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Authentic Kolach Recipe Czech Republic, Europe

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We strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though

Introduction & history

These pastries are made with sweetened, yeast-leavened dough that is shaped into rounds. An indentation in each piece of dough is made with the help of a glass, the bottom of which is pressed into the dough, thus creating room to hold the filling. Kolach pastries are usually small, no larger than 8 cm in diameter. However, there also exists a large variety of this cake typically prepared for weddings called frgale. Traditionally, the pastries are filled with ingredients like poppy seeds, cottage cheese, raisins, and plum jam, but in modern iterations of kolache recipes fruits such as blueberries, apricots, cherries, lemon, and pineapples are also used. Additionally, these pastries will also often have a topping, either plum jam, a sweetened crumb topping flavored with vanilla or cinnamon, or confectioner's sugar. Kolache are typically open-faced pastries, but can be enclosed as well. 

Main ingredients

Cooking tips

  • dough

    While some recipes include butter, the basic kolach dough is made only with flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast, and can be seasoned with spices or lemon. The perfect dough should be somewhat sticky as that will help keep the kolach pastries supple and fresh for longer when baked.

  • flour

    The types of flour used in Czech recipes for kolach cakes are described by the roughness of milling and not with the amount of ash, or protein content. Czech flour titled hladká mouka roughly corresponds to all-purpose flour, while one titled polohrubá mouka can be replaced with high gluten flour that has about 14% of protein content.

  • method

    For optimal results, the dough should rise a total of three times, although some kolach aficionados insist on five risings. To shape the dough, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then cut out circles of dough. To make space for the filling, press the bottom of a glass that you’ve previously dipped in flour into the circle of dough.

  • fillings & toppings

    Traditional fillings include poppy seeds, plum jam, raisins, and cottage cheese, but modern iterations of the recipe will include other fillings as well, such as fruits and Nutella. Popular topping options include plum jam, a sweetened crumb topping flavored with either vanilla or cinnamon, and confectioner’s sugar.

Recipe variations

Kolache with Cheese and Plum Jam Filling

PREP 45min

COOK 40min

READY IN 1h 25min

4.8

Rate It

The following is the recipe for kolache with cheese and plum jam filling. The dough is rich with eggs and butter, scented with vanilla and lemon peel, and needs to rise twice. For the filling, the cottage cheese is mixed with raisins and vanilla and placed in the indentations in the dough, then topped with plum jam.

Ingredients

20 Servings

Kolach with Cheese and Plum Jam Filling

700g all-purpose flour

300g high gluten flour

500ml milk

150g sugar

6 tbsp oil

3 tbsp butter, softened

1 sachet vanilla sugar

3 egg yolks

50g yeast

1 tsp salt

lemon peel

1 egg, for glazing

oil, for greasing

FOR THE FILLING

500g soft cheese

3 tbsp raisins

3 tbsp sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 jar of plum jam

Preparation

1

Kolach with Cheese and Plum Jam Filling

Step 1/8

Mix yeast, a small amount of sugar, and lukewarm milk in a bowl, then set aside for 10-15 minutes, allowing the yeast enough time to activate.

Step 2/8

Sift two types of flour directly into a large bowl, then add yolks, yeast mixture, sugar, softened butter, milk, oil, lemon peel, vanilla sugar, and salt.

Step 3/8

Knead until you have a smooth dough, then cover with a cling film and store in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. Repeat this step two more times, but punch the dough with your fist and knead between each step.

Step 4/8

Meanwhile, prepare the cheese filling. Mix soft cheese with yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, raisins that you've previously washed and drained, and lemon juice.

Step 5/8

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, then cut out 20 same-sized circles. With a bottom of a glass make an indentation in the circles of dough, then fill them with the cheese filling.

Step 6/8

Transfer the dough to a greased baking tray. Drop a dollop of plum jam onto the cheese filling.

Step 7/8

Leave the tray aside for a while so that the dough can rise a bit. Glaze the rim of dough around the dough with an egg wash.

Step 8/8

Bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Rating And Comments

4.8

Rate It

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