Traditional Czech Style Buns - Kolaches (Koláče)

Recipe makes15x buns

For the Dough

500g plain flour

80g sugar

30g fresh yeast or 15g dried yeast 

150ml full-fat milk

1x whole egg

1x egg yolk

Zest of 1 lemon

3g salt

200g melted butter

Poppy Seed Filling

160g milk

70g ground poppy seeds

60g finely crushed butter cookies, such as shortbread

30ml dark spiced rum

1tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

100g granulated sugar

Zest of ½ lemon

60g walnuts, finely chopped 

For the quark filling

250g full-fat quark

250g creme cheese 

60g granulated sugar 

1 vanilla pod

1x egg 

Fresh seasonal fruit 

Streusel Crumb

60g butter 

60g sugar

120g flour

Cinnamon (optional)

Rum Butter

100ml spiced rum

100g butter

Method:

1. Prepare the dough: Sift flour and sugar into a bowl. Mix yeast with a little sugar, some flour, and half the lukewarm milk. Let it foam for 10 minutes, then combine it with the remaining milk, eggs, lemon zest, salt, and melted butter. Knead for 10 minutes and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature of your room.

2. Prepare the poppy seed filling: Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it steams. Add the ground poppy seeds and cook, stirring, until the milk has been absorbed, around 1-2 minutes. Stir in the crushed cookies, rum, vanilla cinnamon, sugar and lemon zest and leave to cool and store in the fridge until needed. (You can do this in advance)

3. Prepare the quark filling: Whip quark, cream cheese with sugar, vanilla, and an egg. Wash and chop your fruit (apricots, plums, raspberries, blueberries or any fruit you like).

4. Make the streusel: Combine softened butter, sugar, flour, and optionally a pinch of cinnamon.

5. Assemble the cakes: Shape dough into 50 g balls (or roll and cut circles). Flatten on a tray lined with greaseproof paper using the flat bottom of a glass, leaving a small edge around. Pipe the poppy seed filling in the centre and cover with streusel. For the quark ones, pipe the mix in the centre, top with fruit, sprinkle streusel, and let rise 15–30 minutes. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes until golden.

6. Finish with rum butter: Immediately after baking, drizzle cakes with butter melted with rum. Let cool slightly before dusting with sugar if desired.

Enjoy!