Polish Yeast Cake with Crumble {Placek Drożdżowy z Kruszonką}
Placek drożdżowy [plah-tzek drodg-dgovyh] is the most classic Polish sweet bread. It is simple in flavor, buttery, sweet and soft. Often it is made topped with fruit: plums, rhubarb, sour cherries, but today I’m presenting the most simple rendition of it, topped with sweet crumble.
The smell of this bread in my kitchen takes me back to my dad’s parent’s home. Babcia Władzia was an expert in this (but she raised 6 kids, so she was an expert in everything). She’d make 3 large pans at once, enough to feed 5 growing boys – task close to impossible. She’d crack the eggs that just came in from the chicken coop right into the hole in the flour on her extra large pastry board and kneaded all that dough by hand. Rich, yellow dough was ready in no time. She made it look so easy.
Dough would then rest covered with kitchen towels and the new challange was to keep the kids from pinching off raw bits. Fly swatter worked, she said.
Polish Yeast Cake with Crumble {Placek Drożdżowy z Kruszonką}
Ingredients
- YEAST STARTER:
- 1.5 oz / 40 g fresh yeast or 0.7 oz / 3.5 tsp of active dry yeast
- ¾ c / 175 ml warm milk
- ¾ c / 150 g of granulated sugar
- ½ c / 60 g of all-purpose flour
- DOUGH:
- 4 c / 500 g of all-purpose flour
- 5 oz / 150 g of butter, melted and cooled
- 1 egg + 4 egg yolks
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Additional butter to grease pan (or parchment paper)
- CRUMBLE:
- ⅔ c / 80 g of all-purpose flour
- ⅓ c / 40 g of powdered sugar
- 2 oz / 55 g cold butter
Instructions
Place yeast, warm milk and sugar and ½ cup of flour in a mixing bowl and mix until dissolved. Cover and set aside for 15 minutes in a warm spot in the kitchen. Melt butter and set aside to cool.
After 15 minutes of yeast mixture proofing, add flour, butter, egg, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt and mix to form dough. Transfer onto a clean, floured surface and knead for NO LESS THAN 10 minutes. Add another tablespoon of flour, if dough is too wet.
Return dough to mixing bowl and let rise until it DOUBLES in size!
Grease 9 x 11 inch / 23 x 28 centimeter pan (or two loaf pans) with butter (or line with parchment paper), place dough in pan, distribute evenly. Cover with a towel and set aside for another 30 - 60 minutes in a warm spot. The dough has to DOUBLE in size AGAIN.
To make crumble, place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixture looks like "dust" - only about 5-10 seconds. Move mixture to a mixing bowl and squeeze with your hands to create lumps.
Preheat oven to 350℉ / 180℃. Cover top of dough with crumble. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Notes
This cake is often made with raisins. For this recipe use ¾ cup / 100 g. Place raisins in a small bowl and add water (or alcohol - whiskey, brandy, rum - about ¼ cup / 60 ml).
Right before step 2, place raisins in a strainer and add corn starch (1 tablespoon). Shake it around to cover raisins and get rid of excess corn starch. Add to dough in step 2.
You can also top this sweet bread with your favorite fruit. We often add ripe plums, sour cherries or rhubarb. You can add those right before topping cake with crumble.
I liked this delicious sweet cake when it was still warm, with a bit of butter or home made plum jam.
What would be your favorite way to eat it? Please leave me a comment below.
I hope you enjoy! Smacznego!
Anna
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