Koláč

Koláč is a Czech yeast pastry with a sweet fruit filling, most often plum. It is traditionally baked for festivals and family gatherings. The dough is enriched with butter and milk and raised with yeast, so it is closer to a soft bread than to a flaky pastry.

What it really is

The dough is made from flour, yeast, milk, butter and sugar, then left to rise before it is shaped and baked. The filling is spooned into the centre, and plum is the usual choice, sweetened so it stays moist under the dough. Recipes differ in how much butter and sugar they use, and some home bakers add egg, so the richness varies from one kitchen to the next.

Koláč is not a Danish. The name refers to the round shape of the pastry and its sweet filling, and it is a yeast dough rather than a laminated one.

How it's served

• Warm or at room temperature, cut into portions and set on a plate.
• Often with coffee or tea in the afternoon, or as a dessert after a meal.
• Sometimes dusted with icing sugar, or topped with a crumble of flour, butter and sugar before baking.
• At festivals and family gatherings, sometimes baked as one large tray and shared.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the filling, for example plum, because guests often choose by fruit.
• Flag wheat in the dough, and declare milk for the milk and butter. Ask the kitchen whether the dough includes egg.
• Say whether it is served warm or at room temperature, and state the portion size.
• In the United States, kolache is also the name of a related pastry, sometimes filled with savoury meat, so name your version clearly.