Kolach

9/10/17 My Monday morning Prayer Breakfast group enjoys being tasters for my baking practice. For tomorrow, I have prepared Kolach. Originating from central Europe (Czechoslovakia), this is a sweet bun with a dollop of either cream cheese or fruit.

I found a very user friendly recipe in America's Test Kitchen: Bread Illustrated. The recipe consisted of a sweet dough, cream cheese mixture, streusel, and egg wash. Here is their picture of the finished product:

The dough went together easily with a 10 minute knead in the mixer. The dough was risen at room temperature. With much fat and sugar, the dough was at about 50% rise. The dough was divided into sixteen 2.25 oz portions, rounded, and panned.

When risen, the centers were pressed
to create a well for the cream cheese.










The edges were brushed with egg washed and sprinkled with streusel. A small amount of cream cheese mixture was dolloped in the center.

Baked at 350° for 20 minutes. The bun was soft, rich, and lightly sweet.   The cream cheese mixture contained ricotta cheese that added a tang and cut the over sweetness. To me, the streusel did not add much. Overall, delicious!!







What would I do differently:

• Monitor dough wetness, I added an extra 1/4 cup flour
• Use a larger utensil to make a bigger well
• Use more egg wash to add more streusel
• Add more dry ingredients to make streusel easier to sprinkle
• Maybe use a drizzled glaze rather than the streusel

What worked for me:

• Making to effort to room temperature the ingredients for a better dough
• Using room temperature for rising rather than a warm oven