Cheese Danish Pastries (Delkelekh)

LOVE cheese danish! Wonderful things to have around when unexpected (or expected) folks come a calling. Stashing for use sometime this holiday season. Found this in The New York Times. An old Hungarian recipe for Hanukkah adapted from Mindel Appel. *** Note - this dough needs an overnight rest time so plan ahead****

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Yields: 24 pastries

Ingredients

• For the dough

• 1  tablespoon  yeast
• 1⁄3 cup milk, at room temperature
• 2  large eggs, at room temperature
• 6  tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup sour cream
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 3  cups all-purpose flour, sifted

• For the filling

• 12  ounces farmer cheese
• 1⁄3 cup sour cream
• 1⁄3 cup sugar
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1  large  egg yolk
• 1  lemon, finely grated zest of

• For assembly

•  flour, for dusting
• 1  large egg (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
•  confectioners' sugar (optional)

Directions

1. For the dough: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine yeast and milk and allow to sit for a few minutes. Stir in eggs, butter, sour cream, sugar, salt and flour. Mix well until dough turns into a ball. Transfer to a covered container and allow to rest for 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
2. For the filling: In bowl of an electric mixer, combine farmer’s cheese, sour cream, sugar, flour, vanilla, egg yolk and lemon zest. Mix well. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until needed, up to 24 hours.
3. For assembly: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out dough into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 4-by-4-inch squares. Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into center of each square. Pick up corners of each square and press points together.
4. Arrange pastries on baking sheets about 1½ inches apart. Brush with egg mixture. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool and serve as is or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.