Checking Out Czech Confectioneries, Prague, Czech Republic

Originally Hungarian and largely popular throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, Trdelník is a delectable snack made of pastry dough strips spiraled around a wooden or metal stick, then roasted over an open fire, and coated in vanilla sugar, nuts (almonds or walnuts) and/or cinnamon. The hollow, sweet bangle is usually served warm, sometimes crammed full with ice cream. A perfect treat on a cold winter day!

A special treat for special occasions, such as weddings or parish fairs, kolaches are time-honoured pastries that are traditionally made with sweet yeast to produce a round piece of leavened dough, which is then topped with a special poppyseed filling. If poppy seeds don’t tickle your fancy, you may as well pack it with cottage cheese, raisins, plum-, strawberry-, pear-, blueberry-, apricot-, or any other fruit jam. Kolaches come in a variety of sizes, sometimes big enough to feed a whole family, and can be either “open” or “closed”. The name kolach (kolač - singular; koláče - plural) comes from the Czech “kola” which means a “wheel,” “round.”

Buchta or buchty, if plural, are the small, square, baked buns made of sweet yeast dough, traditionally filled with sweet cottage cheese and raisins [tvarohové buchty], plum jam [povidlové buchty] or ground poppy seeds [makové buchty]. To prepare the latter, the seeds are first cooked in milk to become softer and tastier. Originated in Bohemia, these fluffy rolls are somewhat similar to British scones. They are equally good if doused with vanilla sauce or eaten plain, straight from the oven. The Buchty are often mentioned in Czech fairytales as a staple food of the heroes embarking on a new adventure. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).