Preliminaries:-
===============
Peel 6-8 potatoes, wash and cut into chunks having no edge
longer than about 1 inch. Place potato chunks into a presure
cooker with slightly more that one cup of water and steam cook
for about 8 minutes. Cool cooker with cold water. Drain and
SAVE the potato water. Add salt, butter, and a small amount of
milk to the steamed potato chunks and mash until smooth.
Stir 1 package of dry yeast in 1/2 cup of the potato water
to which 1 T. of honey was added. (Take care that the water is
not too hot.) Let stand. Place 1/4 cup of Fleishmann's
Sweet unsalted 100% Corn oil spread or equivalent shortening
into the microwave and heat (on low) until it becomes a soft
liquid. Place 1 whole egg and one egg yolk into a bowl and
beat until smooth in texture.
Mixing and kneading in a Cuisinart:-
====================================
Into the Cuisinart, add:
1/2 c. mashed potatoes 1 1/2 eggs (beaten)
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 1/4 c. soft (melted) margarine
1/2 c. sugar 1/2 c. milk
1 t. salt 1/2 c. activated yeast mixture
1/8 t. mace
The above indicated quantity of flour is about 1 cup less than
what will actually be needed. Mix until the dough becomes a gooey
paste. Then add incremental portions of extra flour to the Cuisinart
and continue mixing -- this is equivalent to kneading. Add flour
until the dough is no longer sticky. Transfer the dough to a floured
bowl; cover and let rise for about 1 hour; you can put it into the
refrigerator until the next day. Prepare the fillings.
Baking open-faced kolaches:
===========================
Form ping-pong sized balls from the dough, place on a greased
cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter, cover and let rise until
double in size. Press down the center only and insert about 1
T. filling. Cover and let rise. Bake 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees F;
take out of oven when they are golden brown. One batch of dough will
make about 4 dozen open-faced kolaches.
Baking diapered squares:-
==========================
Turn dough onto lightly floured board; pat out about 1/4-inch
thick. Cut into 2-inch squares with a pizza cutter. Put about
1 T. filling into each square. Stretch opposite corners to center
and pinch together. Place on greased baking sheet far enough apart
so kolaches do not touch while rising. Cover with plastic wrap;
let rise 30-45 minutes. Brush with beaten egg. Bake in 400 degree
oven 10 minutes until nice and brown. Remove from oven and brush
with melted butter.
Preparing the Fillings:-
========================
Poppy seed Filling
==================
Put 1/4 lb. freshly ground poppy seed into a small pan, add 1/2
cup or less of water to moisten and cook through a little.
When thickened, pour enough milk, about 1/2 cup, to cover.
Continue cooking slowly for about 10 minutes being careful that
it does not scorch. Stir frequently! Add 1 T. butter, 1/2 t.
vanilla, 1/2 t. cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar. Continue cooking
for about 5 minutes and remove from heat. If the mixture is
too soft, add crushed vanilla wafers or graham crackers.
Prune filling
=============
1-16 oz. package of pitted prunes
1 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. lemon rind
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
Cook prunes with sugar in the water using low heat.
Stir constantly (a potato masher is useful for this task)
until smooth and thick. Add lemon juice and spices.
May be prepared before starting kolach dough and stored in
a freezer.
Apricot filling
===============
1-16 oz. package of dry apricots
1 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
Cook as above, using dry apricots, instead of the prunes.
Omit lemon juice, rind, cinnamon and allspice.
Pineapple filling
================
1-13.5 oz. can of crushed pineapples
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. cornstarch (level)
Cook until thick, stir in 2 T. butter while warm.
Cool before using. Top with the following:
3/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1/3 c. butter mixed
together until ingredients are crumbly.
* * *
Save the green top from fresh pineapple for an unusual house
plant. Root it in water and pot it in sand mixture.
Nut Filling
===========
2 eggs 1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar 2 c. ground nuts
1/4 c. butter
Beat egg yolks and half of the sugar. Beat in the soft butter
until quite stiff. Beat egg whites until stiff and add
remaining sugar a little at a time. Fold into egg yolk
mixture. Add vanilla and nut meats. For a crunch topping:
1/2 c. flour, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 T. butter and 1/8 t. cinnamon
mixed together until ingredients are crumbly.
Cottage Cheese filling
======================
1 lb. cottage cheese
2 egg yolks mixed with 3 T. butter
a little grated lemon rind
1/2 t. vanilla
sugar to taste
1/2 c. raisins which have been washed in hot water
Mix all ingredients together. If the cheese was not the
real dry kind, you may add a little cream of wheat to thicken
it. This mixture should stand a while. May be prepared before
starting kolach dough.
Apple, Cherry or Blueberry filling
==================================
Use the pie fillings available in 21 oz. (1 lb. 5 oz.) 595
grams cans. If the apples slices are too large, just cut
them into smaller pieces.
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