Something special for those with a sweet tooth: a recipe for delicate Czech cookies richly topped with whipped cream. Let's bake Rakvičky, cookies in the shape of small coffins—a real classic from Czech cafés and bakeries!
➜ What are Rakvičky coffin cookies?
Czech Rakvičky are small sweet pastries baked in a coffin-shaped metal pan. When baked, these treats are removed from the pans and elegantly decorated with a generous drizzle of whipped cream.
Baked Rakvičky cookies are very fragile and hollow on the inside. I guarantee the combo with whipped cream is extremely delicious!
Good news for those who are gluten-intolerant: the cookie mixture is prepared by combining sugar and eggs without adding flour. As a result, it is a gluten-free dessert.
Want more? Try these Czech Christmas cookies, called "cukroví" in Czech.
➜ Pronunciation
Rakvičky cookies are one of the most common desserts in Czech confectioneries, bakeries, cafés. If you are visiting the Czech Republic, sample one or, even better, two!
To help you learn how to pronounce their name in Czech, I have recorded a short audio clip with the word "Rakvičky se šlehačkou", which means "little coffins with whipped cream". I am a native speaker, so you will hear authentic Czech.
Fun fact: The Czech word Rakvičky means little coffins in English!
➜ What you need to make Czech coffin cookies
To make Rakvičky cookies from scratch, grab these ingredients:
- Egg yolks; for rich batter, flavor, and color
- Whole egg; the egg whites in the batter will help the cookies hold together better
- Sugar; a combination of granulated and powdered sugar. The granulated sugar makes the eggs easier to whip, while the powdered sugar gives them a nice velvety texture.
- Pinch of salt; for a balanced taste
- Whipped cream; I buy ready-to-use, high-quality spray whipped cream; I recommend the same for you. Choose one doze you have experience with and like; you'll save time and effort. If you know how to make homemade whipped cream, feel free to use it to decorate your cookies.
- Solid fat; such as Crisco in the USA or lard. I used the Czech "sádlo", which is pork lard.
Next, you need a hand mixer, coffin pans/molds, and a baking sheet.
✅ You will find the exact ingredient amounts in the recipe card below, which you can also print out.
➜ Coffin cookie pans
To make the cookies, you need small special pans or molds in the shape of coffins. These are metal pans measuring approximately 4x1.1/2 inches (10x4 cm). They have a rectangular profile extending from the bottom to the top.
In the Czech Republic, one pan costs about 7 Czech crowns (0.3 USD)—price effective in autumn 2023.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly where to buy such pans abroad because I have readers from all over the world. Please try the power of Internet search and type in Google or any other search engine: Czech coffin pans—you might be lucky!
⇢ Below is a photo of the coffin cookie pans. To give you an idea of their size, I have included a dessert spoon on the right.
TIP: You don't have to bake the cookies in coffin-shaped pans. If you own other metal pans, try them out. For example, here's a recipe for other cookies made with a similar recipe in the shape of little baskets: Crispy Hollow Cookies
➜ Note about eggs
Eggs are an essential ingredient in this recipe. To whip the eggs into a thick and smooth batter, they should be at room temperature. Take them out of the refrigerator an hour before you start preparing the dessert.
If you forget to take the eggs out in time, which happens to me quite often, try this simple trick: Fill a bowl with warm water and submerge the eggs in it for 10 minutes. During that time, the eggs will warm enough to make the recipe successful.
➜ Instructions
Learn how to make Czech coffin cookies in just 6 easy steps!
STEP 1/6: Grease the clean and dry coffin pans with a piece of solid fat (photo 1) such as Crisco or lard, and place them in the refrigerator to allow the fat to set.
I used my index finger to grease the pans.
STEP 2/6: Place the egg yolks, whole egg (including the white), and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. For best results, eggs should be at room temperature, not cold from the refrigerator.
Start by beating the eggs with an electric mixer. Begin at a low speed, then increase the speed. Gradually add both types of sugar (granulated and powdered) (photo 2).
Within 5-7 minutes of beating at high speed, you should have a thick, smooth, and light egg mixture in the bowl (photo 3). This is how our coffin cookie batter is made!
STEP 3/6: Remove the greased pans from the refrigerator. Using a spoon, fill each pan no more than halfway with batter (photo 4). No more, as the batter will puff up in the oven. Place the filled pans on a baking sheet.
STEP 4/6: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Put the coffin cookies on a sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. As they bake, you'll notice the batter rising in the pans, creating a hollow space inside each cookie.
Next, reduce the oven temperature to a low 215°F (100°C) and bake the cookies for another 30 minutes. At this reduced temperature, the cookies will gently dry rather than bake. Within this half-hour, the batter will be fully baked, and you'll notice a subtle golden hue on the cookie surfaces (photo 5).
NOTE: Do not open the oven while baking; the cookies could collapse!
STEP 5/6: Remove the baked cookies from the oven and let them cool for about five to ten minutes. Take each pan between your thumb and forefinger and gently tap the surface with the palm of your hand (photo 6). The cookie should slide easily out of the pan.
TIP: Another method you can try is to use your other hand to gently loosen the cookie from the pan by giving it a slight wiggle. You can even use a combination of both methods. Personally, I have always found it easy to remove the coffin cookies from the pans without any issues.
