Poland has a long history and rich culinary tradition. Here are the best desserts from this deeply understated culture that are worth tasting at least once.
While the world’s famous desserts are always around, sometimes, we want variety. And Poland has a host of hearty and delicious desserts. It's also fun to make new desserts and get to experimenting in the kitchen. Generally, Polish food is comfort food and what's available there is highly seasonal. Summer has fresh fruits like strawberries, cherries, plums and pears. Autumn is full of apples. Winter has Christmas classics like the poppy seed cake. The last Thursday before Lent is Poland’s Donut Day, traditionally called Fat Thursday. There’s vast variety in the cuisine and it's all delectable in its own way. So put aside the chocolate cakes and butter cookies and make way for these novel Polish desserts instead.
This is essentially Poland’s take on the apple pie. Poland is the largest producer of apples in the European Union, and this is one of Poland’s favorite desserts. It's made by creating a sweet crusty pastry with a psyched apple filling inside. It's often topped with either a crumble or a meringue, or it's simply dusted with powdered sugar. It can also be topped with whipped cream and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
This is the Polish version of the chocolate sponge cake. It's stuffed with whipped cream and contains a layer of marmalade. It's then topped with a chocolate frosting and a dollop of cream. It originated at a time when food was in shortage and different items needed to be inventively thrown together. It’s named after Poland’s East-west route, called the Wschod—zachod, shortened as w-z.
This is a close cousin of the cream pie and has roots in French cuisine. Essentially, two layers of thin and crispy puff pastry have a vanilla pastry cream or custard cream filling. The pastry is also dusted with powdered sugar.
This is a poppy seed cake or roll, somewhere between a cake and a strudel. The cake has a filling of powdered poppy seeds, honey, butter, raisins and walnuts. The cake is then topped with a glaze and orange peel is placed delicately on top. It's traditionally found during Christmas and symbolizes harvest and fertility. The common belief among the Polish people is that this cake should be consumed during religious feasts, and that it will then bring luck and prosperity.
This is a yeast cake topped with a crusty crumble and often consumed during breakfast with butter and marmalade. But it can also be consumed as a lunch, afternoon tea accompaniment or dinner dish.
The pączki has deep roots in Polish cuisine and tradition. It's close to the common donut. Essentially, these pastries are made by leavening dough that's deep fried until golden brown. They are crispy on the outside and soft, light and airy on the inside. The pączki have a center filled with jam and a rosehip or plum marmalade. Powdered sugar is sprinkled on top. According to tradition, on the last Thursday before Lent or FAt Thursday, Poles eat donuts. During this time, around 100 million donuts are sold and eaten.
The Mazurek is a flat cake made during Easter. It's made of a short pastry, which is covered with buttery sponge cake. Between two layers of sponge cake is a layer of marmalade. A fudgy caramel cream goes on top, with nuts, dry fruits and jelly on top. The Mazurek was allegedly inspired by Turkish desserts in the 17th century. There are a variety of different ways of making the Mazurek, with different flavors and combinations. Each family has their own recipe and way of making it that's passed down from one generation to the next.
The babka is another Easter dessert. It's a cake baked in a bundt pan and gets its name, which means grandmother, from its skirt-like shape. The babka can be flavored with lemon, poppy seed, mayonnaise, or a variety of other iterations. It's often packed in a basket and taken to church on Easter morning for blessings.
The chałka is a sweet yeast bread in the shape of a lovely braid. It's popular enough that it can be found in any Polish bakery or grocery store. It's part of the Jewish cuisine where a German bread, adapted for the Sabbath, was given the name challah. It was adapted by the Jews that moved east during the 15th century and have since evolved to be sweeter than the original. It's topped with a crumble and served with butter, marmalade and honey.