Bohemian Kolaches-Grandma Rumppe's

So, there has been a lot of discussions in our house regarding Kolaches.  These are Czech pastry's that are baked in the oven, filled with fruit filling and take in many shapes and configurations.  I have come to believe that asking for a kolache is equivalent to asking for a "pastry".  Just as there are many types of pastries, there are many types of kolaches.

In our house, it is pronounced KŌ-lah-cha. I have also come to learn that even the pronunciation of the pastry's name is fodder for discussion. The point is, if you are me and trying to provide your Czech father with a memory from his childhood, you need to do a little research and figure out the details of the pastry on which he was brought up.  Hand him a Kolache that isn't shaped like the ones he remembers growing up in Wisconsin, or with filling that is not what Grandma used and he WILL tell you about how HIS mother made them.

BEHOLD! I bring you Grandma Rumppe's Recipe for Czech Kolaches in her own (beautiful) pen-woman-ship.  <shaking fist in the air>THIS is why you young people need learn cursive handwriting.</shaking fist in the air>.  My sister Mary found the recipe among the personal affects of my Dad's sister, Carol.  

There were a few things that confused me when I first read through the recipe.  The first is that the recipe calls for 1 ounce of compressed yeast.  Yeah, I had the same reaction...what-the-what? I did a little bit of research and was able to determine that compressed yeast is compressed into a small block to minimize the surface area and therefore keep it from spoiling too quickly.  It is different from the envelope or jar of granular yeast that we see more often in stores here in the US.  Compressed yeast has a short shelf life but has a diminished fermentation aroma.  I have seen web sites that provide conversions ratios for compressed yeast to active dry yeast is 

1 oz of compressed yeast is about ½ oz of Active Dry Yeast or 1½ Tbsp. 

The second issue I had with the recipe is that it calls for ¾ cup of shortening and butter mixed.  I ended up using ⅜ cup of butter and ⅜ cup of shortening. 

The first time through this recipe I did my best to stick to the instructions as they are written.  I thought about the necessity to scald the milk, wondering if my Grandmother didn't have access to pasturized milk.  I did a little online research and found that scalding the milk breaks down the whey proteins which would otherwise hinder the yeast from being the best yeast it can be. So, pour the milk in a wide hallow pan and heat the milk to between 180 - 185°.  

I did go off script by:

• using silicone mates instead of a greased cookie sheet.  
• Instead of dropping the prescibed 2 tablespoons of filling into each one.  I first cut out the circles, noticed how many I had, (44 of them, (see note below)), then spread the filling out on some parchment paper to form a rectangle, then using a piece of dental floss, divided the rectangle up into roughly equal-sized partitions. the method seemed to work pretty well.  I would say that each of my kolaches received a teaspoon of filling,
• I also brushed each with a little egg white before baking to give the kolaches a little bakery bling.

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce compact yeast
• ¼ cup luke warm water
• ½ cup sugar

• 1 cup milk-scalded
• ¾ cup butter and shortening-mixed
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups sifted flour (520 grams)

• 1 cup dried prunes
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup broken nut meats
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Directions: 

1. Scald milk then let it cool to lukewarm
2. Let yeast, water and sugar stand for about 10 minutes.
3. to the lukewarm milk add shortening/butter, sugar,  salt and  beaten eggs and mix
4. add yeast mixture and flour
5. Turn out onto a board and knead until smooth
6. Place in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap
7. Let rise until double, (about two hours)
8. Roll out until ¼-inch thick
9. Cut with 2¼ inch diameter cookie cutter
10. Place on greased cookie sheets.
11. Press down centers with thumb
12. Fill with 2 Tbsp filling.
13. Preheat oven to 400° F
14. Let rise 15 minutes
15. bake 15 - 20 minutes

Yields 2 dozen

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Observation after the first baking...

Something is not right.  I used a 2¼" diameter cutter as prescribed and a rolling pin with ¼-inch gap rings on each end and ended up making nearly 4 dozen of these beauties. (The recipe says it will yield 2 dozen.) Looking at photos of kolaches online, I am thinking that bumping the thickness up to ⅜- to ½-inch might produce kolaches that look as thick as those in the photos I saw and will cut the number of kolaches down closer to 2 dozen.

When the dough was poured out onto the countertop, it was quite sticky.  I recommend putting flour down on the countertop, as well as frequently sprinkling it on the surface of the dough while rolling out.

I made these ahead of time as a Christmas present for Dad.  Therefore, once the kolaches had cooled to room temperature, I popped the two baking sheets into the freezer for 30 minutes.  Then I put the slightly frozen pastries into sealed gallon freezer bags and put them back into the freezer.  The first semi-freeze was to help keep the filling from smearing on the surface of the bag.  I am hoping the kolaches will thaw nicely and be as good as they were when they were fresh out of the oven.