Plum lekvar that stays inside the kolache at 375°F.
Bake-stable fruit filling in bulk for Austin bakeries and cafés: 2 LB TUBS and 5 LB PAILS of plum and apricot lekvar, cooked down for hours with no starch and no boxed pectin. It does not boil out and burn onto the tray.
Why thin filling boils out of a kolache, and why lekvar does not
Most plum filling sold to bakeries in Central Texas is fruit, a lot of sugar, water and modified starch. It pipes beautifully. Then the tray goes into a 375°F oven, the water in the filling comes to a boil before the dough has set, and the centre bubbles over the rim. You pull out kolaches with a hollow well and a black ring of burnt sugar welded to the sheet pan. Somebody spends twenty minutes scraping.
Lekvar has had most of its water cooked out before it reaches you. Prune plums go into wide pans skins on and reduce for around nine hours, until a spoon stands up in the jar. There is little left in it to boil. In the oven it softens slightly, takes a skin on top and sits in the well exactly where you piped it.
We do not add starch to hold it, and we do not use pectin from a box. Prune plums and apricots bring their own. That is also why the sugar can sit at about one part to four parts fruit. You will taste the plum first.
Every batch that goes into a tub is checked in a kolache round at 375°F in our own oven. If the well overflows, the batch goes back to the pan.
Plum lekvar takes about nine hours. Most of that is waiting and scraping the bottom of the pan.
A 2 lb tub fills roughly 60 kolaches. We have counted.
That number assumes a standard round kolache with about half an ounce of filling, roughly a level tablespoon, piped into a pressed well. Fill heavier and you get fewer. Hamantaschen take a little less per piece because the fold hides the edge.
Use the table below to plan a week. The figures are counts from our own trays, not a promise about yours. Your dough, your well and your hand all change the result, which is why we suggest a single tub for a first bake test.
- 2 lb tub
- ~60 kolaches
- 5 lb pail
- ~150 kolaches
- 16 oz jar
- ~30 kolaches
- 8 oz jar
- ~15 kolaches
| Container | Net weight | Round kolaches, ½ oz each | Hamantaschen, ⅓ oz each | Linzer sandwiches, 1 tsp each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 oz jar | 8 oz | ~15 | ~22 | ~45 |
| 16 oz jar | 16 oz | ~30 | ~45 | ~90 |
| 2 lb tub | 32 oz | ~60 | ~90 | ~180 |
| 5 lb pail | 80 oz | ~150 | ~230 | ~450 |
What bakeries usually order in bulk
Plum and apricot lekvar are the two that matter for kolaches. The rest come in tubs on request.
| Filling | Best in | 2 lb tub | 5 lb pail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plum lekvar | Kolaches, hamantaschen, buchty | $37.40–44.20 | $85.80–101.40 |
| Apricot lekvar | Kolaches, linzer, rugelach, glazing | $40.80–47.60 | $93.60–109.20 |
| Cider apple butter | Hand pies, turnovers | $34.00–40.80 | $78.00–93.60 |
| Sour cherry jam | Thumbprints, cheesecake tops | $44.20–51.00 | $101.40–117.00 |
| Blackberry jam | Sponge layers, bars | $40.80–47.60 | $93.60–109.20 |
Quantity breaks: 6 to 23 units take 8% off, 24 to 71 take 14%, 72 and up take 20%. An estimate, not a quote. We confirm the price by phone or email before anything is made.
From first tub to a regular order
-
01
Inquiry and a test tub
Reply by phone or emailTell us what you bake, roughly how many a week, and which oven temperature you run. We suggest one 2 lb tub of plum or apricot so you can test it on your own dough before committing to more.
-
02
Your bake test
One normal bake dayPipe it straight from the tub. If your bags are narrow, let it sit at room temperature for half an hour first. Bake at your usual heat and look at the wells. Call us with what you see, good or bad. We would rather hear it now.
-
03
Volumes and dates agreed
Lead time set per orderA pail of plum lekvar is a full day at the stove before it is jarred, so larger orders are cooked to order. Lead time depends on what is already in the pantry and what is booked that week. We give you a date and keep it, or we tell you we cannot.
-
04
Pickup or Austin delivery
$8 flat per deliveryCollect from 68 Oak Lane, Office 12, or we bring it to your bakery in Austin for a flat $8 per order. Tubs and pails come sealed with food-grade lids and a batch line on the side.
Questions from bakery owners
Including the one about who should buy somewhere else.
Is there a minimum order for bakeries?
No fixed minimum. One tub is a fine first order and the sensible way to run your own bake test.
Can you guarantee a standing weekly order?
We talk about it case by case. Three of us cook, and the plum cook takes about nine hours, so we agree volumes and dates before promising anything. We will not take a standing order we cannot fill on the week it is due.
Will it pipe through a standard tip?
Through a plain round tip of about 10 mm, yes. Straight out of the fridge it is stiff. Half an hour on the bench loosens it. Do not thin it with water. That undoes the cook.
Do you deliver outside Austin?
Local Austin delivery is a flat $8 per order. Pickup is free. We do not ship across state lines.
Who should buy filling somewhere else?
A plant producing thousands of kolaches a day. A small kitchen cannot supply that, and our price per pound will never compete with a drum of commercial filling. If you bake by the tray and care what is in the middle, we are a good fit.
Ask about a bake test
Tell us your bakery, your weekly count and which fillings. One of the three of us replies by phone or email.
68 Oak Lane, Office 12Austin, Texas 86853