Kolaches

[morda]

I'm making some kolaches tonight. This is what happens when you marry a 2nd generation Czech from Texas. But I've only eaten kolaches twice in my life (plus once when I made them myself), so I'm not sure what standard to judge them by. So, what makes a great kolache?

On a side note, I haven't yet decided what to fill them with yet. I'm definitely including some of the apricot variety, but if anyone has votes/recipes for other fillings, I will have plenty to fill.

If you don't know what a kolache is, check out this recipe from Texas Highways magazine. It has a nice picture too (although I've seen them much taller as well).

morda

[thursdaynext]

I got nostalgic when I read your post! IMHO, Kolaches should have a slightly sweet & yeasty dough. And they should be "puffy," not flat like a danish. Grandma used to make them for Xmas eve- besides apricot, I remember cottage cheese, poppy seed and prune fillings.

[slbunge]

Polish immigrants have a very similar dessert called kolaczki (pronounced kolach-ky). My sister-in-law's, great aunt (Aunt Martha to just about everyone she knows) makes the best kolaczki I've ever had.

She starts with a lard-based pastry dough with a good bit of cake yeast, a couple of eggs and milk. Her fillings are a dollop of either apricot jam or raspberry jam. Rather than round, she starts with a square, adds the filling in a diagonal line, then draws two diagonal corners into the middle over the top of the filling. She also dusts with sugar to get a nice carmel sweetness on top.

The finished product has a nice balance of flake and chewiness. Just had some in March and now I want more.

Edit: Spelling (the horror!)

Edited April 19, 2004 by slbunge (log)

[bleachboy]

Wierd! I have eaten kolaches in Tomball, TX and Nashville, TN and they have always been gigantic pigs-in-a-blanket. I never had any idea they could look like a Danish.

[thursdaynext]

Wierd!  I have eaten kolaches in Tomball, TX and Nashville, TN and they have always been gigantic pigs-in-a-blanket. 

Bleachboy,

I never had any idea they could be like pigs-in-a-blanket! However, tonight I happened to be surfing Food TV & came across a segment on Top 5 about the Kolache Factory in Houston. They have shapes and fillings I'd never seen before. My grandma is from a town in eastern Iowa that is home to many families with Czech heritage & we have always known the kolache as a sweet. Thanks for the new info. I also see that there was an earlier thread about this topic when I did a quick search to get back to your post.

PS I checked out the picture in morda's link- the photo shows pretty much what I think of as kolaches, though the ones I remember are a little more "puffy."

Edited April 20, 2004 by thursdaynext (log)

[nessa]

I stopped at the Czech Stop on I35 in West Texas over the weekend. I was on my way back from Austin, to Dallas. Central Texas has a rather large Czech population, I've been led to believe. I had two kolaches, each were big yummy slightly sweet yeast dough rolls wrapped around some wonderful sausage and cheese. They had so many varieties. All the meat onces were like PIBs and all the sweet ones were open facedlike danishes. They all looked divine, and I might have to drive the 70 some odd miles back to grab some more!

Actually, I'd prefer to have the recipe for the yeast dough.....

[franktex]

Here in Texas Hill Country, with heavy German/Czech influence, there are kolaches all over.

I have always called them all kolaches, but specifying a 'sausage' or 'fruit' kolache, but the sausage ones are also pretty much the same thing as a 'pig in a blanket'. One could probably nit-pick this one more than the Tex-Mex food 'controversy!

My favorite kolache place is Hruska's, in Ellinger, TX. It's half-way between Austin & Houston on Hwy 71. Theirs have a slightly sweet dough, and they have several types of fruit, as well as sausage, ham& cheese, jalapeno sausage kolaches and more.

I also like the Kolache Shoppe in Houston(Shepherd/Westheimer)-they have baby sausage kolaches, and spinach-filled too!)

BTW, one of my least favorites is Shipley's (stick to donuts!) Dray flavorless bread, and cheap sausage)

Edited April 20, 2004 by franktex (log)

[jsolomon]

I've only had apricot and prune kolaches, and not in Texas. The dough reminds me of a pretty basic sweet dough with fairly normal amounts of egg, fat (normally butter or lard), and yeast.

What makes a good kolache IMO is cabin fever from a good 3-day blizzard. But, that's Nebraska values coming through.

[bleachboy]

BTW, one of my least favorites is Shipley's (stick to donuts!) Dray flavorless bread, and cheap sausage)

Man, I thought only the Shipley's here in Nashville sold those half-assed kolaches. They had a sign advertising them on the wall -- a hand-written Marks-A-Lot sign. They really do. suck.

[JFLinLA]

A few suggestions:

First, you might get better responses if you posted this on the baking board.

Secondly, if I understand correctly, Kolaches are similar to the Jewish pastry hamantashen. There was a long thread about these on the special occassions board which may be helpful.

Finally, I posted a recipe for yeast dough for hamantashen on the eGRA, that may be something you can use.

Good luck.

[morda]

First, you might get better responses if you posted this on the baking board.

Secondly, if I understand correctly, Kolaches are similar to the Jewish pastry hamantashen. There was a long thread about these on the special occassions board which may be helpful.

Ah of course, the Baking board! For some reason in my mind everything is cooking so it didn't even occur to me. But really maybe even just a general board is better since I've really wondering about what makes a good kolaches, not necessary how to make a good kolache, if that makes sense. In other words, what does a great kolache taste, smell, feel like?

I don't think kolaches and hamantashen are that similar. The fillings are similar, but hamantashen has crispier or maybe flakier wrapper. If I would to categorize them, I would probably place hamantashen in the cookie or pastry category, while I would call kolaches a bread. But since I didn't grow up eating either of these, nor I am a member of either ethnic group, I am glad to defer to others who are more knowledgable.

I made my kolaches the other night (all apricot) and they turned out okay. The bread was so warm and soft out of the oven, but seemed to lack that characteristic yeasty-ness that several people mentioned. The next day the yeasty sweet taste was there, but then I thought the bread had turned too dry. My husband thought they tasted more kolache-like at this point.

My husband calls the meat version klobasnik.

morda