Koláče / kolache – Conventional Czech Recipe

Koláče / kolache are one of many pillars of Central European baking and an vital a part of the native tradition within the Czech Republic and in all places Czech ex-pats have settled. On this submit, you’ll discover ways to make candy raised dough from scratch and use that to make these lovely pastries with three completely different, scrumptious home made fillings.

Get able to make some particular treats that may change into the star of your Sunday brunch or a nice afternoon espresso break delight.

Should you like this recipe, you might need to try this Conventional Czeck Linzer Cookies. If you’re searching for different European treats, this compilation of European Christmas Cookies gives you some concepts.

For different Jap European recipes with dough, try our Pierogi with Potatoes and Cheese, Pierogi with Meat, or Pierogi with Sourkroaut and Mushrooms.

Writer’s Notes on Koláče / kolache

First, let me clear up a giant misunderstanding concerning the scrumptious pastries. Please take the next with a grain of salt. Koláče (a phrase derived from kola—wheels or rounds), as they’re referred to as again within the Czech Republic/kolache [koh-lah-tcheh], is a phrase that’s already plural—used to speak about a number of models. The singular is koláč / kolach [koh-lahtch]. 

Within the US, I typically see or hear about “kolaches”, pronounced often one thing like [cow-latch-cheese], which not solely doesn’t make any sense linguistically, however they most frequently even have little in widespread with our precise Czech pastries. These by-product pastries, which seemingly originated as the right factor,  can now appear like small calzones and are stuffed with non-traditionally savory, typically meat-based, fillings. These are usually not what this text will probably be about. 

What I’d like to introduce to you listed here are fairly candy, fluffy, scrumptious open-faced baked rounds of candy yeasted dough with a pleasant quantity of juicy filling within the center, topped with a crunchy streusel.

The fillings could seem uncommon at first however you’ll quickly begin to love them as they are often fairly addictive. Should you’re in a rush, you’ll be able to simply merely fill your koláče with recent fruits like uncooked blueberries or peach slices and end with the streusel on prime.

Components Wanted to Make Kolace

1. Energetic dry yeast

In Czech, we historically bake koláče utilizing recent yeast truffles. They don’t appear as available in US grocery shops, so I developed this model of the recipe to skip the search. It’s also possible to use prompt yeast with the identical outcomes. Simply combine the identical quantity straight into your flower with out the necessity to hydrate it beforehand.

2. Milk

Complete milk will enable the dough to be pliable and scrumptious. I don’t advocate substituting with much less fatty milk in both the dough or the poppy seed filling.

3. Sugar

Granulated sugar is used for the dough, powdered sugar is used for the fillings, and it’s used for sprinkling on the completed pastries.

4. Flour

All-purpose unbleached flour – most go within the dough, after which some within the scrumptious crunchy streusel to prime the pastries.

5. Lemon Zest

Natural lemon is at all times greatest when the recipe requires the zest, prefer it does right here.

6. Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract – just a bit bit goes a great distance. We don’t need to style simply the vanilla but additionally the lemon zest and the buttery goodness.

7. Butter

Butter – unsalted is the way in which to go when baking. This entire recipe makes use of a pleasant quantity of butter for the dough, brushing the pastries earlier than baking, in addition to for the streusel on prime.

8. Eggs

Egg yolk for the dough after which a complete egg to brush the edges of the koláče earlier than baking to make them shine.

9. Poppy Seeds

Uncooked poppy seeds would be the most shocking ingredient on this recipe. I seen that within the US, they’re thought-about extra of a spice and are often offered in spice jars or different small containers. The Czech Republic is without doubt one of the world’s largest producers of poppy seed for alimentary use, and we use it in giant quantities in lots of recipes, particularly in pastries and candy meals.

10. Almonds

Almonds – ideally halved, however you’ll be able to simply use entire ones or slivers for adorning poppy seed crammed koláče.

