KOLACHE

Kolache, the original Czech wedding pastry, is a favorite national dessert throughout the Slavic lands.

2 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons shortening
4 tablespoons sugar
½ cup warm water
2 packages or 2 tablespoons dry yeast
2 eggs, well-beaten
6 - 6½ cups flour
Your Choice of Filling
Posipka Topping (opt.)
Glaze (opt.)

1. Combine milk, salt, shortening, and sugar.   Scald and set aside.
2. Combine the warm water and dry yeast.  Set aside to dissolve.
3. Add the well-beaten eggs to th cooled milk mixture.
4. Add the yeast mixture to the egg-milk mixture.
5. Mix everything together, then work up the dough to a soft, smooth finish.  Cover with a cloth and let it rise for about an hour or until the dough is about twice the its original bulk.  Then work up the dough again.   Cover with cloth and let rise a second time.
6. After it rises the second time, roll the dough out onto a flour covered board like you would biscuits.  Cut out circles 2½ - 3 inches in diameter.  Place the circles on a greased pan and make indentations in the center.   Fill with filling (recipes below), let rise, then bake at 350º for 15 - 20 minutes or until the kolaches have a light brown finish.  Be careful not to bake them too long.  Yields about 6 to 7 dozen.

Kolache Fillings:

If you don't want to make your own fillings, you can use canned pie filling.

Poppy Seed Filling
2 cups ground poppyseed
2 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring
1½ cups sugar

Heat milk in a skillet and when it boils, add sugar, flour, and poppyseed; cook until mixture thickens.  Add the flavoring.  Cool before spreading on kolache dough.

Cheese Filling
Mash a 1 lb carton of dry curd cottage cheese; add ¾ cup sugar, 2 or 3 egg yolks, 3 tablespoons quick-cooking cream of wheat, 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine, grated rind of 1/2 lemon and a few drops of lemon juice or ½ teaspoon lemon flavoring. Cook over boiling water in double boiler, stirring often, until mixture thickens a little. This filling will thicken as it cools.  Let cool before spreading on kolache dough.

Apricot Filling
20 oz. (2 cans) apricots
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tbs. sweet cream
1 tsp. cinnamon

Drain apricots, be sure they are halved and peeled, and then mash. Add other ingredients, and mix together well. Add 1 tsp of filling I into center of each roll, and then top with posipka.

Posipka Topping
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoon melted butter

Combine all ingredients and mix with fork until the consistency of coarse meal.

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons oleo
4 tablespoons milk

Combine ingredients. Spoon over kolaches while still warm.