After weeks of cooking, tweaking, fine-tuning my takes on traditional Chinese favorites, I needed to step away for a bit and try something decidedly non-Asian. On my list of “pastries I want to bake” were kolaches, those puffy, tender yeasted pastries with a divot in the center usually filled with sweet cheese and fruit or poppyseeds.

Czech in origin, they were brought over by Central European immigrants in the mid-1800’s, many of whom settled in along a wide stretch of central and south central Texas, which today is still known as the Czech Belt.

Born and raised in Texas I knew Laura (of Small Dice fame) was probably familiar with kolaches. A casual messenger text exchange revealed a hitherto unknown truth about my fair-skinned, red-headed friend with the distinctly Scottish maiden name (McReynolds). She actually had Czech roots, by way of her paternal grandmother, whose parents emigrated from Czechoslovakia.

Laura grew up eating kolaches, though mostly the savory variety, so she was intrigued by what kind of spin I’d take on this Texas bakery staple.

Per usual, I credit my baking partner in crime Karen for turning me onto to kolaches, having tried out a good recipe a couple weeks ago. The recipe seemed simple and straightforward enough, which fit the bill for me. I was craving something like a danish but was in no mood to laminate dough–too much butter (yes, you heard me), too many steps, and too much time (both active and inactive). I wanted to make something from start to finish (preferably) in under 2 hours, and with ingredients I had on hand. Czech, check and check.

On the first go around, I followed the recipe Karen used (curtesy of Food & Wine) almost to the teeth. I had just enough cream cheese to make the sweet cheese component, flavoring it with fragrant Meyer lemon zest and juice from a neighbor’s lemon tree. Instead of making the fresh cherry filing, I opted to use jam–fruit of the woods (a mix of dark berries), black currant. and homemade strawberry-rhubarb.

The baked kolaches looked beautiful, though I should have baked them at 350F and not 375F degrees as instructed because I had my oven on convection mode. They could’ve been a tad lighter in color, though they were still delightful, as my neighbor Krislyn could attest–she ate all 3 flavors within a few hours.

For my second attempt, which ended up being a double batch, I experimented with both savory and sweet kolaches. For the savory variety, I went with a kind of breakfast theme–diced red pepper, cheese, and smoked chicken apple sausage (subbing spinach for the vegetarian version). Par-cooked diced Yukon gold potatoes and sauteed the onions served as the base for both versions. I layered on the meat and vegetables and topped them off with grated Monterey jack cheese and parmesan. The savory kolaches were hearty and filling, perfect on-the-go meal.

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I should mention that I tweaked the dough recipe a little. The original, while good, tasted slightly flat to me. Part of it had to do with salt–or lack of it. I also subbed some buttermilk for whole milk, which gave the dough richer flavor and a bit more tenderness. For the sweet kolache, I added a touch of vanilla and almond extracts.

Despite my intentions to seek out non-Chinese cooking projects, I couldn’t help playing around with sweet Asian-inspired flavor combinations. What can I say, it’s in my DNA. Rina (of Comics fame) and Laura teased me for appropriating Czech culture, though I would argue that kolaches, as they are made in America, are already culturally different from its traditional Central European roots, having undergone a multitude of metamorphosis from region to region. To quote cookbook author and Texan Lisa Fain, “The pastry now making its way around America is what Texans have done with kolaches, not what Czechs brought to Texas.”

Even Rina couldn’t deny the appeal of kolaches filled with coconut custard and ube jam, or coconut pandan custard topped with fresh cherry for that matter. Still obsessed with the sweet savory combination of butterscotch and miso, I riffed on my previous ice cream sandwich creation, adding brown sugar and miso to some of the custard base and topping the filled kolaches with brown sugar candied pecan. Booyah!

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On my third go around–yes I made kolaches 3 times in 1 week–I once again utilized what I had on hand, pairing lemon curd with fresh cherry and nectarine and leftover sweet cheese filling with freshly made plum-cherry-rhubarb jam.

