Polish Apple Cake Recipes

JABłECZNIK: POLISH APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Peel the apples and divide into wedges. Remove the core. Chop each apple wedge into a few smaller chunks.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter on a large frying pan. Add apple pieces, 4 tablespoons of cane sugar, a teaspoon of cinnamon and fry for about 10 minutes. If you can't fit them all in one go, fry just a half and repeat the process. Make sure not to overcook the apple chunks, they should soften but keep their shape.
• At the end of frying, add juice of one lemon. Set aside to cool.
• All the cake ingredients should be at a room temperature.
• Melt 1 stick of butter (in a microwave or on the stove) and set aside to cool.
• Grab a large bowl, or use a bowl that goes with your stand mixer. Add 5 large eggs (whites and yolks together) and two-thirds of a cup of caster sugar. Using a stand mixer (or a hand-held one), beat the mass until a white foam forms and expands three times in volume.
• While still mixing, gradually pour melted butter, then 3 tablespoons of milk.
• Sift the flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder directly into the eggy foam. Combine together with a spatula.
• Line a baking pan with parchment paper (mine is sized at 9x13 inch / 23x33 cm)
• Pour half of the batter into the baking pan and bake for 15 minutes in 175ºC/350ºF, until the cake turns golden. Do a 'toothpick test': poke the cake, if the toothpick is dry - that means it's done.
• Remove the baked cake from the oven, pour in the apple filling and cover it with another layer of batter. Continue baking for another 30 minutes in 175ºC/350ºF. Do a 'toothpick test' again to check if the cake is done.
• Remove to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or cover with icing.
• To make some icing, drop 2 tablespoons of icing sugar into a cup. Add a few drops of water and mix together with a fork. If it's still to dry, add more water. Just a tiny bit! A drop of water goes a long way. If your icing is too watery, add more icing sugar. Pour the icing over the cake and let it dry.

POLISH APPLE CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Peel the apples.
• Oil the 9x13" baking tray or put the parchment paper inside.
• Preheat the oven to 392°F / 200°C.
• Mix all the ingredients for the dough together.
• Place ¾ of the dough in the baking tray.
• Grate the apples, then squeeze out the excess juice.
• Mix the grated apples with potato starch and cinnamon.
• Whip the egg whites with a bit of salt and sugar.
• Mix the apples with ½ of the egg whites.
• Put the apples onto the dough.
• Cover them with the second half of whipped egg whites.
• Finally, cover the cake with the remaining ¼ of the dough. You can either roll it out or grate it.
• Bake for 60 minutes.

CLASSIC SZARLOTKA: POLISH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For my szarlotka I used a deep rectangular baking tray (18x27 cm / 7x10 inch), but any shape will do just fine.
• Take out the butter for half an hour in advance to let it soften.
• Knead together all the ingredients (flour, icing sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla sugar), form a smooth mass, wrap into cling film and place in the fridge.
• Wash the apples, peel them and then grate or cube them. I've done the latter.
• Move the apple pieces to a pot. Cover in sugar and start cooking until soft. Add cinnamon mid-way through.
• Grease the baking tray and/or line it with baking paper. Roll out half of the dough and place in the tray. Pierce with a fork.
• Heat the oven to 170°C (340°F), bake the shortcrust base for 5-10 minutes until it starts to gain some colour.
• Remove from the oven. Spread apples on top. Roll the remaining dough and use it on top to cover the apples. Bake for 1 hour in 140-160°C (280-320°F).
• Serve cooled or warm with some whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream, with some icing sugar sprinkled on top.

POLISH APPLESAUCE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch rimmed baking sheet or baking pan and line with parchment paper.
• Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Mix flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Sift gradually into butter mixture, mixing well.
• Transfer 6 to 8 heaping tablespoons of the cake batter, about 1 cup, to a separate bowl. Mix in milk gradually until batter is creamy and the consistency of pancake batter.
• Spread thick cake batter into the prepared baking pan and level out with the back of a spoon. Mix applesauce and cinnamon together and spread on top in an even layer. Top with the thin cake batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the top of the cake is a deep golden brown, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar before cutting into squares.

HOMEMADE APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour.
• In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in apples and walnuts. Spoon into pan.
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes longer. Serve warm with ice cream.

POLISH APPLE CAKE (SZARLOTKA)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line a 20 x 29cm baking tray with baking parchment.
• For the filling, zest the lemon half and leave aside for the dough. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples, then squeeze over the juice of the lemon to stop the fruit turning brown. Put the apples in a large pan and add the sugar, 200ml water and cinnamon. Cook for 5 mins, then remove from the heat and leave to cool in the liquid (you'll need this later).
• To make the dough, put the flour and baking powder in a food processor or into a large bowl and pulse or stir to combine. Add the butter and mix again until the mixture is sandy. Add the sugar, egg yolks and egg, yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix into a dough. Tip it out onto a floured surface. Bring it together with your hands and roll it into a ball.
• Split the dough in half, wrap one half in cling film and freeze for 1 hr. Roll out the other dough half so that it is big enough to fill the bottom of the lined tray. With the palm of your hand, push the dough about halfway up the sides of the tray until the whole base is covered. Prick the dough with a fork and bake in the oven for about 15 mins until it is golden and lightly springy to the touch.
• Spoon over the apple filling, with about half the cooking liquid, then set aside.
• Remove the dough from the freezer and coarsely grate, as you would a block of cheese. Sprinkle the grated dough over the apples and bake for 40-45 mins until it is golden and the topping has cooked through. Leave to cool completely, dust with icing sugar, then cut into squares. Whip the cream until thick, stir in the cinnamon and serve alongside the cake.

