This post was made 2 years ago when I decided to make Kolache for the first time in at least 10 years! I have since started a perpetual Bake Sale to raise money for my daughter's dance expenses called - Holy Rolls! Named for the Holy family of course (ours - not The Holy family! ) Here is the blog I thought it was pretty good...
I'm typing this as I wait for my dough to rise, the 1st time. It will have to rise 2 more times before baking. I know this because, contrary to my family's skepticism, I do know what I am doing! It has been a very long time since I have baked this yummy Czech speciality, but, as a good cook/baker does, I gave myself all the tips and hints from my past blunders, so I would not make the same mistakes as I did when I was a novice.
Kolache are near and dear to my heart, not just because they are one of the best things you could ever eat (and no...they are not what is being sold at donut shops!), but because they are what my great grandma would make. Grandma Holy (yes..that's my mom's family name on her dad's side, and they have heard probably every joke there is) would have a kitchen full of all kinds of kolaches for Christmas, and sometimes on other occasions. There would mot be a counter or other kitchen surface that would not have a boxlid full of kolache. She knew everyone's favorite and we had more than enough to take home with us. They were like edible treasures, all the gift we needed from her.
I know I will always be a "novice" no matter how many times I make these ancestral treats, and that's ok. As long as I can show that I can make them, and they are yummy, that's all the affirmation I need. :)
So now, I have 44 apricot kolaches rising for the last time! In my hour wait, I'm making dough for prune (yuck) and poppyseed, then I'll make my last batch of dough for the cheese kolaches (yum!).
I have about 136 altogether! It's a good thing Aunt Kathy, Lanette, Jake and Jim came by. They got a care package for the road as well as some with coffee that were hot put of the oven.
I need to find space for all these buns!!
