Back To My Roots - Making Kolachkes Tommorow

From Wikipedia:

American Misconceptions

* Contrary to popular belief among most Americans of Czech decendancy, "koláče" is actually a plural word form in Czech language. A single pastry would more accurately be called a "kolač" or "kolaček." Someone referring to several of the pastries as "kolačes" is making the mistake of pluralizing an already plural word.
* The term "kolač" in Czech language simply means any of a variety of cakes. Because of this fact, A native Czech might be very confused by an American using the term "koláče" to refer to the very specific type of pastry which is known in the United States (the small round pastry with filling in the center).

And then, there's the Polish version:
Kołacz (variously transliterated as kolach, kolachky, kolacky, kolachy) is a traditional Polish pastry that has made its way into American homes around the Christmas Holiday. The pastry is a light and flakey dough filled with a variety of sweet and savory fillings such as apricot, raspberry, prune, sweet cheese, poppyseed or even a nut mixture. This Polish cookie shouldn't be confused with a leven yeast dough called a Kolache which is Czech.

The Polish pastry is made from a special dough that combines cream cheese with butter and flour. This ingredient mixture gives it a unique flakey quality similar to a pie crust. The dough is then rolled thin and then cut into squares. A thin line of the filling is spread along the diagonal of the square. Then two opposing corners are folded over each other to create the unique shape of the pastry. Dusted with powder sugar this is a very elegant looking dessert and can be served year round.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Mrs. Dettling’s Kolach Dough
(Mrs. Dettling is the mother of the science teacher at Louise HS. She had a stroke and got depressed because she couldn’t bake. Her kids got her a bread machine, and she adapted her kolach dough recipe. She is baking and happy again. I spent a lovely afternoon in her kitchen learning to make kolache.)

Place in 2 cup measuring cup,

1/3 cup powdered milk
1 tsp salt

then fill the cup to slightly heaping with flour.

On top of the flour, put

¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp yeast

Pour into bread machine, set on manual.

On top of ingredients in the bread machine, place

1 1/3 cup

In glass 2 cup measuring cup, place

½ generous cup sour cream
4 Tbsp oil
one egg

Add water to make 1 1/3 cup.

Put liquid in machine. Process.

Check for texture. Dough needs to be moist. Add milk as needed to make a soft, silky dough.

Let machine work and dough rise.
Takes approximately 3 hours to be ready.

Form, shape, and fill. Bake kolache at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.


Filling can be either pureed sweetened prunes, apricots, pineapple, cherry pie filling, poppy seed filling, sweetened cottage cheese with streusel on top, or any number of things. The same dough can be used to make what Anglos call pigs in blankets, but Czechs really know they are klobasniki. Be sure to use GOOD Czech sausage or, in a pinch, Polish sausage.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

There's a store in a suburb of Buffalo that is called Bapcia's Deli. Heavy polish community there. They have wonderful food! We usually go there about 4 or 5 times a year and stock up on a few things. Most packaged foods are shipped from Poland, meats are made in the city at Wardynski's, Redlinsky's or at Szelagowski's (Shelley's). They even have polish beer!

__________________
Charleen in Western NY www.harperhillfarm.com

A bite of butter greases your track. ~ Gramma Sarah

We make kolaches too! My maternal great gma was Czech, my mother has passed the tradition down to me. We make sausage, ground beef, apricot, cherry, poppy seed (my fave), blueberry, cream cheese. They are so good!
Do y'all put pacipka (not spelled right, i am sure, paseepka) topping on yours?

That's the streusel? MIL put them only on the cream cheese kolache.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

I make them with crean cheese in the dough, makes flaky cookie type Kolachky. Some folks use Yeast in the dough and it produces a Danish type sweetroll,I think those are more of the Russian type Kolachky.
My favorite filling is Prune (Solo brand)

QUICK KOLACHY COOKIES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1 stick butter
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. flour
Dash of salt

Mix butter and cheese, cream well. Add flour a little at a time. Roll into balls, depress with spoon. Add fruit, apricot or any preserves of your choice, or dates. Bake at 325 degrees for 18 minutes until slightly browned (edges). Sprinkle with powdered sugar while warm. Yields: about 36 cookies.

__________________
Marriage is like a hot bath, after you've been in it awhile, It's not so Hot.

Anytime we are within 50 miles of West, DH gets about 3 or 4 dozen of the poppy seed kolaches. I don't like them myself but his mother use to make them. I've tried making them but they never turn out like his mothers did.

Actually it's "Fat Tuesday" your last chance for treats before the start of Lent. Think Mardi Gras and King's cake.

__________________
Marriage is like a hot bath, after you've been in it awhile, It's not so Hot.

I've been thinking about apricot filling. I prefer the kind made with real apricots to the orange goo you sometimes get now. Here's a recipe for the real thing.

APRICOT FILLING: Mix 1 cup snipped dried apricots and enough water to come just above apricots. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, watching and stirring so they don't scorch; drain excess water. Stir in 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon butter and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (or cinnamon.) Mash with a potato masher till smooth. Some chunks of apricot are OK.

__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus