Vdolky, Czech Fry Cakes

Want to taste an authentic Czech delicacy? Try this recipe for Vdolek (or Vdoleček), topped with plum butter and sprinkled with crumbled Tvaroh farmers cheese.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Czech

Keyword fry cake, vdolek

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Rising Time 1 45

Total Time 2 10

Servings pieces

Calories 307kcal

Author Petra Kupská

Ingredients

Yeast dough for vdolky:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 ¼ cup lukewarm milk
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tablesspoons rum (Kirkland spiced rum from Costco or Austrian Stroh 40)

Topping:

⅔ cup plum butter
8 ounces farmers’ cheese (or dry ricotta, a scoop of sour or whipped cream)
powdered sugar to dust vdolky (optional)

You will also need:

4 cups vegetable oil for frying vdolky

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Take a large mixing bowl, add 4 cups all-purpose flour and make a dent in the middle. Place 2 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Pour in about ½ cups of lukewarm milk. Mix the yeast, sugar, milk, and little flour with a fork. Leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes; the yeast mixture should start bubbling.
Melt 1 stick unsalted butter and let it cool for a bit. Add it to the rest of the warm milk in a bowl. The mixture can't be hot, only warm. Add 2 egg yolks, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 Tablesspoons rum, and whisk everything.
Add the mixture and the proofed yeast to the flour to make the dough, either by hand with a wooden spoon or using a kitchen mixer with a dough hook attachment. The resulting dough should be slightly sticky, not too dense, which helps in making fluffy and pillowy vdolky.
Let the dough rise in a warm place for 60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
Turn the raised dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about ½ inch thick pancake. Use an upside-down glass to cut out round shapes. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise again for 20-30 minutes until puffy.
Meanwhile, heat the frying oil in a saucepan over medium heat. If you have an instant-read thermometer, the oil should reach 350°F.
Before you fry a Vdolek, make a shallow dump with your index finger in the middle. Put a vdolek into the hot oil carefully, with the hole facing downwards.
Fry until golden brown, then flip the Vdolek and fry the second side. It is quick, about 1 minute on each side.
Remove fried Vdolky from the oil carefully and place it onto a rack.
Put a half tablespoon plum butter on the Vdolek surface on the side with a hole. Sprinkle with grated crumbled cheese.

Notes

The basic recipe makes 20 pieces of Vdolky.
Enriched yeast dough like this takes a more time to rise due to the amount of butter.
When rolling out the dough and making individual fry cakes, avoid adding too much flour to prevent them from becoming heavy and dense.
The hole in the middle of the fry cake should be shallow and not go all the way through, allowing it to hold more jam when topped.

Nutrition