# Need Help Finding Czech Reicpe! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113 "2008-04-27T18:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/1 "2008-04-27T18:52:34Z")
Okay, Dopers, time to put on your thinking caps. I’ve misplaced a very dear recipe and Google-fu is not my strongest trait. So it is that I turn humbly to you, in the hopes that someone here knows even a smidge about traditional Czech pastries, and can help me slog my way back from the depths of despair, and reclaim my culinary nirvana. The closest English name for the dish is “Baroness Slices,” although there doesn’t seem to be a literal translation (from what the lady I acquired the recipe said.) I don’t know the actual name, not even a phoenetic spelling, so I’m afraid I can’t help there. It’s a kind of veggie-pizza-like dish, with a crust topped with icing (that may or may not be cream cheese) and the toppings included raisins, walnuts, and apple chunks. I’m thinkng there was a drizzle over the top, but I’m not sure. I know I’m not giving a lot to go on, here, and for that I apologize. The lady who gave me the recipe is a former coworker of mine, and I haven’t seen her in about three years. I had her e-mail, but it changed when she moved back to Czech, so I have no way to contact her and tell her that I (stupidly) lost the recipe. If anyone can help me, I’d really appreciate it! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/2 "2008-04-27T21:39:55Z")
You might try looking at the following recipes and see if anything rings a bell. [http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=Czech+recipes](http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=Czech+recipes) Or this site: [http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Baking\_and\_Confections/Pies\_and\_Pastry/Pastry\_Recipes/Kolache/](http://www.dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Baking_and_Confections/Pies_and_Pastry/Pastry_Recipes/Kolache/) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/3 "2008-04-27T21:58:15Z")
Back again! #21 on this site sounds as if it is similar to what you described. [http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=czech](http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=czech) This sounds similar to the one above: [http://www.recipeatlas.com/czechrecipes/pastrybarsrecipe.html](http://www.recipeatlas.com/czechrecipes/pastrybarsrecipe.html) [http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/czech/pastry-bars1.html](http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/czech/pastry-bars1.html) None of these actually ask for apples, but recipes tend to evolve and morph, so there’s no reason why someone couldn’t have put apples on or in them. I don’t know a thing about the following message board, but as it’s Czech related you may be able to find help here. [Czech Pastry & Candy Molds | My Czech Republic Message Boards](http://www.myczechrepublic.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=17704) ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/4 "2008-04-27T22:26:59Z")
Thank you, **Baker!!** That #21 sounds very similar to the one I had. Killer. Now ifI can just figure out what the “sauce” was, because it definitely wasn’t jam… ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/5 "2008-04-28T00:10:16Z")
**freekalette** , do you think it could have been sour cream based instead of cream cheese? That’s a fairly popular ingredient in recipes from that part of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/6 "2008-04-28T01:41:32Z")
Yeah, it could have been sour cream, but I do know it was very sweet. VERY sweet, as in, most people at my work couldn’t eat more than two tiny pieces. If you add lots of sugar to sour cream, would it turn out that way? I never actually made the dish; I had the recipe she wrote out for me for ages, then took it to the grocery store so I could buy everything I needed. A week or so later, when I wanted to make it, I realized I had thrown my “list” away as I left the store. D’oh!! It’s been bugging me all this time, which is why I thought maybe I could find help here. Thank you for the suggestion, **Miss Purl!!** ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/7 "2008-04-28T02:11:52Z")
Hmm, sour cream usually retains some tanginess even when mixed with lots of sugar. It’s more to set off sweet tastes than to act as one. It might just have been a glaze – powdered sugar and milk or powdered sugar and water. That, unsurprisingly, tastes just like sugar. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/8 "2008-04-28T02:32:11Z")
Did you buy sour cream that day when you had the recipe? If not…it probably wasn’t sour cream. You said it was a veggie-pizza-like thing…what veggies, because you’ve only mentioned fruits.I have a Czech cookbook I can look through… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/9 "2008-04-28T03:58:28Z")
You should message the Doper **Pravnik** …I do believe he is Czech. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/10 "2008-04-28T05:59:26Z")
