Need some Polish dessert recipes

My daughter who is in first grade is doing a class project on her heritage. She needs to make a poster, with some main topics on Poland (flag, famous people, etc.) We plan on bringing a polish dessert for a class of 20. Can anyone give me a recipe for a dessert that would be good for this situation? Thanks

Search the forum, there were some posted I think.

This is a recipe for Polish crepes: https://polishforums.com/food/recipes-3118/2/

Merged: Looking for the name/receipe of a Polish Plum Dessert

While I was in Poland a cousin served this dessert that had a plum in the center that was surrounded with some sort of dough. It was very good and I was wondering what it was called and if anyone had a receipe for it.

Lacking a recipe would anyone know if there were any Polish bakeries in the Boston, MA or Providence, RI areas that might sell them?

maybe you think about "PACZKI"...??or "KNEDLE"?

OR "KNEDLE"

I would love to have a Paczki recipe from someone in Poland. I have a recipe now that includes so many eggs.......I made them and it was good, but maybe there is something a little less complicated.......a "real, authentic" recipe I can try. Thanks.

Roberta from Michigan (USA)

It was knedle...I did a search for images and that is the one. Thanks dominika! Now its off to find the recipe! =)

there's at least one thread about Pączki in the cuisine section of this forum, browse some older topics (I hope it's still there)

Merged: Polish Cookies, Desserts

Hi!
I live in New York but my great-grandmother was born in Poland.
She died when I was young and most of her recipes went with her.
I'm looking to acquire Polish recipes for cookies and other delicious desserts.
Can anyone help me out??

look around the forums? you found the section, no?

traditional cookies and deserts are rather involved in production.

Polish people prepares recipe in their own styles...

That would be very tasty and delecious.....

Their desserts method is making fast with tasty....

fast? i don't think so.

can possibility you give some more details ? (names , photos etc)

Grandma Nina Pischinger (Polish wafer dessert)

One of the favourites of my family and friends here in UK:

A quick aid might be 10 recipes for Polish basic cakes:

thespruceeats.com/top-polish-dessert-recipes-1136991

For class conditions, I would recommend recipe No 1 - chrust/faworki. Students can eat it with their hands.

What is the difference between tort and biszkopt? Or are they the same thing? A Polish friend of mine makes lovely decorated cakes for birthdays, christenings etc, and they all seem to be based on biszkopt as the sponge bit. I have made birthday cakes in the past, and the difference between biszkopt and a typical UK sponge cake, is the inclusion of fat, whether it be butter or margarine. When I said the recipes were pretty much the same, bar using fat, she said that cakes made using butter etc were called tort. The impression I got was that torts are special occasion cakes, but surely birthday, christenings etc are just that?

Looking for example at this recipe for tort urodzinowy ( birthday cake ), when you read how to make it, it the sponge bit is biszkopt. No fat in it at all.

kwestiasmaku.com/desery/torty/tort_urodzinowy_brzoskwiniowy/przepis.html

I came to the conclusion that biszkopt is just the sponge part of a tort, but this doesn't explain the fat bit.

In my opinion you are right. The fat bit? Those creams and such on a tort are made with butter, that sponge part of a tort is/should be infused with a mix of the sugar, water and alcohol.

I use no fat for biszkopt as the base for different cakes. As for the cream part, I prefer whipped cream for tort.

Tort is an elaborate cake with layers and nice topping. Biszkopt is just one layer.

There are two kinds of biszkopt - without fat and you call it sponge cake and there is such an entry in Eng wiki.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_cake

Apart from that, there is sponge cake with fat, butter or margarine, 25% content, also called sand cake and only in Polish wiki.

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciasto_biszkoptowo-t%C5%82uszczowe

Thanks to fat content, this cake is more delicate and fluffier. One can choose either version to make a tort, it depends on you.

• 
  Tort
  
• 
  Biszkopt
  

Ok, thanks for all your answers!

@Iron, yes, I've seen wodka being poured on the sponge bit for birthday cakes, but the fillings on a tort aren't always made with fat either. Look at the tort urodzinowy recipe I linked to. The filling and topping don't contain any butter etc.


Yes, this is how my friend makes cakes. She makes one large cake and slices it into 3 sponge layers as in your pic. In the UK, sponges are often made in sandwich tins instead.....hmm, gives me an idea, maybe clash of cultures thread should be revived........then she puts whatever filling she wants in, and usually decorates the top with icing in whatever design someone has asked for.

Maybe the sand cake recipe is what she thinks is for making tort with? Because she never refers to her cakes as tort, just either cake or biszkopt.


The biggest difference I have noticed is that without fat, the sponge is a lot drier, but then I am obviously comparing it with UK sponges.

Now has anyone made Kołacz ? I love it but it looks to be a bit of a pain to make....