11. Prunes

Semi-dried pitted prunes – that is my invention. After I first moved to the US, I couldn’t discover one other typical Czech ingredient: unsweetened plum butter. Again dwelling, it may be simply present in any store or made at dwelling with Italian plums. When growing my recipe, I found that ground-up semi-dried prunes blended with the opposite substances create a similar-tasting filling for my koláče!

12. Cheese

Contemporary cheese – one other one of many fillings is historically produced from a sort of candy fermented recent cheese (comfortable tvaroh) which mainly doesn’t exist within the US other than some not-so-easily reachable ethnic shops. As an alternative, I developed one other tasty substitute by mixing the identical quantities of both cream cheese + skyr or mascarpone + strained cottage cheese. A few of the college students in my baking courses who have been Czech expats informed me that they favored this filling even higher than the unique!

13. Raisins

Raisins are added to the recent cheese filling. Dipping them in rum for a number of hours earlier than baking will make the ultimate product much more scrumptious. 

How one can Make this Kolace Recipe

Step 1: Make the Dough

• Soften the butter. 
• Activate the yeast if not utilizing prompt. 
• Sift the flour and salt into a big bowl. Add the lemon zest, vanilla, the remainder of the sugar, egg yolk, room temperature butter, and risen yeast combination. Combine all the things whereas progressively including milk till the dough stops being sticky. It may be accomplished by hand or in a mixer. 
• Let the dough rise for about an hour, coated in a heat spot, probably by a heater, however by no means in a drafty spot! 

Step 2: Make the fillings for Kolache

• Make the poppy seed filling – begin by grinding the uncooked poppy seeds – espresso grinder works nice for this, simply be sure to scrub it properly afterwards. Pour milk right into a pot, add the poppy seeds, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and rum. Convey to boil, and prepare dinner till the combination thickens, about 8 minutes. Let cool fully.
• Make recent cheese filling – combine recent cheese of alternative with powdered sugar, an egg, rum, and rum-soaked raisins to style.
• Make plum filling – place your pitted semi-dried prunes in a meals processor together with chilly water and rum. Mix till it turns into a paste, add extra water if mandatory. 

Step 3: Make the streusel

• Place flour and sugar on the counter, minimize chilly butter into it, and mix along with your fingers till it resembles gravel or tough sand. This step can even simply be accomplished in a meals processor.

Step 4 Assemble your koláče

• Create 24 evenly sized balls. Place each on the counter, flatten the highest, and stretch it utilizing your fingers, or press the underside of a greased glass into the center of every ball. The objective is to create a reservoir within the center, giant sufficient to permit sufficient filling to be positioned there. The much less dough and extra filling, the higher.
• Place both filling in the midst of every spherical indentation both utilizing a spoon or a piping bag.
• It’s also possible to mix 2 (or all 3!) fillings, the poppy seed filling particularly goes very properly along with the recent cheese filling and is a really conventional mixture in Czech.
• If you want for extra elaborate patterns, create circles of assorted fillings utilizing a pastry bag or simply get inventive, they are going to style wonderful in any case.

Step 5 –  Bake your pastries

• Preheat your oven to 360F and line your sheets with parchment paper. 
• Transfer your koláče to the lined sheets and brush some overwhelmed egg alongside the perimeters.
• Sprinkle some streusel on prime; use as a lot as you want. The reality is that as this bakes, the streusel will disguise all of your lovely patterns however it’s going to add a lot taste and scrumptious crunch I extremely advocate it anyway.
• Or beautify the poppy seed ones with halved almonds.
• Permit your koláče to rise for 10 minutes, then bake for about 20 minutes or till golden brown.
• Let cool on a cooling rack (cautious in the event you can not wait; the fillings keep sizzling for a bit!), sprinkle some powdered sugar on prime, and revel in along with your favourite drink of alternative, sizzling cocoa being mine on this case.

Regularly Requested Questions on Kolace

Yeasted / raised dough intimidates me. Do you may have any tricks to make it simpler?

