Moravian Kolache – Moravské koláče

Let’s visit Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic today! I have a toothsome recipe for Moravian kolache (plural) for you, a sweet treat made from yeast dough. They’re characterized by double filling: cream cheese inside, plum jam on the top.

Moravian kolache or Dvojctihodné koláče?

I’ll tell you a little secret. The Czech Republic contains three historical areas, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. These kolache are called Moravian only by us Bohemians, but in Moravia, they call them Dvojctihodné koláče. 

The word Dvojctihodné means that they are filled with two different varieties of filling. You will find creamy cheese filling inside, usually made from Czech tvaroh, which is a type of fresh cheese. Plum jam is then placed on the top and the whole beauty is sprinkled with streusel topping (drobenka). 

NOTE: It takes some time to make Moravian kolache because they are based on yeast dough. Plan ahead!

TIP: Here is a recipe for classic Czech kolache

Pronunciation

I recorded a short audio clip on how to pronounce the Czech word "moravské koláče".

Ingredients

You’ll need ingredients for yeast dough, two kinds of filling (cream cheese and plum jam), and a streusel topping. Plus, one egg for the egg wash to brush kolache before putting them to bake into the oven.

Ingredients for yeast dough:

• All-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• Butter, unsalted
• Fresh yeast, or active dry yeast
• Milk, lukewarm
• Lemon zest, freshly grated
• Egg yolks
• Vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt

Fillings:

1. The Moravian kolache inside filling: Czechs usually make a quark filling out of tvaroh, called tvarohová nádivka. However, tvaroh is not a usual ingredient worldwide. I recommend using any tried cream cheese filling (or ricotta filling), which works fine for you. TIP: A proven substitute for tvaroh in the USA is farmers’ cheese.
2. Plum jam is the top filling: We can get plum jam or plum butter in the Czech Republic almost in every store. If you’ve trouble buying plum jam in your country, use any solid jam you can get. 

Ingredients for streusel topping:

That’s easy: grab all-purpose flour, a piece of butter, and granulated sugar, mix everything, and you’ll get a beautiful topping for your kolache!

🍰 More Czech yeast dough pastries:

• Jidáše – Czech Easter food
• Wallachian frgál – sweet goodness from Moravia
• Vánočka – Christmas sweet bread

Instructions

Let’s roll up our sleeves and move to the kitchen! We’re gonna make the yeast dough first.

STEP 1: Place flour in a mixing bowl, make a dimple in the middle. Put crumbled yeast there, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar, pour over ½ cup of lukewarm milk (photo 1). Mix with a fork until a runny batter is created in the middle (photo 2). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in the warm place for 30 minutes (photo 3). 

STEP 2: Meantime, melt butter over low heat, mix it with egg yolks, rest of lukewarm milk, vanilla essence, lemon zest, and salt. Whisk until combined.

STEP 3: Add whisked butter-egg liquid to the bowl with flour and activated yeast, add sugar. 

STEP 4: Knead a smooth dough: Start mixing with a fork, then use your hands to make a nice dough. It takes about 5-8 minutes. Or use a kitchen mixer with proper attachment if you have one. Let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

STEP 5: Meanwhile, make cream cheese (tvaroh, quark) filling. Get plum jam ready.

STEP 6: Make streusel topping: just mix flour, butter, and sugar using your fingers, create small coarse crumbles. 

STEP 7: When the dough has risen, dump it on the worktop. The dough should not stick, if it does, flour the worktop a little. 

Roll the dough out into a square about ¼ inch thick – the rolled dough can’t be too thin! Divide into 16 equal pieces.

STEP 8: Place 1-2 teaspoons of cream cheese filling in the middle, then fold the opposite sides and seal together carefully, shape the filled dough pieces between your palms into a ball. 

STEP 9: Transfer the kolache to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place each kolach with the seamed side down. Let the kolache rise for another 30 minutes.

STEP 10: Preheat oven to 340 °F (170 °C).

STEP 11: For an egg wash, whisk one egg in a bowl using a fork. Press each kolach in the middle, for example with a joint of your index finger.

STEP 12: Brush kolache with egg wash and fill holes with plum jam. Sprinkle with streusel topping. 

STEP 13: Bake kolache for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. 

Cook’s Tips

• Make the cream cheese filling ahead, so that it’s at room temperature when you start filling the kolache. If you used too cold cream cheese filling, the yeasted dough could not bake properly. 
• If the plum jam is too thick, mix it with a spoon of rum. Rum thins the jam and adds a wonderful flavor to the filling. If the jam is too thin or runny, add gingerbread crumbs (that’s how plum jam is thickened in the Czech Republic).
• Short education around the kolache word. Koláč is a kolach and means 1 piece in Czech. Koláče or kolache are 2 and more pieces. Sometimes, I see the form kolaches, the double plural version used mostly by US people.

If you want to try another Czech delicacy, see the recipe for české vdolky, little fry cakes!