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The jam was the result of my neighbor’s generous offering of unripe green plums (10 lbs. worth!) from a fallen tree branch in her backyard. The plan was to turn those little suckers into some cool pickled green plums or maybe even green plum liqueur. However, they ALL unexpectedly ripened in less than a week, so I had to do something with them fast before the fully ripened plums rotted in the bag.

What I loved about the soft, supple kolache dough was its simplicity and versatility. The melted butter and egg yolks yielded a texture that was a cross between brioche and danish, for a fraction of the labor. No rolling, laminating, resting, more rolling and resting. No gradually beating in butter bit by bit. If you’re pressed for time, you can make the dough a day ahead, proof and shape it, refrigerate overnight, then fill and bake the next morning. You can easily mix and knead the dough by hand–though I chose to use a stand mixer.

Kolaches, like a lot of traditional foods brought to this country, have changed and been adapted to the food culture of the times, making it a prime model for reinvention. I wouldn’t be so bold as to call my Asian-themed creations kolaches, but rather, in the spirit of our melting pot culture, “kolache-inspired” pastries that honor the best elements of the Czech-Tex classic–something I think my Texan friend Laura can get behind.

Kolaches (adapted from Food & Wine)

Yield: 12

Dough:

• 3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more if needed
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 2 1/4 t. dry active yeast (or 2 t. instant yeast)
• 3/4 c. whole milk, warmed
• 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 4 oz. (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, room temperature
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/8 t. sea salt (increase to 1 1/4 t. if making savory)
• 1 t. vanilla extract (for sweet dough)
• 1/2 t. almond extract (optional for sweet dough)

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1. Combine 1 c. flour with sugar in a bowl. Whisk yeast into milk and buttermilk to dissolve, then whisk into flour and sugar. Set aside to rest for 5-10 mins.
2. Whisk together butter, yolks, salt, and extracts (if making sweet dough) then combine with flour and yeast mixture.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough, add the remaining flour. On medium low speed, gradually mix in the wet ingredients.
4. Mix dough on medium speed until dough is smooth and supple, adding in more flour (a tablespoon at a time) as needed. Dough should be soft and tacky to the touch but not too sticky.
5. Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover bowl with a damp dish towel and let dough rise in a warm space for 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
6. Deflate the dough and divide it into 12 equal portions (roughly 2.6 oz. each). Roll each piece into tight round balls, and arrange on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Cover pan with damp dish towel and let the dough rise again until doubled.
7. Using your fingers, create a wide center well in each ball to hold the fillings. Brush the raised edges with egg wash before filling.
8. If you are using both sweet cheese and fruit, spoon the sweet cheese filling on first then create a little well in the center for the fruit.
9. Bake filled kolaches at 375F degrees (no fan) or 350F degrees (convection) for 20 mins.

Sweet Cheese Filling:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 T. powdered sugar
• 1 t. corn starch
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 t. lemon zest
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 1 t. vanilla extract

1. Beat together cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.
2. Beat in remaining ingredients.

Streusel Topping:

• 2 T. all-purpose flour
• 2 T. sugar
• 1 T. melted unsalted butter
• pinch of sea salt

1. Using a fork, combine everything together in bowl to form a crumble texture.
2. Sprinkle streusel on top of filled kolache dough.

Custard Filling:

• 1 1/2 c. half and half
• pinch of sea salt
• 3 large egg yoilks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 3 T. cornstarch
• 1 t. vanilla extract or paste
• 2 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring the half and half to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together yolks, salt, sugar and cornstarch until smooth. Temper some of the hot liquid into the yolks, then return everything to the sauce pan.
3. Cook the custard on medium low heat, whisk constantly, until the mixture is very thick.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in vanilla and butter.
5. Transfer custard to a bowl and press a layer of plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent skin from forming.
6. Flavor cooled custard as desired.