Should you observe this recipe, I can assure you’ll succeed. As indicated within the recipe, utilizing prompt yeast and using a meals processor every time attainable will make issues go even smoother.

Can the dough be used for the rest as properly?

Please learn my bonus ideas for 2 extra nice little recipes!

Are there any regional variations to this recipe?

Truly, there are very many, as koláče occurs to be one of the crucial conventional Czech recipes. For instance, in some components of Moravia we will discover an equally scrumptious selection the place one filling is closed contained in the pastry, and one other one goes on prime of it. Svatební koláčky / marriage ceremony little koláče are very small, maybe one or two bites.

Alternatively, everyone would know chodské koláče (kolache from Chodsko area within the West) and the same valašské frgály (kolache from Wallachia area within the East) – each very giant and stuffed with scrumptious fillings; those talked about in our recipe or variations made with apple butter, pear filling cooked from floor up dried pears, or many different goodies.

Is the dough completely different for candy or savory fillings?

There aren’t any conventional savory fillings in the case of actual koláče. There are comparable sorts of pastries that originated within the Czech group in Texas, referred to as klobasniky (“sausagers”). They’re stuffed with sausage and typically even jalapenos or cheese or different savory fillings.

How can I be sure my koláče are baked accurately?

Actual koláče are rounded in form, so be sure they’ve sufficient room on the baking sheet. The squared variety, skinny on filling that we typically see is a results of them being stuffed right into a high-sided baking dish with not sufficient room (and often not sufficient filling), in order that they rose to the highest as an alternative of to the edges.

Elective Additions

Bonus tip 1:

As you get more adept working with this recipe, you’ll be able to attempt to make fewer, a lot bigger koláče. In lots of areas of the Czech Republic, these are widespread throughout spiritual and people holidays, and individuals are keen to pay their weight in gold. They arrive with lovely intricate patterns created with piping baggage stuffed with fillings. They’re then minimize into eight slices, much like how you’ll minimize your pizza. They’re even offered in smaller-sized pizza containers in vacation markets.

Bonus tip 2:

You should utilize the dough to make one other conventional Czech pastry referred to as buchty (buchteln). For this recipe, you begin by making 24 balls of dough. Stretch the dough, place the filling of alternative inside, and around the balls up once more. Brush some melted butter throughout every crammed ball and place them, seam down, tightly in a greased baking pan with taller sides. About 12 of them slot in a normal 9×13 baking dish. Whereas the oven is preheating to succeed in 390F with the rack within the center place, enable the buchty to rise to room temperature for about quarter-hour. As soon as on the temperature, bake for 10 minutes. Then, with out opening the oven, decrease the temperature to 370 F and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes till golden. 

As soon as baked, place the baking dish on a cooling rack and permit it to chill down for a couple of minutes. Then cowl it with a wood slicing board, a big plate, or a baking sheet and, utilizing kitchen mittens, flip the baking dish onto the chosen base. Should you greased up your baking dish properly, the buchty ought to come out simply! Flip again so the highest is upwards, and let cool a bit extra. Sprinkle powdered sugar on prime. Gently pull it aside and revel in!

Bonus tip 3:

There’s one other use for the dough, when you’ve mastered it, that you should use for a candy meal. You’ll make about 48 small balls this time; brush each up with some melted butter, then place them within the buttered baking dish and permit to rise for quarter-hour. Bake at 370F for about 20-25 minutes or till mild golden brown. These are referred to as buchtičky, as in “little buchty”. They’re usually eaten heat, with a variation on vanilla Crème anglaise made with white wine or only a extra liquidy, silky vanilla custard poured over them. Do that someday as a pleasant candy meal or a scrumptious dessert. Czech individuals, particularly children, adore it.

DOBROU CHUŤ! / Bon Appétit!

