Moravské koláče
Moravian wedding koláčky: open-faced yeast buns with poppy, quark and plum fillings under crumble
In the villages of South Moravia and Wallachia, nobody gets married without a mountain of koláče: small round yeast buns with a deep hollow filled with sweetened poppy seed, vanilla quark or povidla (thick plum butter), each crowned with buttery posypka crumble. Relatives bake hundreds for the wedding and send guests home with boxes of them, and they turn up again at village fairs (pouť) and Sunday coffee. Chef's tip: press the hollow deep and wide just before filling; the dough rises again in the oven, and a shallow dip pushes the filling over the edge.
- Total time
- 80 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 20
Ingredients
For the dough
For the poppy filling
For the quark filling
For the plum filling
For the posypka and glaze
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast, 2 ½ oz caster sugar, ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp lemon zest. Add 1 cup whole milk, 2 egg yolks and 2 ⅞ oz butter and knead for 10 minutes to a soft, silky dough that comes cleanly off the bowl. Cover and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour until doubled.
70 minStep 2: Make the poppy filling: simmer 3 ½ oz ground blue poppy seeds with ¾ cup milk and 1 ⅜ oz sugar over a low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes until thick enough to hold a trail. Cool.
5 minStep 3: Beat 7 oz quark (tvaroh) with 1 ⅜ oz sugar, 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp vanilla extract until smooth. Stir 5 ½ oz povidla or thick plum butter so it is spreadable.
Step 4: Rub 2 ⅛ oz plain flour, 1 ⅜ oz sugar and 1 ⅜ oz cold butter together with your fingertips to coarse crumbs.
Step 5: Knock back the dough and divide into 20 balls (about 45 g each). Set them on lined trays, 5 cm apart, flatten slightly, cover and leave for 20 minutes until puffy.
20 minStep 6: Heat the oven to 375°F (350°F fan). With the bottom of a small glass dipped in flour, press a wide, deep hollow into each bun, leaving a 1 cm rim.
Step 7: Brush the rims with 1 egg. Fill a third of the buns with poppy, a third with quark and a third with plum, a generous teaspoon each, and scatter crumble over the top.
Step 8: Bake for 18–20 minutes until the rims are deep golden and the quark has just set without cracking. Cool on a rack; they taste best the same day, but freeze well.
20 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does moravské koláče take?
- About 80 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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