Koláče
Ingredients
- 360 ml (1½ cups) milk
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 70 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 560 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- Pinch of salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 370 g farmer's cheese, 120 g powdered sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 40 g raisins, for the cheese filling
- 60 g poppy seeds, 80 ml milk, 60 g powdered sugar and 40 g raisins, for the poppy-seed filling
- 3 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 1 tbsp room-temperature butter, for the crumble
- 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
Koláče are the pastry of Czech weddings and Sunday mornings — always round, never square, and flat enough that the filling is the point. A soft yeast dough made with milk, a little sugar, lemon zest and room-temperature butter is shaped into balls, left to rise and pressed in the middle to make a wide well. The classic fillings are a sweet farmer's cheese mixed with powdered sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and raisins, or poppy seeds cooked with milk and sugar; thick plum butter is the third option. A crumble of flour, sugar and butter goes over the filling, the edges are brushed with egg and they bake until golden.
Method
Warm the milk to lukewarm, stir in the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar and leave until foamy. Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt and lemon zest, add the yeast milk and the soft butter and knead into a smooth, soft dough.
Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled.
For the cheese filling, beat the farmer's cheese with the powdered sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth and stir in the raisins. For the poppy-seed filling, simmer the ground poppy seeds with the milk and powdered sugar until thick and stir in the raisins. Rub the crumble ingredients together with your fingertips.
Divide the dough into 18 pieces, roll into balls, set them on lined baking sheets and let them rest until puffy.
Press the centre of each ball with the bottom of a floured glass to make a wide well with a raised rim, and spoon in the filling.
Brush the rims with beaten egg and sprinkle the crumble over the filling.
Bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes per batch until the edges are golden. Cool slightly before eating.
