Yes, its that time of year again. What is that you ask? Birthday Month. My sister, both her daughters and two of my daughters were born this month. My youngest was born next month. So every year we would gather for one great summer of birthdays. I would usually make(try to make) really unusual/fun cakes for the girls. Oh, how I wish I had some pictures. There was a snake one year(for my middle daughter), a hot air balloon(turned out cool), Spongebob, skull and cross bones( they were in to Pirates of the Caribbeans), a sandcastle(the best one), a sad attempt at a fondant cake, a flip flop( not good but not bad). All in all it was fun coming up with the cakes and seeing if I could make it happen...sure do wish Pinterest had been around!
Since the oldest is 26 and the youngest is turning 16 and we all live in different states and cities we haven't all been able to meet up in several years. So my middle daughter decided a couple of years ago that she wants Kolache instead of a cake. For those of you who don't know what Kolache are here is the definition from Wikipedia: A Kolach (plural kolache /kɵˈlɑːtʃi/, also spelled kolace, kolach, or kolacky, from the Czech and Slovak plural koláče, sg. koláč) is a type of pastry that holds a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy pillow of supple dough.[1] Originating as a semisweet wedding dessert from Central Europe, they have become popular in parts of the United States.
Most of my heritage is Czech. My Grandmother used to make some pretty awesome Koleche. My Aunt too. So I am trying to pick it up and make it a tradition. I-in no way, shape, or fashion-make ANYTHING as well as my Grandmother or Aunt. But I am trying. I'm also hoping that my daughters will pick it up too. My middle one has takin' to baking, praying for the other two :)
So I thought I would document my go at Kolaches today. Right now I'm waiting for the little balls of dough to rise for the last time before filling them.
Flour,yeast,salt in orange bowl. Milk, sugar, butter(I'm sure I'm forgetting something) in the red pot.Combine it then add the eggs and a bit more flour. Then let it rise double it's size.
Rising away
Form into egg sized balls, brush with butter cover and let rise again
While this lovely dough is taking it's sweet time to rise I made the fillings. Cream cheese(our standard), apricot, and poppy seed. This is my first year to make poppy seed. Fingers crossed it comes out right. Next time I make them I think I'm going to make prune and try pineapple. It gets easier each time. Oh, boy was I stressed and nervous the first time I attempted to make them. I had such big Kolache shoes to fill :)
Here is the poppy seed cooking. Sugar, a bit of water, a bit of milk and a bit of butter. I didn't follow a recipe because I didn't want to make as much as it called for. So, I just kind of winged it.
Cream cheese. Heaven. Cream cheese, sugar, butter. It does call for lemon zest but we don't like it included.
Apricot. Dried apricots, water to cover, sugar to taste, and I added cinnamon
Ready to go in the oven. The dark ones are poppy seed, orange ones apricot and white ones cream cheese
Then with the posypka. Which is sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter. In the oven for 10-15 minutes.
All done! Though they don't look like what I think they should look like. I think I need a bit more practice. I think I don't do something right with the dough. BUT, that being said, they are fabulous!!!
The hard part is going to be waiting til tomorrow to have one. I can't wait to try the poppy seed :)
So, my daughter is turning 19 tomorrow. She is my middle child but her birthday comes first. My oldests birthday is the 21st, she'll be 22 and my baby's is on Aug. 14th and she'll be sweet 16. I shouldn't say baby. But they all are my babies. I'm so proud of my girls!
This is what her decorations will be
She absolutely LOVES sharks. Has from the very beginning. She was/is a bit of a tomboy. Her favorite movie when she was 3 was Godzilla. She loved spiders, crocodiles, snakes and pretty much every animal that boarded the Ark. And her favorite man(besides her Daddy and Poppy) was Steve Irwin-The Crocodile Hunter.
Happy Birthday my Sweets! One day you will understand the amount of love that goes into making these kolaches for you :)
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