Bohemian Pastry Recipes

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.

BOHEMIAN PASTRY

Steps:

• Cut the flour and salt into the butter and shortening as you would for pie dough.
• Mix sugar, yeast, milk, egg yolks in a bowl.
• Add the liquid mixture to the flour/shortening mixture and mix well. Should form a nice ball of dough.
• Cover the dough ball and refrigerate overnight or at least 5 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Remove from the refrigerator and roll thin like pie crust.
• Cut in 3 inch squares.
• Put preserves in the center and fold each pastry from corner.
• Use a fork (or your thumb) to seal the edges.
• Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet (you could also use parchment paper) and bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 375°F degree oven.
• Dust with powdered sugar, cool to touch, and enjoy. Keeps well in a sealed container. .

LISTY I

Steps:

• Mix together egg yolks, egg white, salt, sugar and cream. Gradually stir in flour until dough becomes stiff enough to roll out.
• Roll out paper thin and cut into triangles. (Grandma would cut a slit in the middle of each and twist a corner through the slit to make them look fancier.)
• Put enough oil in a pot to cover cookie. Heat oil until a small amount of dough placed in oil begins to fry. Deep fry each cookie in hot oil until light brown. Remove cookie from oil and drain excess oil on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

BOHEMIAN COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Pretty easy directions, really -- just mix all ingredients together and bake in a tube pan at 350 degrees for 1 hr.; I also like the plum cake version of this too, just sub 2 jars of plum baby food for coconut.