Kolache: The Texas Pastry That Has Philly Lining Up

The line at Pop’s Buns (left) and a box of sweet kolaches, a savory kloblasnek, and a cinnamon bun. / Photographs by Kae Lani Palmisano

Welcome to Just One Dish, a Foobooz series that looks at an outstanding item on a Philly restaurant’s menu — the story behind the dish, how it’s made, and why you should be going out of your way to try it.

As soon as you hit the corner of 9th and Catherine you can smell it: a sweet, warm aroma of freshly baked buns billowing out from Pop’s Buns, a window-only bakery serving a limited assortment of sweet and savory treats. Husband-and-wife duo John and Karen Blisard opened the bakery last September and have been passing pastries out the window from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. — or sell-out — from Thursday to Saturday ever since. It’s been months since they opened and the hype hasn’t died down. There’s always a line snaking its way down the block, filled with patrons waiting to get their hands on the shop’s sticky buns. But there’s a rising star on the menu, and it’s relatively new to Philly: kolaches.

Kolaches are a Czech pastry made of a yeasted dough, usually filled with fruit and sometimes a simple farmer’s cheese. Traditionally, the fillings include poppy seed, apricot, or prunes. Brought to the U.S. by Eastern European immigrants, kolaches are a mainstay in roadside communities in parts of Texas, particularly in the town of West, and local bakeries in the Midwest.

John and Karen were inspired by Czech friends who introduced them to kolaches, so they decided to bring the Texas favorite to Philly. “We make everything from scratch ourselves,” John says. “I’ve worked on the dough for probably five years, just practicing different recipes and tweaking them until I finally felt I got it right.”

The couple explains that the key was finding the right balance of fluffiness and chew without being overly sweet. Their sweet flavors rotate and include favorites such as lemon curd and raspberry, depending on what’s in season. They also make savory kolaches including a sausage gravy filling that tastes like a Southern-style breakfast enveloped in a warm, pillowy cloud of dough, and an egg, cheese, and tomato chutney version that is just as satisfying.

Purists will say kolaches are strictly sweet treats and that savory kolaches are more closely related to a Czech American creation called “klobasnek,” which usually contains kielbasa rather than fruit. Klobasneks are most commonly found along Texas’s Czech belt in the central part of the state.

Karen Blisard of Pop’s Buns with a box of pastries.

This version boomed in popularity in the ’80s as a grab-and-go breakfast promoted by chains such as the Kolache Factory, based in Katy, Texas. But the ancestral kolache came to the U.S. much earlier than that —  through the tens and thousands of Czech immigrants who arrived in the state through the Port of Galveston in the 1850s through the early 1900s.

Right now, Pop’s Buns is working on a spinach, egg and feta with a sweet chili jam. Karen says that they like to ask what Texans like back home, which is usually a jalapeño-cheddar sausage. Even with their small space, their team is slowly growing. They hope that with more capacity, they’ll be able to add more variety to their menu.

The couple is also familiar with the neighborhood, having lived a block away from the shop for years before returning to the city. Both explain that they had different jobs before deciding to take the leap to start their own business. “We’ve been thinking about and toying with this idea for quite some time and never really felt that we found the right spot. And when John saw this spot, we were like, ‘Oh God, should we?’” Karen says.

In addition to the kolache and sticky buns, they also have a cinnamon bun that rivals the best in the city. So far, they’ve felt welcomed back to their old stomping grounds. “We just love this neighborhood,” John says. “I just knew this corner was like magic.”