Kolaches

[DiH]

THE CZECH BAKERY is on I-35 EXIT 353!!! I got it memorized!  It's to die for!!

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West, Texas... yessssssss!!!!! I never miss a chance to run down there... and have sometimes been known to create an excuse or two.

Di

[DiH]

Those pictures just look like trays of danish to me.  what's the diff?

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Kolaches are made with a sweet bread-type dough rather than a laminated dough.

Di

[piazzola]

I have never heard this term... kolaches before.  I  am wondering though if they are similar to this?

blueberry filled buns...

yes? no? 

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The ones I've seen and made look more like the examples in this photo: click

The sweet filling is placed into a depression in the dough (shaped like a round bun) before baking rather than being completely surrounded by dough.

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To me these buns above look like buchty (in Slovakia) or bolucky (in Ukraine)

[Wendy DeBord]

I had never seen or heard of Kolaches until reading here at eG (not on this thread but an earilier one). I forgot about this bun type. So then I must be wrong when I'm talking about cookies........? Can someone clarify the differences? Am I simply confusing the spelling?

[piazzola]

I had never seen or heard of Kolaches until reading here at eG (not on this thread but an earilier one). I forgot about this bun type. So then I must be wrong when I'm talking about cookies........? Can someone clarify the differences? Am I simply confusing the spelling?

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Anything that is round is basically a kolo which comes from the word kolo(round or rounded) so one product may have different regional characteristics in Eastern Europe

As I said kolach or kalach has the same meaning as challah and is also used in celebrations in (Ternopil and Volyin, Ukraine) around Christmas around Malianka's time (a orthodox religious carnival)which more or less is the same as Hannukah. Many more foods assume different names and used at different times suiting one group or another.

Now kolachy with emphasis on the last y may mean a round flat torte in some areas.

[celenes]

Kolachy is very popular in OH too. I have made them a few times and plan to offer them this holiday season if I have enough time to dedicate to making them.

I usually make the cream cheese dough with the fruit filling and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

If they do freeze well I can start making them after I get through the potential Cleveland Indians playoff, Sweetest Day and Halloween

[Pam R]

Is there a fundamental difference between a Kolachy and a Piroshki (alt: pirozhki) ?

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The picture I posted a few days ago is something we call Pirshki in our family. Slightly sweet yeast dough filled with blueberries or saskatoon berries - always used to break the fast around here.

I was wondering if it was similar to the kolaches... and it seems that for some folks it may be, for others not so much.

[K8memphis]

I had never seen or heard of Kolaches until reading here at eG (not on this thread but an earilier one). I forgot about this bun type. So then I must be wrong when I'm talking about cookies........? Can someone clarify the differences? Am I simply confusing the spelling?

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No I don't think you are wrong. Like I said, I'm Polish and until I grew up and discovered so many other items in other areas called kolachky, kolaches, etc., I thought it was a cream cheese & butter cookie dough cut into diamonds or squares, with a fruit or nut filling blob in the middle and the east & west two corners folded over each other. Baked gently & sprinkled with powdered sugar.

That's what I meant when I said it seems to have mutated into different products in different areas. I have even seen danish dough used to make & sell "kolachkys"

Some kind of dough with a filling in either a cookie or soft bready thing. And there are as many spelling variations as there are different products. Then Texas makes savory ones too. The list is endless.

[piazzola]

@K8memphis: many spelling variations as there are different products.

We have to agree on this

[lesfen]

If they do freeze well I can start making them after I get through the potential Cleveland Indians playoff, Sweetest Day and Halloween

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I guess we can get bakin' now.

[ktbear]

hey there, kolachy Keith here. if you want to go to my website www.kolachy.com you can get my e-mail or even phone me if you want and i'll be more than happy to talk you through our process here at the shop.

[Mooshmouse]

Keith, I was wondering how long it would take you to pipe up in this thread.

Here are a couple of my Foodblog photos showing lunch at The Kolachy Shop. The second one shows a tuna salad kolachy, one of Keith's rotating weekly specials; however, I'm partial to their mushroom pesto, reuben and butter chicken.

And, yes, they freeze brilliantly.

[Annie Girl]

Highly recommend you look up "The Pastry Queen" cookbook by Rebecca Rather. I too am a native Texan (like Rebecca) and grew up loving Kolaches. Pronounced "ko-LA-chee". They can be sweet with fruit filling or cheese or savory, filled (my favorite) with a nice sausage. They DO NOT look like the blueberry filled buns in previous post. There is a nice photograph in "The Pastry Queen". I would imagine they could be successfully frozen after baking. And with some experimentation, I bet you can figure out how to freeze the dough and take it out to rise in the morning. The real thing is lovely, filling but not leaden. I could not determine where you are located, but they are definitely worth having in your coffeehouse. Even if you have to educate your customers to their beauty!! Good luck!

Check this out: http://www.recipelink.com/cookbooks/2004/1580085628_1.html

[ktbear]

Keith, I was wondering how long it would take you to pipe up in this thread. 