There are actually two kinds of English sponge, Chemi. The classic sponge doesn't have any fat and the Victoria sponge which does use fat. The fatless sponge was tradtionally used for making cakes filled with fresh cream or jam, the "jam sponge", being a staple of afternoon tea in bygone times. It's very light and fluffy if made properly but it's really difficult to pull off and I think that's probably why it's rarely made these days except by very proficient cooks. If you don't get it right, it won't rise, or it collapses in the middle and the texture is horribly rubbery. The Victoria sponge on the other hand is a lot more forgiving.

You learn something new every day, I didn't know that. Yes, I was thinking of Victoria sponge. When I used to make birthday cakes for my son when he was little, they were mostly variants on the traditional Victoria sponge with different fillings etc. Even googling classic sponge recipes, they all seem to have the addition of butter.


I've seen sponge cakes made by my Polish friend collapse in the middle. In fact she was agonising over the reason last time it happened, as she was on cake number 3 for a christening and could not understand what was going wrong.

Well, in our house (Ireland of course but my granny was a big fan of "English" cookery!) sponge cake meant the stuff without the fat and a "Victoria Sandwich" was how you referred to the other kind. So if my granny said she was making a sponge cake it meant the fatless one. These are rather old fashioned terms I think as this is how they're referred to in the cookery books she had, some of which were published in the 1920s and 30s. There were also such strange delights as 'rough puff pastry' which is a kind of cross between short crust and puff pastry and is delicious for making apple tarts. Shortcrust was never seen in our house :) The rough puff is made with half lard and half butter and you don't have to all that rolling and folding which you do for puff,so it's much quicker and easier, but it gives a lovely flaky texture. It's also great for meat pies. Oh dear, I'm starting to get hungry!

The sponge collapsing, I believe is due to the temperature. If you open the oven door to check the sponge before the optimum moment, the change of temp will cause it to collapse.

Ooh I love looking at old cookery books, we had a Mrs Beetons one in our house. In the wiki entry for sponge cakes, it says fatless sponges were also known as foam cakes, obviously due to all the whisking of egg whites. I would give it a go as I love baking, but in all honesty, I find Polish sponge cake to be on the dry side, and I'm not over keen on it. It lacks the moistness of a Victoria sponge.


Strange delights haha! I use this type of pastry when I make steak and kidney pie! I have to be in the mood to make that dish though as it's very time consuming. It's also called flaky pastry. Never tried it with dessert recipes though. Much less hassle than making puff pastry.


Well she wouldn't open the door before it was ready, she's too experienced a baker to do that. I was there on one occasion, and the sponge came out of the oven looking lovely and golden, and then it slowly sank in the middle so it looked like a crater..........must admit, I'd never seen that happen to a sponge cake before! I've also seen them crack too. To be honest, Polish or the classic English sponges just seem to be a lot more hassle to make, although I do think they rise a little bit better than a Victoria sponge which is slightly denser. Now I'm feeling hungry!!

Did she faint? Coz that was a custom observed by gentry class ladies in the past- collapsed cake? So I collapse too.

• 
  baba_babikolacz_001..jpg
  

Haha no, but it was quite difficult to hide the fact that I was trying not to laugh. In the face of adversity, I can always be relied upon to have tears of laughter streaming down my face!

She does make fab cakes though. This is the lady who taught me how to make all the Polish dishes I can cook. Everything from Gołąbki to various different types of sernik ( my absolute favourite ). I don't know what it is I like so much about it, but maybe it's because it's made with Twaróg. I like that it's generally not too sweet and unlike American cheesecake for example, isn't too rich.

It all depends on individual tastes. I prefer my cheesecake heavy and wet, and very sweet with a lot of big swollen raisins inside. Now I acquired the taste for one, I must bake it at the weekend, coz my wife makes typical cheesecakes.

Well, I hope you've been busy baking..........but the difference I was pointing out is down to the type of cheese in Polish cheesecakes. Twaróg tastes totally different to full fat cream cheese, which is what you will find in most American cheesecakes. For me, it makes the filling too rich and creamy, you certainly can't eat eat too much of it without feeling sick. Polish cheesecake, I will always have a couple of pieces at a time :)

A few days after our conversation I fulfilled my lust for such cheesecake. To save time, I didn`t make a biszkopt base for it. I added giant raisins which I had soaked in milk all night. I liked the result but it still wasn`t wet and heavy enough to me - I had an impression it was a little dry and sandy.

Today I made another one according to a different recipe. I used ready made cheese coz grinding it last time was drudgery. I didn`t make a base again. I didn`t add any fat like butter this time, but instead added condensed milk and pudding mix.

My wife has helped a lot. :)):

The experiment is still in the oven.

That is one thing I love about Polish cakes.
They are generally not overly sweet, but they can be quite filling and heavy on the stomach.