Slovak Kolache Recipes

AUTHENTIC CZECH HOMEMADE KOLACHE RECIPE

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar into lukewarm water.
• Into a microwave safe bowl, put the milk and butter. Microwave just until butter melts. Let cool slightly to 110°F (so it doesn't kill the yeast).
• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with salt, sugar, and potato flakes. Add in yeast mixture, warmed milk and butter. Stir to combine. Add the egg and blend into dough.
• Knead in remaining flour until dough comes together and it is slightly sticky.
• Let dough raise for an hour and a half or until doubled.
• Once raised, form dough into 12 balls. Place each dough ball onto a parchment lined baking sheet, cover, and let raise another hour.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla.
• Once dough balls have risen for an hour. Use the back of a spoon and make an indentation into the ball.
• Then fill each indentation with cream cheese mixture.
• Bake kolaches at 425°F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW'S KOLACKY RECIPE

Steps:

• Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.
• Slowly add flour, mixing until fully incoporated.
• Divide dough into 3 balls, and wrap in cling wrap. Chill for about an hour, for easier handling when rolling out dough.
• Lightly flour counter or dough board. Roll dough out to about an 1/8 thick. You want it fairly thin.
• With a pastry or pizza wheel (or 3" square cookie cutter), cut dough into 3" squares.
• Place a teaspoon of filling in center of each square and bring 2 opposite corners together and pinch.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes until lightly brown. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

SLOVAK KOLACHE

Steps:

• Stir or possibly mix all these ingredients as for bread dough. Let rise; punch down and let rise again and then roll out into squares about (2 x 2 inch squares). Fillings are of various kinds. Cook a package of prunes, pit and mash. Add in:

CZECH KOLACHE RECIPE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat the milk until lukewarm. Pour the dry yeast and a teaspoon of sugar into the milk. The sugar will encourage the yeast to activate. Stir everything with a spoon and leave it in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes until foam forms on the surface.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter, which should be semi-liquid but not hot. Around 30 seconds in a microwave are ideal.
• Add the flour, sugar, salt into a mixing bowl. Add an egg, vanilla, melted butter, and activated yeast with milk.
• Begin with the dough. Roughly combine all ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface and use your hands to work it into a smooth elastic dough. If the dough is too sticky, dust it with a tablespoon of flour and continue kneading. Repeat until the dough is no longer sticky.
• Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide it into equal parts. If you have a kitchen scale and want kolache the same size, weigh each piece on the scale. The weight of a piece of dough for one pie is around 1 and ½ oz (45 g).
• Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Place it on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Leave enough space between the balls so that the cakes don't touch and bake into a square later. The classic Czech kolach is round!
• Let the dough balls rise in a warm place for another 40 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean tea towel if you leave the dough to rise on the kitchen counter.
• Time to shape kolache! We need to create a beautiful round kolach and create a depression in the center for the filling placement. Take a round-bottomed vessel about 3 inches in diameter, such a glass. I used a ½ measuring cup. Wrap the bottom with a clean dish towel so that there are no creases. Press the wrapped vessel evenly into the dough with light pressure from above. The kolach is stretched out wide and round, and an indentation is made in the middle for the filling.
• In a shallow bowl, beat an egg using a fork and create an egg wash. Brush it over the edges of the kolache pastries.
• Now, place the filling in the middle of each kolach. Just about 1 to 1.½ tablespoons per kolach are enough. If you like, sprinkle the cakes with streusel topping.
• Let's bake kolache! Preheat the oven to 340 °F (170 °C). Place the sheet with kolache in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

HOW TO MAKE MORAVIAN KOLACHES

Steps:

• For the quark filling: Mix all the quark filling ingredients and place in the fridge until needed.
• For the plum filling: If your plum jam is overly thick, mix it with a little rum or water to soften it. Set aside until needed.
• For the streusel topping: In a saucepan melt the butter, add flour and sugar and mix with fork until crumbly. If the mixture is too wet, add a little flour. Set aside.
• To activate the yeast: In a bowl mix together yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add 4 tablespoons warm milk, mix well and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
• To make the dough: In your electric mixer bowl (or a large bowl) mix flour, sugar, milk, butter, egg yolks and salt. Add the activated yeast. Knead with dough hook (or with wooden spoon) on low speed for about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour to double its volume.
• When the dough has risen turn it onto a lightly floured surface and roll it with rolling pin to a thickness of about ¼ inch (6mm). Cut dough into circles with 10cm (4 inch) cookie cutter or a glass (if you want small kolaches) or divide the dough into 10 equal pieces (if you want large kolaches). Reroll the scraps and cut out the last remaining circles. Press down gently on each piece with your hands to spread the dough and fill with quark filling (for the small sized kolaches, I used about 1 tablespoon of filling each). Pulling up the sides of the dough, wrap each kolach into a 'purse' shape.
• Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F). Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put each kolach onto a prepared baking sheet with seam side down. Gently make an indentation in the middle of each kolach with your thumb. Brush the top of the kolach with egg wash and fill the indented holes with a dollop of plum filling. Sprinkle it with streusel topping. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

WALNUT ROLL PASTRY

Steps:

• Dough Mixing and First Rise
• Scald the milk in a pan on the stove or in a glass bowl in the microwave, bringing it up to 180°F.
• Cut the butter in pieces and add it to the milk to melt the butter and cool the milk. Then add the sugar, half-egg, and salt.
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together the ground nutmeg, instant yeast, and flour (start with the smaller amount). You can add the reserved flour if needed, but only if your dough is very damp and sticky.
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together and is smooth.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rise somewhere warm, in a lit oven or on a raisenne dough riser for 1½-2 hours. The dough should double in size.
• FIlling Prep
• While the dough is rising, grind the walnuts and sugar in a food processor. Add the cinnamon afterward, so it doesn't poof through the seams of your food processor. Do not add the butter. If you don't have a food processor, you can put in the nuts in a ziploc bag and smash them with a rolling pin.
• Melt the butter in a glass bowl on low power in the microwave.
• Pastry Shaping
• Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• When the dough has doubled, scrape it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll it into a square that's roughly 12" x 12" and 1/4" thick. Before topping the dough, make sure you can slide it around the countertop. Flour and flip the dough if you can't.
• Brush on the melted butter, leaving a 1/2" strip at the top side free of butter to later seal the roll. If it seems like you have too much butter, hold some back and drizzle it on after you've added the absorbent nuts-sugar-cinnamon.
• Spread all the nut mixture on the butter as evenly as possible.
• Roll the dough toward the bare strip and rest it briefly on the seam.
• Lift the roll of dough, gently stretch it a bit lengthwise, and place it on the baking sheet, seam down.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour.
• Baking
• Preheat your oven to 350°F for about 15 minutes.
• Just before putting the pastry in the oven, brush the dough with the reserved beaten egg.
• Bake for 45 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet if needed for even browning.
• Let the walnut roll cool on a rack at least 20 minutes before serving.