Kolache from Ambrosia Bakery in Baton Rouge. Photo by Kim Ashford.

October 2011. Our local version may have wandered from their Czech origins, but not out of my heart.

There are few things more basic to my psychic well-being than donuts and sausage. Each is an often unjustifiable culinary luxury; they fit into no one’s healthy lifestyle, the widest points on the salty/sweet spectrum. They are like having two cartoon devils whispering into each ear. But, when they merge in the form of a kolache, the results seem like the best idea anyone ever had.

Kolaches have long been the rage in the parts of Texas with strong Czech and German heritage. Kolache Factory, a Texas chain offering dozens of varieties, is poised to infect the greater population with kolache mania. Personally, I am a fan of the varieties slowly becoming staples at the area’s bakeries and donut shops. Take sausage, wrap it in dough and bake it, then slide it into the display next to the jelly-filled and sprinkled donuts.

Selflessly, I leap into this world on an empirical quest to find the best kolaches in town.

Thee Heavenly Donut
3 locations. Kolache sampled at:
17732 Highland Road # C
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 753-7711
theeheavenlydonuts.com

I started my kolache adventure in protracted anticipation. My daughter and her friend were elbow deep in the chocolate crème filled monstrosities they’d ordered, ramping up their sugar rush, when the woman in the back said again, “Just a few more minutes. The last batch didn’t come out right.” The bright cheery setting only seemed to heighten my anxiety, that and the glazed cake donut I had with my coffee, but finally my piping hot bounty was delivered. Heavenly’s version is fluffy, like a loaf of donut almost completely encasing the sausage inside. It almost seems too perfect a thing to eat. But of course, I did.

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