GRANGER –– Kenna’s Czech Bakery is cooking up more than just traditional pastries — how about a baker’s dozen of state accolades for great kolaches?
Crafted by hand, rooted in tradition, a taste of home-baked kolaches by a new generation is the tagline for the bakery.
Award-winning should also be added to the list as baker McKenna Stefek returned from the State of Texas Kolache Bake Show with 13 ribbons for her baked goods.
The bakery’s customers already rave that the kolaches taste like those their grandmothers made, but the State of Texas Kolache Bake Show seemed to agree as baker Stefek returned home with the goods.
Stefek entered 16 competitions at the show and placed in all but three, winning first-place ribbons for her apricot and poppy seed kolaches. The bakery’s most
McKenna Stefek bakes homemade kolaches with the traditional Czech taste. Courtesy photos
Kenna’s Czech Bakery won 13 of 16 submissions at the State of Texas Kolache Bake Show, including two first place prizes for apricot and poppy seed kolaches.
KOLACHES
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popular-selling kolache, pineapple and cream cheese, was not on the bake show’s submission list.
“We went to that competition expecting that to be what everyone was doing, but (pineapple) wasn’t even on the list of categories,” said Stefek’s mother Lisa.
The younger Stefek makes all of her kolaches and pastries by hand. As a college student studying business management and marketing, Stefek does not bake every day, but when she does the process takes about six hours, including rolling each individual kolache.
Eastern Williamson County is known for its rich history of Czech immigration in the 1800s and the culinary arts the Europeans brought with them, including kolaches — a traditional pastry made from soft dough and filled with fruit preserves, poppy seeds or cream cheese.
“My inspiration is definitely my family and my heritage,” Stefek said. “That really helps me keep going.”
Positive comments from her customers help too.
“Most of my clientele are older folks who say, ‘this tastes like how my grandma used to make it,’” Stefek.
Several customers order dozens of kolaches at once and put them in their freezers.
“They eat one every morning with their coffee and when they start to run out they call me for me,” Stefek said.
Since school keeps her busy these days, most of Stefek’s orders are online. Her Thanksgiving pre-order forms went out Oct. 1 on Facebook at Kenna’s Czech Bakery. Last year, with the help of family and friends, Stefek made 78 dozen kolaches and pastries.
Stefek acknowledged it was time-consuming, but she added, “I have always had a knack for cooking. I really like making food, it makes people happy, which makes me happy. It’s also nice to see someone enjoy something you made.”
