Heather is a baker with a passion for creating elevated, yet easy-to-follow dessert recipes. Her background in photography and videography, paired with an insatiable sweet tooth, led to early success on social media with engaging videos of her decadent creations. As a recipe developer, she pairs traditional bakes with novel flavor combinations, and brings them to life through artful visuals. Follow along to find something sweet at @youthsweets on Instagram and TikTok and youthsweets.com.
a little bit about the recipe
Pillowy soft kolaches filled with pumpkin and cheesecake fillings and topped with posipka (streusel).
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Stand mixer, Medium saucepan, Whisk, Instant read thermometer, Large baking sheet, Wooden pastry tamper (optional), Pastry brush
ACTIVE: 35m
INACTIVE: 1h 50m
TOTAL: 1h 85m
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directions
Tangzhong
Make the tangzhong
Combine the tangzhong ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Whisk and heat until it becomes a thick paste. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Dough
Start the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together 2 cups of the flour (240g), the instant yeast, sugar, salt and diastatic malt powder, if using.
Warm the milk to 100-110F. Add the paddle attachment to the mixer and stream in the warm milk while mixing on the lowest setting. When combined, turn the mixer off and let sit for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.
Add the tangzhong, oil, butter and egg and the rest of the flour (3 cups or 360g). Switch to the dough hook. Continue mixing. If the dough looks too wet and sticks to the sides of the bowl, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
Knead the dough
Mix with the dough hook on medium speed for 6-8 minutes. When the dough starts looking smooth, conduct the windowpane test. Pinch off a small bit of dough. Slowly pull the dough out from the center with your fingers. If the dough is ready, you will be able to stretch it until it’s thin and translucent like a windowpane. If the dough tears, it’s not ready yet. Beat for 1 more minute, and test again.
When the dough passes the test, transfer to a large greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour
Pumpkin Filling
Make the fillings
While the dough is rising, make the fillings.
Pumpkin filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the pumpkin filling ingredients (3/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 tsp Selefina Pumpkin Pie Spice, 1/2 tsp kosher.) Set aside.
Cheesecake Filling
Cheesecake filling: Beat the cream cheese and sugar until there are no lumps. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until combined. Set aside.
Posipka (streusel Topping)
Posipka (streusel): Whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter into dry whisked ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives until you have a fine crumb. Set aside.
Other
Shape the kolaches
Punch down the dough after rising. Pinch off egg-size sections of dough (about 40g each for smaller kolaches and 60g each for larger ones) and roll into balls. Place 20 balls per sheet in 4 rows of 5 on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Press down the centers of each kolache with thumbs or a pastry tamper.
Fill with about 1 tablespoon each of the pumpkin filling and cheesecake filling, swirling them together, if desired. Top with a sprinkle of posipka (streusel).
Cover with an inverted baking sheet and proof for 20 minutes before baking 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden in color. Brush edges with melted butter after baking. Let mostly cool before serving.
expiry
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for a few months.
tips
To roll the balls faster, place them on a countertop and place a greased hand lightly on top just barely making contact, moving your hand in a circular motion, maintaining contact with the countertop the entire time. Here’s a video tutorial.
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