Apricot farmers cheesecake is a wonderful Polish-style dessert. If you like American-style cheesecakes, you must try this cake!
For this recipe, you will need to make homemade farmers cheese. Similar to cottage cheese, farmer cheese is full of moisture and perfect for baking.

Apricot farmers cheesecake is not overly sweet, especially if you use fresh apricots. If you have an insane sweet tooth, double the sugar for both the filling and the crust. Go ahead, no one is judging here…
Farmers Cheesecake
Farmers cheesecake, or “sernik” in Polish, is a very popular dish in Eastern Europe. It’s a simple and cheap dessert, lauded for its pure flavors and mild sweetness.
Typically eaten around Easter and Christmas, this cake is perfect all-year-around. Swap in your favorite fruit or add a drizzle of chocolate.
What is Farmers Cheese?
Farmers cheese is an unaged, fresh cheese made with just three simple ingredients — whole milk, vinegar and lemon juice. This mild white cheese is crumbly and perfect for baking both sweet and savory treats.

Fruits For Farmers Cheesecake
Any fresh or canned fruit pairs wonderfully with the creamy texture of this cake. Here are a couple great options:
- Plums – Prune plums are the best option. They are about half the size of traditional plum and have an egg shape. When baked, they turn into a wonderful jam-like consistency.
- Peaches – Yellow peaches — canned or fresh — work lovely. Keep in mind canned varieties will be much sweeter due to the syrup they are preserved in.
- Cherries – Use tart pitted cherries and make sure they are fresh.
- Berries – Blackberries, raspberries and blueberries are our favorites. Not only do they taste delicious in this cake, they add a beautiful stripe of color to the cake.
Other Farmers Cheese Recipes
- Farmer’s Cheese Doughnuts – These quick doughnuts are moist, dense and perfect paired with a hot cup of coffee on a lazy Sunday.
- Farmers Cheese Coffee Cake Recipe – This coffee cake never comes out dry. You’re going to fall madly in love…
- Puff Pastry Cheese Turnovers – These adorable turnovers are stuffed with farmers cheese, cream cheese and a generous amount of sugar.
- Pierogi with Farmers Cheese – Sweet pierogi stuffed with cheese and paired with jam. What more is there to say?
Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 8 apricots fresh or canned
- 3 cup farmers cheese
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/4 cup potato starch
Instructions
- Gather all your ingredients and let your butter soften at room temperature.
- Using a fork, combine butter with 1/3 cup sugar. Whisk in three eggs.
- Add flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir until all ingredients are well combined.
- Grab an 11-inch wide baking dish. Place the dough in the center. Using your fingers, work the dough to cover the inside of the baking dish, creating a deep dish crust.
- Cut apricots in half and place them flesh side down at the bottom of the dish.
- Whisk 3 eggs until smooth. Add farmers cheese and potato starch into the beaten eggs. Whisk or beat with a mixer until the mixture is smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk heavy whipping cream with 1/2 cup sugar until you get stiff peaks. Fold whipping cream into the farmers cheese mixture.
- Spread cheese mixture over the top of the apricots.
- Bake at 350 °F for 60-75 minutes. Test doneness by touching the center. It should be on a firm side. Let the cake cool completely before serving.
I did use almond flour keto crust and subbed keto sweetner for sugar. Ukrainian boyfriend could not stop eating it said was like home. Plus he loves when I make healthy. Me too!
I'm so glad these substitutions worked for you, I think this will be helpful to others. Thank you for the tips!
I see that you’re using a springform pan. Is it shorter than the normal 3” high size, or does it matter?
3 inches is tall enough. If you have a slightly different size. That’s totally fine.
I haven’t tried this yet, but if using fresh apricots, should they be peeled first? It’ll be on my weekend menu.
Hi Jeanne, I have never peeled apricots for this recipe. I think you should be ok without peeling them.
Used blueberries and raspberries and it turned out sooo good! Had to use corn starch since did not have potato starch. Very easy recipe! My boys loved it!!
Thank you!
Ulyana, this made me smile. I love it when kids enjoy the recipe, it makes me extra happy. Thanks for sharing!
Can’t wait to try the recipe, but I got whipping cream instead of heavy whipping cream and I hope there won’t be much difference.
I think it should work but do report back!
This is so yummy! I can't wait to make this again!
Beth, thank you for sharing!
Loved that this wasn't super sweet! Was perfect for using our fresh apricots! So tasty and creamy!
Suzy, thank you! So good to hear.
I've never had this type of cheesecake before but it was amazing! Great recipe!
Thank you Stephanie! So happy to hear this!
Hi Natalya, Can I substitute almond flour for the regular one for the recipe? Thank you in advance! 🙂
I haven't tried using almond flour. I dont think it would work because almond flour has a completely different consistency. But if you know a good almond flour crust recipe you can use it here.
Can I by any chance do this with pineapple? ??:)
Hi, I have never tried using pineapple but I can totally see this working well. Let us know how it goes.
i meant recipe
hi , thank you for the receipt . i do have few questions : what can i use to substitute potato starch with ? 2. can I use sprouted flour instead ? thank you
I am not sure how sprouted flour would work. Maybe corn starch would work better. Honestly I can't tell you for sure what would work better.
i didn't explain my self well . I'm sorry . I was wondering if i can use sprouted flour instead of white flour , and the 2nd question was what I can substitute the potato starch with , or if I can skip it ? i made the recipe today , with sprouted flour instead of white and no potato starch cause i didn't have it in the house . I put 2 tbs of flour in the cheese filling . it didn't came out that good . the cheese took a long time to get firm , so bc i kept the cake to long in the oven , the crust it was kind of burned and hard . I will make it again , I will probably put less cheese . i don't want to use potato starch just bc is not that healthy in my opinion and that's why I asked if I can substitute with something else . thank you for the reply ! btw ! i loveee ur channel
Thank you! I hope it will work out next time for you.
Thank you Natasha ! I will have to try this ASAP but will use peaches because I have a lot of them. Thanks again!
Hi Tatyana, tell me how you like it with peaches. While fruits are in season I want to try it with a few different once.