DOUGH (těsto)

• 2 packages energetic dry yeast
• ¾ cups – 1¼ cups room temperature entire milk
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups plus 2 tbsp all objective unbleached flour
• a pinch of salt
• zest from 1 natural lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ stick melted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp rum
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar + extra to sprinkle
• 1 egg to brush

STREUSEL (drobenka, posypka)

• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp all objective unbleached flour
• ¾ stick plus 1 tbsp chilly butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• • cinnamon to style

POPPY SEED FILLING (maková náplň)

• ⅔ cup plus 1 tbsp uncooked poppy seeds
• ½ cup plus 2 tbsp milk
• ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• ½ tsp floor cinnamon
• 1 tbsp rum
• halved almonds for adornment

PLUM FILLING (švestková náplň)

• 1½ cups semi-dried pitted prunes
• 3½ tbsp water
• 2 tbsp rum

FRESH CHEESE FILLING (tvarohová náplň)

• 1⅓ cups recent cheese cream cheese + skyr / mascarpone + strained cottage cheese mix
• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• raisins to style ideally soaked in a little bit of rum for a number of hours prior
• 1 tbsp of rum

Making the Dough

• Soften 1/2 a stick of butter and let calm down a bit.

• Activate dry energetic yeast by mixing it with 1/2 cup of room-temperature milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set in a heat spot and await little bubbles to seem about 5 to 10 minutes.

• Sift the flour and salt into a big bowl. Add lemon zest, vanilla, the remainder of the sugar, egg yolk, room-temperature butter, and rising yeast combination.

• Begin including the remaining milk till the dough isn’t sticky however comfortable and pliable. Work the dough: both knead by hand or use a mixer for about 5 minutes. Attempt to introduce as a lot air as attainable throughout this part.

• Cowl the bowl with a lid or a moist tea towel, set in a heat spot (probably by a radiator, by no means in a drafty spot!), and let rise for about an hour. Knead the dough briefly, about midway via for higher outcomes. It needs to be about twice the dimensions as on the finish of the rising interval.

Make the Poppy Seed Submitting

• Grind uncooked poppy seeds (Pure Grocers sells 1/2 lb baggage). Pour the milk right into a pot, add the poppy seeds, powdered sugar, cinnamon and rum. Convey to boil and prepare dinner till thickens, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Make the Cheese Filling

• Combine recent cheese with powdered sugar, an egg, rum, and raisins to style. Put aside till wanted.

Make Streusel

• Place flour and sugar on the counter, minimize chilly butter into it, and mix along with your fingers till it resembles gravel or tough sand. Put aside till wanted.

Convey all the things collectively:

• Create 24 evenly sized balls. Place each on the counter, flatten the highest, and stretch it utilizing your fingers. It’s also possible to use the underside of a greased glass to press into the center of every ball. The objective is to create a reservoir within the center, giant sufficient to permit sufficient filling to be positioned there. Bear in mind, the most effective koláče have a excessive filling-to-dough ratio!

• Place both filling in the midst of every spherical indentation both utilizing a spoon or a piping bag. It’s also possible to mix 2 fillings, the poppy seed filling particularly goes very properly along with the recent cheese filling and is a really conventional mixture in Czech! You possibly can simply unfold the filling utilizing a spoon or create circles if utilizing a pastry bag.

• Place the ready koláče on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and, utilizing a pastry brush, cowl the doughy edges with some overwhelmed egg. Sprinkle some streusel on prime or beautify the poppy seed ones with halved almonds. Permit it to rise for 10 minutes, then bake on 360F for about 20 minutes or till golden brown.

• As soon as baked, switch the person koláče onto a cooling rack, allow them to cool for a couple of minutes, sprinkle with some powdered sugar, and revel in! They style nice with a cup of milk or some espresso or tea.

• Koláče will be stored for about 3 days in an hermetic container or asealed bag. You possibly can convey them again to tasting recent by reheating them in theoven on low for a couple of minutes.

This recipe makes about 25 palm-sized koláče

Energy: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 6g | Fats: 9g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 2g | Trans Fats: 0.2g | Ldl cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 62mg | Potassium: 170mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 345IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 2mg