I'll be honest, I haven't tried all the Czech desserts yet-- which is very strange considering I'll eat anything if someone sprinkles sugar on it. But Czech desserts are like nothing you'll find back in America. There's tons to choose from and they use some pleasantly surprising ingredients; definitely worth trying out. And hey, if you don't like them, then there's always good ol' zmrzlina.
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| Osm kopečky, prosím! |
Ovocné Knedlíky (oh-votz-nay kned-lee-kee)
Fruit-filled dumplings. Yes! You can have dumplings for dinner AND dessert! Just know that there's a strictly enforced bring-your-own-wheelchair policy so you're able to leave the restaurant. You can bank on these being filled with some sort of berry, like blueberries or strawberries, though I don't think apple is unheard of. I tried these during the first week of my stay here, after nomming hardcore on my first-ever smažený sýr. Every part of my body kept begging me not to take another bite-- but my tastebuds overruled.
Koláče (ko-lot-chay)
There's a million variations of this, including the name (I wasn't quite sure which one would yield the best Google Image results). This reminded me a lot of a danish when I tried it. It's a flat roll made out of a sweet dough, and on top is some variety of fruit/jam-y stuff, some kind of sweet cream cheese, and poppy seeds mixed into a type of sugary paste. You can find poppy seeds in a lot of Czech dishes (such as pasta with olive oil and poppy seeds... I may have to try it). They work very nicely on the koláče to counterbalance the tart sweetness of the fruit and cream cheese.
Ovocný Pohár (oh-votz-nee po-har)
Fruit sundae. This one is very simple but it is superb. They take a glass that might otherwise be used for wine or beer, and fill it with fruit, ice cream and whipped cream (sometimes they'll get fancy shmancy and stick a wafer or something in there). During my stay in Písek I tried one with vanilla ice cream and raspberries. SO GOOD.
LOVE me some palačinky! Palačinka means "pancake." In central Europe (or perhaps all of Europe... I haven't done enough traveling yet) pancakes are served as desserts. They're not thick honkin' slabs-o-pancake like you get at IHOP (though the sugar content is probably similar); they're very thin and crepe-like. You can create a pretty dank ("awesome," if you aren't hip to the So-Cal lingo) dessert pancake by filling it with any combination of the following: ice cream, hot fudge, fruit, whipped cream, nuts, etc.
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| Using all of them at once: instant win! |
Don't you dare come all up in my blog and tell me you've never had strudel.
Dalkove Kolacky (doll-ko-vay ko-lotch-kee)
At least I think that's what they're called. I haven't tried these but I see them everywhere. It's either a sugar or shortbread cookie with some type of fruit jam filling, complete with a little smiling face on the top. This is perfect; I always like to look my food in the eye before I eat it. ("I thought she said she was a vegetarian...") I couldn't find an exact picture of them, but here's the basic idea:
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| Gee thanks, photographersdirect.com! |
Medovník (meh-dov-neek)
Honey cake. It's a light, fluffy cake with layers of cake, honey, cinnamon... some other stuff, depending on the variation. I haven't tried this yet, but there is a slice in my fridge that I imagine will be gone within the next 24 hours (an optimistic estimate).
And the reason I haven't eaten it yet is only because I just consumed...
Marcipán (mar-tsee-pawn)
Okay, so maybe this isn't necessarily a "traditional" Czech dessert. But I got it from a traditional Czech cukrárna (sweet shop), so it counts... right? For those who don't know, marzipan is a sweet almond paste. People sculpt it into all sorts of elaborate shapes... finally, artwork I can both appreciate and digest! The one I got today was a ball of cake with a layer of marzipan in the middle and marzipan around the outside. It was sinfully sweet. And just look at that face! I almost felt bad eating something so adorable. Almost.
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| Also featured: slice of medovník and chocolate-covered sticks of marcipán. Yeah, I'm a fatty, wanna fight about it? |
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