SZARLOTKA (POLISH APPLE PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)
• Combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder
• Cut in the butter (with a pastry blender, two knives, or rub into flour with fingers) until it resembles coarse meal
• Work in egg and egg yolk, the dough will be crumbly, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
• Reserve 1/3 of the crust, pat the remaining 2/3 into a 9 inch springform pan, covering the bottom and the sides
• Toss the sliced apples in the cinnamon, and add to the pan, piling them up
• Crumble the remaining 1/3 crust and sprinkle over the apples
• Bake for about 50 minutes, until crust is lightly brown and the apples are tender, if it seems to be getting brown before the apples are tender, loosely tent with aluminum foil

POLISH APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Lightly coat a 13-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray. Heat the oven to 350 F.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 3/4 cup of sugar. Add 4 ounces softened butter, milk, and eggs. Beat it with a hand mixer or on a stand mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes.
• Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, then layer on half of the thinly sliced apples. Spoon all but 1/2 cup of the remaining batter over the apples, covering them completely.
• Place the remaining apples on top and dot the reserved 1/2 cup batter over the apples.
• Cut the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the cloves into 3 tablespoons cold butter and sprinkle this over the unbaked cake.
• Bake about 40 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Note that you will be sticking the toothpick through the apple layer, so it can be a bit confusing as to whether you are seeing uncooked batter or apple juices.
• Let the cake cool in the pan so the apple juices will be reabsorbed to create a moist cake.
• Sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar, if desired, and cut it into 12 squares.
• Serve the apple cake and enjoy!

SZARLOTKA (POLISH APPLE PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in the butter, using a pastry blender or a fork, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract until the mixture is evenly moist.
• Add the milk, 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing with your hands after each addition until a firm but slightly sticky dough forms. (Add extra milk if necessary.)
• Turn the dough onto the counter and knead a few times, quickly (it may stick to the counter a bit) to finish bringing the dough together.
• Divide the dough into two pieces, roughly 2/3 and 1/3 of the dough. Wrap the smaller section in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes, while you continue working. Press the larger section into a greased 9" spring form pan.
• Bake the bottom crust in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until it is puffy and starting to turn golden around the edges. When the crust is done, remove it from the oven to a cooling rack.
• While the bottom crust is baking, mix the apples and cinnamon in a large sauté pan or large pot. Heat the apples over medium-high heat and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until the apples soften slightly and the mixture becomes fragrant. Remove the mixture from the heat.
• Spread the warm filling over the warm crust. (It will look like you have A LOT of apples. Don't worry; they cook down.)
• Take the last 1/3 of the crust out of the freezer and grate it over the apple filling using a cheese grater (or crumble it over top of the apples using your fingers).
• Place an aluminum foil lined baking sheet in the oven on the rack below where the pie will go, to catch any dripping from the spring form pan.
• Return the pie to the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden.
• Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely on a cooling rack.
• Once the pie is cool it can be served or covered lightly with plastic wrap and left on the counter overnight, to be served the following day. (This pie is great when made a day ahead of time, because the flavors develop and the crust softens overnight.)

POLISH APPLE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cream sugar and butter (or margarine).
• Add vanilla and eggs and beat well.
• Sift flour, salt, powder and soda together. Add to egg mixture and alternate when adding sour cream.
• Fold in the pear and apples.
• Grease a 13x9x2" pan and pour in the mixture, spreading evenly.
• Combine topping mixture and spread evenly on top of batter.
• Bake for 45 minutes.

POLISH APPLE PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour, sugar if desired and salt. In another bowl, lightly beat egg; add milk and oil. Add to dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in apples. , Pour batter by 1/2 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle and spread to form a 5-in. circle. Turn when bubbles form. Cook the second side until golden brown and apples are tender. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if desired.

SHARLOTKA (RUSSIAN APPLE CAKE)

Steps:

• 1. Cover the bottom of a baking form with parchment paper. Melt the butter and generously brush the inside of the baking form. Alternately, you can also spray the form with a pan release baking spray. 2. Cut two apples into small dice. Place them into a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and cinnamon. Mix to make sure all apples are evenly covered. Set aside. 3. In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Set aside. 4. Preheat the oven to 350F. 5. In a large bowl, add the eggs and a pinch of salt. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer until the egg yolks and egg whites are combined. Add about 1/4 of sugar, increase the speed of the mixer and continue beating the eggs. Gradually add all the sugar. Beat the eggs for about 6 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and turned very pale. It should fall in ribbons from a spatula. 4. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract to the eggs and mix with the electric mixer just until combined. 5. In batches, sift the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold it in with a spatula. Mix just until the batter is smooth and no pockets with flour remain. Make sure to not over mix. 6. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the baking form and evenly spread it with a spatula. In an even layer, add half of the apples. Slightly press the apples into the batter. Add more batter to cover the apples. Spread the batter over apples if needed. Add the remaining apples and cover them with the rest of the batter. Slightly shaking the form will help getting rid of the air pockets.* 7. Slice the remaining apple first into quarters and then into very thin wedges and arrange on top of the cake.** 8. Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 9. Once the apple cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool on a rack before removing it from the baking form.