Here are a couple of my Foodblog photos showing lunch at The Kolachy Shop.  The second one shows a tuna salad kolachy, one of Keith's rotating weekly specials; however, I'm partial to their mushroom pesto, reuben and butter chicken.

And, yes, they freeze brilliantly.

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I haven't been a very good egulleter lately. working away on growing the kolachy empire.

[Swisskaese]

[As I said kolach or kalach has the same meaning as challah and is also used in celebrations in (Ternopil and Volyin, Ukraine) around Christmas around Malianka's time (a orthodox religious carnival)which more or less is the same as Hannukah. Many more foods assume different names and used at different times suiting one group or another.

Now kolachy with emphasis on the last y may mean a round flat torte in some areas.

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Malanka is nothing like Hannukah. It is the Ukranian New Year's Eve according to the Julian calendar. It is celebrated on Jan 13th.

[piazzola]

I mean as a happy time and we have pranks is much a carnival atmosphere of course it is Ukrainian Chistian Orthodox Acephalic chuch I belong to celebration but coming back to food one and the other are the same except for name change.

Edited October 11, 2005 by piazzola (log)

[prasantrin]

Well however you pronouce them to the best of my knowledge theres two types. One kind is round and it uses yeast in the dough (like this)

In the recipe linked to above, Martha Stewart uses sour cream to activate the yeast, but the sour cream is at room temperature.

Combine sour cream and yeast in a small bowl. Set aside until slightly bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Does this really work? I want to try this recipe, but since sour cream is incredibly expensive in Japan, I don't want to waste it. Should I really have the sour cream at room temperature, or is there a misprint somewhere in there?

edited to fix spelling/typo

Edited October 11, 2005 by prasantrin (log)

[cjsadler]

I'm looking for a Kolache recipe for the type my Grandmother used to make (in Youngstown, Ohio). It's definitely not of the square or round filled bun/danish type. This was a large jellyroll type kolache (a couple people have made reference to this type here). The dough was not yeast raised (I think), flaky and egg washed. The rolled filling was usually apricot or prune (though Grandma did do a poppyseed or nut from time to time). Anyone know what I'm talking about here?

[lesfen]

I'm looking for a Kolache recipe for the type my Grandmother used to make (in Youngstown, Ohio).  It's definitely not of the square or round filled bun/danish type.  This was a large jellyroll type kolache (a couple people have made reference to this type here).    The dough was not yeast raised (I think), flaky and egg washed.  The rolled filling was usually apricot or prune (though Grandma did do a poppyseed or nut from time to time).  Anyone know what I'm talking about here?

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That's how my maternal grandma made hers (Lake Milton, Ohio!!). I'll see if I can get her to spill the beans.

[cjsadler]

That's how my maternal grandma made hers (Lake Milton, Ohio!!).  I'll see if I can get her to spill the beans.

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Great. This must be the regional Ohio version of kolache, as I've never seen it like that anywhere else.

[MariaA]

Hi guys,I'm new here.

My husband and I own a small european style bakery.We sell a lot of kolaches.We make an yeasted dough, roll it very thin, fill it with walnut,poppy seed,cottage cheese,dried apricot,cocoa filling,raisins,turkish lochum or just plain.In all the fillings we add the egg whites beaten with sugar ,that's the secret to cling with the dough.Sometimes I make individual danish and I freeze them,and in the morning I defrost'em and pop in the oven,but doesn't work as nice as the fresh ones.We keep them in the plastic bags and they have a two weeks shelf life.They have a better taste after 2-3 days.Our russian,serbian.hungarian,romanian(we are from Romania),american and mexican customers are very happy with the kolachy.I love to post some pictures but I don't know how!

[ruthcooks]

Welcome, MariaA.

I have never posted pictures either, so I hope someone with experience will chime in to tell you how.

I used to live (for a short, dreadful time) in Cedar Rapids IA, and was told that to be authentic kolaches must be made with chicken fat. I was not impressed.

[DiH]

Welcome, MariaA.

I used to live (for a short, dreadful time) in Cedar Rapids IA, and was told that to be authentic kolaches must be made with chicken fat.  I was not impressed.

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Ruth, small world... I was born, raised and lived most of my adult life in C.R. - a good place to be from!

Chicken fat --??? Euwwwwwww!

Di

Edited February 28, 2006 by DiH (log)

[lesfen]

That's how my maternal grandma made hers (Lake Milton, Ohio!!).  I'll see if I can get her to spill the beans.

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Great. This must be the regional Ohio version of kolache, as I've never seen it like that anywhere else.

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Well... grandma never wrote anything down. The "recipe" that she gave me sounds more like a Rugelach, as it uses a cream cheese dough. She told me that she uses the same dough and fillings, varies the shapes (rolled jellyroll style then cut, rolled crescent style, or rolled then cut into squares then pinched), but she calls them all Kolaches.

Kolache or Rugelach... I don't care. They were yummy and now I want some!

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome, MariaA.

I have never posted pictures either, so I hope someone with experience will chime in to tell you how.

I used to live (for a short, dreadful time) in Cedar Rapids IA, and was told that to be authentic kolaches must be made with chicken fat.  I was not impressed.

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