Sausage Kolache

 

Today, two of my kids took the ACT at a school about 45 minutes away, which means an early and long morning.  As we were discussing what might be a hearty breakfast to keep them satisfied, I decided to make what is known in the US as sausage kolaches.  These are quite popular in Texas.  My local doughnut shop in Alabama carries them, though they recently changed the name on the menu to “Pigs in a Blanket”.  I think of pigs in a blanket as small sausages wrapped in pieces of canned crescent rolls, so I still call them kolaches, and the doughnut shop still gladly takes my money.  Honestly, I could eat them every day, and they only cost $2 each, but it’s hard not to buy a doughnut or fritter when I go in, so it’s best to stay out of the doughnut shop.  I didn’t know how to make kolaches, so I did what every person in 2021 with an iPhone does, I asked Siri.  The results that popped up surprised me.  The descriptions, recipes, and images were all round objects filled with jam, poppy seeds, or a cream cheese filling.  This is not what I get at the doughnut shop.  It turns out, that “sausage kolache” is actually a klobasnek.  The Czech brought their kolaches with them to Texas.  A kolache is an enriched dough (think cinnamon roll dough) that is risen 3-5 times, pressed down in then center, filled with a sweet filling, then baked.  When people groups relocate, they often merge with the existing culture and something new emerges.  That is what happened in Texas.  The Czechs used their enriched dough, wrapped it around a sausage, and something beautiful and tasty was the result.

Not knowing how to make them, I printed a couple of recipes and compared them.  I noticed some minor differences but ended up going with that included the second proof being overnight in the refrigerator.  I haven’t baked in a while, so I followed the recipe exactly.  Unfortunately, it skipped what I think are some critical steps in baking and proving bread.  Maybe bread doesn’t ALWAYS need to be oiled before leaving it to prove, but in my experience, proving without an oil coating results in a dry crust on the bread.  This is fine for the final prove before baking, but not so great when you have to knead the crusty dry bit back in.

Because the kids had to leave for the ACT, the final proof was too short, and the bread surrounding the sausages was dense.  The recipe I was following did not include an egg wash, which is an important part of the finished look, so I added that after baking for 15 minutes.  It took me a second to figure out why they looked funny in the oven, but I figured it out and remedied it.  (We’ll chalk up the slow realization to early morning, and not enough coffee).  They tasted good, but the recipe had room for improvement, for sure.  I will play with it and make these again on a free Saturday morning.

In my mad rush to get the kids out the door on time, I did not get any pictures of them.  I’ll get pictures next time.