STEP 6/6: Now comes the fun part - decorating the coffin surfaces with whipped cream! Start by spraying the whipped cream from one end of the cookie to the other, creating an elegant wavy pattern (photo 7).
Always top the cookies with whipped cream just before serving. If the whipped cream does not contain a thickening agent, it will quickly melt on the pastry base.
➜ Serving the coffin cookies
The Coffin Cookie is an ideal dessert for coffee or a cup of tea for gathering with friends. Serve on a dessert plate. Pick up the cookie with your hand and eat it in small bites.
Please note that the Rakvička is quite fragile, with a hole in the inside, so it may crumble slightly when you bite into it.
MY TIP: If you celebrate Halloween, serve this Czech coffin dessert as a nice twist to classic spooky desserts!
➜ Storage
Homemade coffin cookies made from whipped egg yolk pastry will last about a week. I recommend storing them in an airtight container at room temperature; no need to put them in the refrigerator. The cookies are delicate; to maintain their texture, they must be kept away from moisture, even from the air.
Do not freeze these cookies. They will soften and fall apart when thawed.
Never store cookies that have already been decorated with whipped cream. The base of the dough will moisten and fall through.
➜ Useful tips
- In the Czech Republic, sweet treats like Rakvičky cookies are called "zákusky". These are small, often beautifully decorated cakes made from either baked pastry or as non-bake desserts. In the Czech Republic, you can buy "zákusky" in shops that are marked with the word "cukrárna". Look for the shop signs when you're in the Czech Republic, and make sure you visit a "cukrárna"!
- If you can, use vanilla-flavored whipped cream to decorate. This will give the dessert a more desirable flavor.
- Make sure you have enough pans to bake all the prepared batter at once. The batter is made with beaten eggs and sugar and will lose its fluffiness over time. If you wait 40 minutes to bake the first batch, the rest of the batter will be too runny to bake.
More Czech cookies:
- Masaryk's cookies – favorite cookies of the first Czech president T.G. Masaryk
- Podvodnice cookies – my fav! soft cookies made from dough raised under water
- Easy kolacky cookies – made with fruit filling
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Czech Coffin Cookies (Rakvičky)
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks ar room temperature
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon solid fat to grease the coffinette molds
- 7 ounces ready-to-spray whipped cream, lightly sweetened to decorate
Instructions
- Grease the clean and dry coffin pans with a piece of solid fat such as Crisco or unsalted butter and place them in the refrigerator to allow the fat to set.
- Place 2 egg yolks, 1 egg (including the white), and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl. Start by beating the eggs with an electric mixer. Begin at a low speed, then increase the speed. Gradually add both types of sugar (1/3 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 cup powdered sugar).
- Within 5-7 minutes of beating at high speed, you should have a thick, smooth, and light egg mixture in the bowl.
- Remove the greased pans from the refrigerator. Using a spoon, fill each pan no more than halfway with batter. The batter will puff up in the oven. Place the filled pans on a baking sheet.
- Preheat the oven to
300 °F. Put the coffin cookies on a sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. As they bake, you'll notice the batter rising in the pans, creating a hollow space inside each cookie. - Next, reduce the oven temperature to a low230 °F and bake the cookies for another 30 minutes. At this reduced temperature, the cookies will gently dry rather than bake. Within this half-hour, the batter will be fully baked, and you'll notice a subtle golden hue on the cookie surfaces.
- Remove the baked cookies from the oven and let them cool for about five to ten minutes. Take each pan between your thumb and forefinger and gently tap the surface with the palm of your hand. The cookie should slide easily out of the pan.
- Now comes the fun part - decorating the coffin surfaces with whipped cream! Start by spraying the whipped cream from one end of the cookie to the other, creating an elegant wavy pattern.
Notes
- Makes 16-20 coffin cookies, depending on the pan size.
- Do not open the oven while baking; the Rakvičky cookies could collapse!
- DECORATING THE COOKIES: I recommend using ready-to-use spray whipped cream. Start by spraying the whipped cream from one end of the cookie to the other, creating an elegant wavy pattern.
- Always top the cookies with whipped cream just before serving. If the whipped cream does not contain a thickening agent, it will quickly melt on the pastry base.
- STORAGE: Homemade coffin cookies made from whipped egg yolk pastry will last about a week. I recommend storing them in an airtight container at room temperature; no need to put them in the refrigerator. The cookies are delicate; to maintain their texture, they must be kept away from moisture, even from the air.
- I don't recommend to freeze these cookies. They will soften and fall apart when thawed.
Milana
Perfektni recept a hlavně postup.Milana
Barb
Why did my rakvicky crack? The tops are cracked on some of them. I followed directions, and it looked like my batter looked like yours.
Petra Kupská
Did all of them crack, or just a few? Sometimes this happens, so a dollop of whipped cream may cover the crack. The temperature of the oven can also cause cracking. Rakvičky need to be baked at a higher temperature first, when they puff up, and then baked slowly at a lower temperature.
Barb
Most of them cracked. And some of them caved in. Only a few came out of the coffin mold in one piece. Others I had to pry out by going around the edges. I used solid shortening and could see that the molds were glistening with shortening like in your picture. Maybe I have to grease each one with more shortening? I followed recipe temperatures and used an oven thermometer. We ate them and they were delicious. But I wanted to present them looking like your photo. Only a few I could do that way. Others were so broken that they could not be disguised with whipped cream. This is my first time making them. I will try again.