Czech Kolache with Fruit & Cheese

A favourite yeasted pastry found in the Czech Republic, these consist of a soft, enriched dough that is then topped with farmer's cheese (tvaroh), fruit or even ground poppy seeds. To add an extra bit of texture, each pastry is also sprinkled with a streusel topping. The dough can be made by hand, but it is easiest to do in a stand mixer if you have one.

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save

Servings 8

Prep Time 1

Additional Time 4 30

Total Time 5 50

Ingredients

Dough

25 g (¼ cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
300 g (2⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp instant yeast
¼ tsp salt
80 ml (⅓ cup) whole milk room temperature
35 g (2½ tbsp) neutral oil such as sunflower or avocado
35 g (2½ tbsp) unsalted butter melted and cooled
2 egg yolks room temperature
1 egg room temperature

Cheese Filling

150 g (⅔ cup) farmer's cheese aka tvaroh/twarog/quark
15 g (2 tbsp) icing (confectioner's) sugar
1 egg yolk
½ tsp lemon zest
Pinch salt

Streusel

35 g (⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
25 g (¼ cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
25 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter room temperature

Fruit Topping

100 g (3½ oz) cherries or berries fresh or frozen & defrosted

Instructions

Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook). Use your fingertips to massage the zest into the sugar, releasing the oils, until it resembles wet sand. Whisk in the flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, butter, egg yolks and whole egg. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients.
In a stand mixer on low speed (or using a flexible spatula), mix until just combined and a shaggy dough forms. If using a stand mixer, increase the speed to medium-low and mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl - 8-10 minutes. Add more flour as needed. If working by hand, generously flour a work surface, turn out the dough and knead until the dough is very smooth and supple - about 12-15 minutes - adding more flour as needed. (see notes)
Gather the dough into a tight ball and add it to a large, clean bowl that has been lightly oiled. Cover with plastic and allow the dough to rise at warm room temperature (about 25°C/78°F) until it has increased in size by 50% - about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Move to the fridge and allow to chill thoroughly for at least 4 hours and up to 16.
Before forming the kolache, make the cheese filling. Add the farmer's cheese, sour cream, egg yolk, icing sugar, lemon zest and a small pinch of salt to a medium mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until creamy and well combined. Set aside.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a clean work surface, pressing down in order to de-gas. Divide the dough into 8 equal balls (they will be about 75g/2.5oz each). Gently stretch each dough ball into a disc about 10cm (4in) in diameter, keeping the outer 1cm (⅓in) slightly thicker than the middle.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment. Spoon ⅛ of the cheese filling over each dough round, spreading it evenly, but avoiding the raised edges. Top the cheese with an even layer of fruit. Place 4 kolache on each baking tray and loosely cover with plastic. Let rise at warm room temperature (about 25°C/78°F).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. While the kolache are proofing, make the streusel. Add the flour, sugar and butter to a small mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to bread toss the butter in the flour and pinch to break up the butter pieces until the mixture resembles wet sand and no discernible pieces of butter remain.
Once the kolache have increased in size by 50% - after about 30-45 minutes -remove the plastic and sprinkle each pastry generously with streusel.
Bake the kolache - one tray at a time - until they are very puffed, golden and the fruit has begun to break down, about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.

Notes

You will know that the dough is ready for it's first rise when it passes the "windowpane test." Simply pinch of a ping pong ball-sized piece of dough and, using your fingers, gently stretch it as thin as possible. A thin sheet of dough should be able to form that allows light to pass through without tearing.

Nutrition

Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.

Tried this recipe or have questions?Click here to leave a rating and/or comment!