When I heard the description, it reminded me of a recipe I saw in an old Hungarian Cookbook of my Mom’s. Sure enough, there seems to be a Hungarian variation of this kind of pastry with apples and walnuts called _Hungarian Lady Fingers_. However, there are no raisins, nor quark, instead it has a sweet meringue topping. I think it might be a version of the pastry you are describing, but your description is a bit vague, so it might not be. Also, it does sound like another transliteration of “Baroness Slices”… This recipe is from _Secrets of Hungarian Cooking- 180 Hungarian Favorites_, a cookbook compiled and published by the Mother’s Club of St. Stephen’s Church- Toledo, Ohio. There is no date published for this cookbook but I’m guessing it’s from around the mid fifties or early sixties. Hopefully, this recipe will help. **Hungarian Lady Fingers** 1/2 lb butter 1C sugar 3 egg yolks 2C flour 2 tsp. baking powder 4 slicesof day old bread, grasted with the crust removed rind of 2 lemons FILLING. 4 large apples, grated in small slices 3/4 lb walnuts, ground 1/4 cup of sugar 1 tsp cinnamon TOPPING. 3 egg whites 1/2 C sugar powdered 1/4 cup groung walnuts Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks and rind of two lemons. Mix well, adding sifted flour with baking powder and bread crumbs. Mix well, then put half the dough in a long 9" X 13" pan. Pat dough in the bottom of pan, then add filling and put other half of dough on top by taking pieces at a time patting it between your hands until the filling is covered. Then put it into the oven and bake for 35 min. at 375F. When done, take out and spread with egg whites beaten with powdered sugar.Sprinkle top with remaining walnuts and reduce heat in oven to 350F. Put back in until the meringue is lightly brown. Cool. Cut into squares. Yields about 18 to 20 squares. Recipe: Mrs. Mary Pocs ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/11 "2008-04-28T06:05:15Z")
For some reason, the thought of Baroness Slices being actual slices of baroness, like ladyfingers and a lady’s fingers, is making me giggle. I mean, they’re both pretty macabre for a dessert. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/12 "2008-04-28T06:26:15Z")
I’m chucklin’ too, **Purl**. It’s all cyrillic, to me. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/13 "2008-04-28T06:46:21Z")
Wow, that sounds exactly like a German bakery specialty, especially around the Christmas season! ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/14 "2008-04-28T13:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=kittenblue] Did you buy sour cream that day when you had the recipe? If not…it probably wasn’t sour cream. You said it was a veggie-pizza-like thing…what veggies, because you’ve only mentioned fruits.I have a Czech cookbook I can look through… [/QUOTE] I don’t remember if I bought sour cream or not. This was several years ago, and my memory isn’t that good. (Dammit. If I’d just joined the Dope back then, and not kept putting it off…) Maybe veggie pizza was a bad analogy. There aren’t any vegetables in it. I just meant that it has a baked crust, covered in a thick sauce, with little chunks of stuff as toppngs. It’s definitely only fruit. Thank you to everyone who has responded. The meringue sauce sounds like it may be right. (I don’t do much baking, so I don’t exactly have a lot of intimate knowledge and experience to go on here.) I will shoot a pm to **Pravnik** and see if he can help. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/15 "2008-04-28T15:15:14Z")
Čau! (trans. Whassup!) I’m actually not Czech, (Texan Scots Irish/German/Cherokee, mostly) I just used to live in the Czech Republic. I believe new poster **Švejk** is honest-to-goodness Czech, and **Tomcat** lives in Prague, if he’s still around. I think what **freekalette** might be looking for is žemlovka, a bread pudding similar to Baroness pudding. It’s a baked egg and bread dish layered with fruit and topped with heavy cream, served in slices. I don’t know the exact recipe (and I suspect it varies from person to person), but a google search for žemlovka turns up some versions. Apple bread pudding would be jablková žemlovka. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/16 "2008-04-28T16:42:20Z")
Here’s a recipe, I’ll try to translate. I can practically guarantee I won’t get this exactly right, though, hopefully **Tomcat** or **Švejk** can correct me. If you tinker with it you may be able to duplicate your recipe. [Jablková žemlovka](http://recepty.ekucharka.cz/jablkova-zemlovka/) 1 loaf French bread 1/2 liter or milk 2 eggs 500 grams apples 120 grams granulated sugar ground cinnamon vanilla sugar powdered sugar 150 grams butter 50 grams currant 1. Slice day-old French loaf thinly and lay a third of it on a buttered baking pan. 2. Scamble the eggs and milk and pour one third of it over the bread laying in the pan. 3. Peel, core and sliver apple and spread it across the bread. 4. Sprinkle half of the sugar, the cinnamon, and vanilla sugar. 5. Lay the next third of the bread across the pan and add the apple, remaining sugar, and currant. 6. Take the last third of the sliced bread and place it in the pan, cover with apples, pour over remaining milk and eggs, tamp down and place in oven. 7. Before serving treat yourself. Makes 4 servings Prep time 20 mins Cooking time 30 mins Total time 50 mins ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-finding-czech-reicpe/447113/17 "2008-04-29T12:07:02Z")
Thank you very much for your help, **Pravnik**. I’m sifting through recipes from the links you gave me, and every few hours I get a little bit closer to finding what I’m looking for.