Starinski Koh / Old Fashioned Koh

When I think of Koh, I remember my childhood. The sounds of the hand mixer in the kitchen and the smell of vanilla sugar. Then after some time I would start to smell the Koh baking in the oven. That smell I will never get tired of. It’s the smell of home, of family, of childhood.

My brother loves this dessert. I’m pretty sure if it was socially acceptable, he’d probably eat the entire pan by himself. In fact, the preferred way to eat it around here is directly from the pan, with a couple of spoons. But in polite company we are more civilized I promise.

In fact, every time I serve this traditional desserts to guests, I always get the same reaction; surprise and big smiles. It’s also usually accompanied by remarks of how long it’s been since they’ve enjoyed this or who made it for them last.

All my efforts to find the origins of this dish produced very little results. What I was able to find was this dish may have been influenced by the Austro-Hungarians. After all, they do have something similar called “Rizskoch” made with rice. Rice is also referred to in the Balkans as “riža” so this would translate to “rice koh“. The word “koch” in German means to cook, and there are quite a few words in Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian that are German and have been adopted by the Balkan people.

And who can forget the very similar Tres Leches cake. This would be the humble cousin of that dessert, using only 1 milk instead of 3 and slightly less rich than Tres Leches.

If there ever was a Balkan dish that uses all that people from this region have plenty of, it would be this dish. Milk and eggs are the stars here, and also plentiful in the Balkans. So if you have some milk in your fridge you need to use up before it expires, this is the ideal dish to make.

This is also a perfect dish for warm weather as it’s eaten very cold, directly from the refrigerator, so it’s as delicious as it is refreshing.

Starinski Koh / Old Fashioned Koh

Recipe by The Balkan HostessCourse: DessertCuisine: Serbian, Balkan

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs (7 if using medium)

• 10 tbsp (125 g) granulated sugar

• 3 tbsp (25 g) flour

• 4 tbsp (55 g) cream of wheat

• 5 cups (1.25 L) milk

• 2 tsp (9 g) vanilla sugar (I buy the packets)

Directions

• Preheat over to 350 F (200 C). Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with baking spray and set aside. Mix the flour and cream of wheat together and set aside.
• Separate egg yolks and egg whites into separate bowls. Use a larger bowl for the yolks.
• Using a hand mixer/stand mixer whip egg whites until you achieve a stiff peak, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Next, whip egg yolks with 6 tbsp of sugar until the egg yolks are thick and pale yellow, and the sugar has dissolved.
• Slowly, with the mixer still on, add the cream of wheat and flour mixture to the egg yolks 1/3 at a time. Continue mixing until well combined and you have used up all of the flour mixture. It will become noticeably thicker.
• Add the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture 1/3 at a time, slowly folding the egg whites in so you do not deflate them. Continue to combine mixtures until it is all one color and no streaks of white are visible.
• When the mixture is incorporated, transfer to the baking pan, ensure the mixture is evenly spread out in the pan and place in the oven. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden brown color.
• While the Koh is baking, in a medium saucepan heat the milk and 2 tbsp of granulated sugar, as well as the vanilla sugar. Heat until it just starts to boil, then remove from the heat immediately. Do not let it continue to boil.
• When the Koh is baked, remove from the oven, and immediately pour the hot milk all over the Koh sponge. Use a ladle to distribute the milk mixture evenly.
• Let the Koh cool to room temperature, then cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Serve cold.

Notes

• The milk is mildly sweet in this recipe, but if you really enjoy your desserts sweet, add more sugar to the milk when heating it. Around 4 tbsp would make it extra sweet 🙂