mixture and pour in the lukewarm milk. Add the room-temperature egg yolks and the lukewarm melted butter.

For this step
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250 milliliter
Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

2 piece
Egg Yolk

120 gram
Unsalted Butter
3/13

Work the dough

Bring everything together and knead thoroughly. Using a stand mixer with the dough hook, knead for about 13 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be smooth, elastic, and should not stick to the sides of the bowl.

4/13

Let it rise

Lightly grease the dough and bowl with oil, cover with a tea towel, and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours, until doubled in size.

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1 teaspoon
Sunflower Oil
5/13

Shape into balls

Turn the risen dough out onto a work surface and divide into 15 equal pieces (about 60 g each, or a bit smaller at 45–50 g). Roll each piece into a smooth ball between your palms and arrange on baking trays lined with parchment paper, leaving space between them.
6/13

Let rise a second time

Loosely cover the balls on the trays with a tea towel and leave to rest for an hour. This makes it easy to shape a thin centre afterwards.
7/13

Mix the curd cheese filling

In a bowl, combine the curd cheese, ricotta, egg yolks, icing sugar, vanilla sugar and cornflour. Whisk until you have a smooth, creamy mixture.

For this step
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250 gram
Full-Fat Curd Cheese

250 gram
Ricotta

2 tablespoon
Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon
Vanilla Sugar

1 teaspoon
Cornstarch
8/13

Make the buttery crumble

Put the flour, sugar and cold butter, cut into cubes, into a bowl. Add the flaked almonds and cinnamon. Rub everything together with your fingers until you get buttery crumbs.

For this step
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150 gram
Coarse Wheat Flour

150 gram
Granulated Sugar

150 gram
Unsalted Butter

30 gram
Sliced Almonds

2 gram
Ground Cinnamon
9/13

Prepare the apricots

Stone the apricots and cut into wedges or quarters. If they're on the tart side, dust them lightly with a little sugar.

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600 gram
Apricot
10/13

Shape the wells

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (top and bottom heat). Once the balls have relaxed, press the centres down with your fingers or the base of a floured glass until almost paper-thin, leaving just a puffy border about 1 cm wide.
11/13

Fill the kolaches

Brush the borders with beaten egg. Spoon a portion of the curd cheese filling into the middle and spread it over the thin centre. Arrange the apricots on top of the curd cheese, then cover generously with the crumble.

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1 piece
Chicken Eggs
12/13

Bake until golden

Place the trays in the oven and bake for about 15–20 minutes. Keep an eye on them — they're ready as soon as the edges turn golden and the crumble starts to turn crisp.
13/13

Brush with Amaretto butter

While the kolaches are still hot, brush the edges with melted butter mixed with a splash of Amaretto. Let them sit for a moment to soak in, then serve.

For this step
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50 gram
Unsalted Butter

2 tablespoon
Amaretto

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Apricot Kolaches with Curd Cheese Filling and Almond Crumble

Name: Fluffy Apricot Kolaches with Almond Crumble
Prep time: 54 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 220 min
Yield: 15
Cuisine: Czech
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon Sunflower Oil; 2 piece Egg Yolk; 500 gram All-purpose wheat flour; 150 gram Granulated Sugar; 2 tablespoon Amaretto; 320 gram Unsalted Butter; 2 tablespoon Powdered Sugar; 1 teaspoon Vanilla Sugar; 1 gram Salt; 150 gram Coarse Wheat Flour; 1 piece Lemon; 1 piece Chicken Eggs; 10 gram Dried Yeast; 100 gram Granulated Sugar; 30 gram Sliced Almonds; 2 gram Ground Cinnamon; 250 gram Full-Fat Curd Cheese; 1 teaspoon Cornstarch; 600 gram Apricot; 250 gram Ricotta; 250 milliliter Fresh Whole Milk (3.5% Fat)

everydaybyyumsto

Prep 54 min Cook 18 min

Plus 2 h 15 min of resting (not counted in active time)

21 Ingredients

13 Steps

Hard Difficulty

Equipment

What you'll need besides the ingredients.

Stand mixer

Tea towel

Pastry board

Baking sheet

Baking paper

Whisk

What's in it?

605 kcal

Calories

62 g

Carbohydrates

45 g

Fats

25 g

Proteins

The nutritional information is an estimate and may vary based on the specific ingredients used.

About this recipe

Craving a real summer classic that fills the whole kitchen with the same aroma as grandma's house during the holidays? I've put together fluffy yeasted kolaches where the gentle tartness of fresh apricots meets a rich curd cheese filling. Our tried-and-true ratio of ingredients, with a splash of melted butter, keeps the dough beautifully soft and pillowy. The whole experience is rounded off by a crunchy layer of proper buttery almond crumble. And a touch of Amaretto-spiked butter brushed on after baking? That's the secret finishing touch that takes these to the next level, so we really do recommend not skipping this step.

Vegetarian High-protein Desserts Czech

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Step-by-step method

At a glance

Mix the dry ingredients

For this step

Add the wet ingredients

For this step

Work the dough

Let it rise

For this step

Shape into balls

Let rise a second time

Mix the curd cheese filling

For this step

Make the buttery crumble

For this step

Prepare the apricots

For this step

Shape the wells

Fill the kolaches

For this step

Bake until golden

Brush with Amaretto butter

For this step

How it went

Nobody has tried this recipe yet

Apricot Kolaches with Curd Cheese Filling and Almond Crumble

Ingredients — what you'll need

Equipment

What's in it?

About this recipe

Want a recipe like this every Thursday?

Similar recipes

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