Czech Apricot Kolache with Farmers-Market Stone Fruit and Sweet Cheese

Stir the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar into the warm milk and let stand until foamy, about 8 minutes. If it does not foam, the yeast is dead and the dough will not rise.

Ingredients

• Makes 16 kolache; serves 8:
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) whole milk, warmed to 110F (43C)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar, divided
• 3 1/4 cups (410 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 large egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg for the wash
• 6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter, softened
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 10 oz (285 g) farmer's cheese or well-drained whole-milk ricotta
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 ripe apricots, halved and pitted
• 1/3 cup (40 g) flour, 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp cold butter, for the streusel

Instructions

1. Stir the yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar into the warm milk and let stand until foamy, about 8 minutes. If it does not foam, the yeast is dead and the dough will not rise.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining granulated sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, egg yolks, softened butter, and lemon zest, and mix until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Knead on a lightly floured counter for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, soft, and only faintly tacky. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Make the streusel by rubbing the cold butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until it forms coarse crumbs. Chill until needed.
5. Beat the farmer's cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and thick. If it seems loose, drain it in a sieve for 20 minutes — a wet filling will run off the dough.
6. Punch down the dough and divide it into 16 pieces. Roll each into a ball, set on parchment-lined sheets 2 inches apart, and let rise 30 minutes until puffy.
7. Press a deep, wide well into the center of each ball using the bottom of a floured glass or two fingers, leaving a raised rim all around.
8. Fill each well with a heaped tablespoon of the cheese mixture and press an apricot half into the center, cut side up. Brush the exposed rims with beaten egg and scatter streusel over the fruit.
9. Bake at 375F (190C) for 16 to 19 minutes, until the rims are deep gold and the fruit has slumped and started to caramelize at the edges.
10. Cool at least 20 minutes on a rack, then dust generously with powdered sugar. They are best the day they are baked, though a brief warming revives day-old ones.
11. Kolache traveled from Bohemia and Moravia to the Texas prairie in the nineteenth century, and the two traditions have been quietly diverging ever since — but both agree on the pressed well, the sweet cheese, and the fruit of whatever is ripe. In Czechia that means apricots and plums through August, when roadside trees drop more than anyone can eat. Use fruit that is fragrant and slightly soft; a firm supermarket apricot will bake into something sour and disappointing no matter how much sugar you add.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 425 kcal
• Protein: 12g
• Fat: 17g
• Carbohydrates: 57g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 21g
• Sodium: 195mg