Name: Czech wedding kolache
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 58 min
Yield: 35 cupcakes
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour; 250 ml whole milk; 30 g yeast; 80 g caster sugar; 100 g butter; 2 pcs eggs; 8 g vanilla sugar; 5 g lemon zest; 3 g salt; 250 g soft curd cheese; 60 g powdered sugar; 150 g plum butter; 150 g ground poppy seeds; 80 g plain flour; 50 g butter; 50 g caster sugar

Step by step process

Yeast dough

1
Czech wedding kolache start with a soft yeast dough. Stir the fresh yeast together with a spoonful of sugar into the lukewarm milk and let the mixture stand and foam up for about 10 minutes in a warm corner of the kitchen, until a frothy cap forms on top.
TIP:
The milk temperature for activating yeast should be around 37-38 °C. Sprinkle the yeast into lukewarm milk with a teaspoon of sugar and stir briefly. After 5-10 minutes, foam will form and the aroma of yeast. If no foam forms, use fresh yeast.
2
Sift the flour into a large bowl, then add the remaining sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, grated lemon zest, eggs, melted butter, and the foamy starter. Work everything into a soft, supple dough and knead it for a full 10 minutes, until it turns smooth and elastic and starts to pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
3
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen cloth. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 60 minutes, until it has visibly doubled in size and feels light and airy.

Fillings and streusel

4
Cream the soft quark with the powdered sugar until perfectly smooth and lump-free. Stir the plum jam loosely if needed so it scoops easily. Scald the ground poppy seed with a little hot milk, then sweeten it to taste and let it cool to a spreadable paste.
5
For the streusel, rub the cold butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until coarse, sandy crumbs form and hold together when pressed.

Filling and baking

6
Divide the risen dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange them well apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press a wide, shallow hollow into the center of each ball with the floured bottom of a small glass.
7
Spoon the quark, plum jam, and poppy seed fillings alternately into the hollows, keeping them generous but not overflowing. Sprinkle the buns thickly with streusel and let them rise, uncovered, for another 15 minutes so they puff up around the filling.
8
Bake in an oven preheated to 180 °C for about 18 minutes, until the buns are evenly golden and the streusel is crisp. Let them cool on a wire rack, then dust with powdered sugar just before serving.