Mrs. Jerabek'S Kolaches - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Dough
2 (5/8 ounce) compressed yeast cakes or (1/4 ounce) packages dry yeast
1/4 cup water, lukewarm (about 100F)
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 3/4 cup margarine or 3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons salt
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk, plus
4 ounces hot water
6 cups flour (measure by lightly spooning into cup and leveling off)
melted butter, for brushing
Cottage Cheese filling
2 cups dry curd cottage cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 pinch salt
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (fresh is best)
Prune Filling
16 ounces prunes
water, to cover
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Apricot Filling
10 ounces dried apricots
water, to cover
1 1/2 cups sugar
Topping (Posypka)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, more to taste
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preparation

Dissolve yeast in water and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.
In large bowl or mixer, cream sugar and shortening or margarine together.
Add yolks and salt and mix well.
Add the dissolved yeast and about a cup of the flour.
Mix slowly with mixer.
Add all the milk and continue adding the remaining flour, using mixer or stirring with a wooden spoon until dough becomes glossy.
Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about one hour.
Preheat oven to 425F and lightly grease your baking pans.
After the dough has risen, cut off small portions of dough about the size of an egg.
Using a tablespoon, shape into balls and place on a greased pan about 1 inch apart.
Brush with melted butter to improve flavor, cover loosely and let rise until light.
Make a small indentation in each piece and place filling there.
Sprinkle with topping and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Brush the kolaches with melted butter when they come out of the oven and cool on wire racks.
Kolaches are best if they're eaten the day they are made.
For the posypka: Mix ingredients together until it resembles coarse meal. Store in refrigerator.
For the prune filling: Cook prunes slowly in water to cover until soft and tender. Remove any stones from the cooled prunes and add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and mix well. Do not overmix or prunes will lose their color. Filling for about 2 dozen kolaches.
For the apricot filling: Cook a 10-oz package of dried apricots slowly in enough water to cover until fruit is soft and water is cooked out. Do not cover or fruit turns dark. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar or more to taste and mash with a potato masher until well blended. Filling for about 2 dozen kolaches.
For the cottage cheese filling: If using cottage cheese as a filling, be sure to enclose cheese in the dough. Spread dough balls out, place cheese in the middle and pinch all sides together to seal completely. Place sealed side down on the greased pan and butter the pastry. Let rise until light, sprinkle with topping and bake. If commercial cottage cheese is used. Mix together until blended. If cheese is too moist, add very finely rolled crackers, about 10 or 12 to absorb liquid. If using country-style cottage cheese, cream cheese can be omitted or used for added flavor, according to taste.