This delicious recipe for Babka Ziemniaczana (Polish Potato Cake) is inspired by a Polish cookbook I bought from a bookseller at Poznan Glowny, the main train station, Regionalalna Kuchnia Polska (Regional Polish Cuisine).
According to the book, Babka Ziemniaczana (Polish Potato Cake) is from the Podlaskie Voivodeship section. Podlaskie northeast of Warsaw. I’ve made this a couple of times testing it. I’ve made some changes in that I’ve added more bacon, and onion and included sausage.
After my first effort, I’ve also become a madwoman about processing the potatoes quickly to keep them from becoming discolored from oxidation. I’ve found in making potato pancakes that they darkened potatoes lighten up as they cook, but that wasn’t the cake with my first potato babka, maybe because the mass was bigger or the heat was slower.
If your potatoes might sit for a bit before you pop them in the oven, often the case if you’re grating or blending several, you can put them in ice water with a teaspoon of lemon juice (or vinegar) to keep them white. Just dry them well as you add them to the recipe.
As I make my potato bakba confessions, let me also say that I’ve tried this with grated potatoes (the small holes) and shredded potatoes (the big side of the box grater), and grated is better. You can also closely approximate grated potatoes in a blender and that’s so much quicker and easier.
I made a smaller batch the second time around, so I’m writing up my small recipe and you can multiply depending on the number of servings you need.
- 1 pound potatoes, 3 – 4 servings, 2 cup baking dish (ceramic bowl)
- 2 pounds potatoes, 6 – 8 servings, loaf pan
- 3 pounds potatoes, 9 – 12 servings, 8-inch square pan
- 4 pounds potatoes, 12 – 15 servings, 9 x 13 pan
As you look at this, keep in mind that leftovers are a good thing. I love to have a meal ready to go on a workday evening that just needs heating, or fry up a slice with bacon and eggs the following morning.
Enjoy your Babka Ziemniaczana (Polish Potato Cake).
Smacznego!
Lois
Print
Babka Ziemniaczana (Polish Potato Cake)
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 3 - 4 servings 1x
Description
Potatoes spiked with onions, garlic, bacon and sausage!
Ingredients
Amounts per pound of potatoes:
- 2 slices bacon, diced
- 1/8 pound kielbasa, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick (optional)
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespooon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/2 teaspooon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Brown bacon, add kielbasa and onion, cooking until onion is translucent, add garlic and cook a few more minutes, cool
- Add egg, flour, and spices to meat mixture, stir to combine
- Peel potatoes (or potato, 1 large baking potato is about 1 pound), cut into 1 inch cubes, add to a blender with ice water, process just for a second two times, just enough to be sure you don’t have large chunks, pour the potato slurry through a fine colander, press with paper towels, and add to meat, stirring to combine, this just seems quicker and easier than grating on the small side of a box grater
- Quickly add to greased 2 cup baking dish, bake for about 60 minutes (when baking larger batches baking time may be as much as 80 – 90 minutes, babka should be firm and crust light brown
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
David
Not being a fan of sweet babkas, I almost didn’t pay any attention to this. But poatato and bacon? Yes, please! While I can’t eat kielbasa, I do have a spicy Italian sausage I can add. This is great (grate?) fun, Lois – I can’t wait to try it!
polishhousewife
I’m glad you have a non-garlic substitution! Enjoy!
Susan McQuade
Oh my! How can you possibly go wrong with all these ingredients. I am a potato head! Thanks for sharing. Blessings.
polishhousewife
Exactly, yummy ingredients!
Eleanor
This almost sounds like kugeli(Lithuanian) or as Mom would say Kartoflani Kashi it just didn’t have kielbasa in it.
Rosemary
My Baba made this babka and made it with salt pork. It was with the grated potatoes, onion, flour, egg, and baked. I put homemade jam and/or sour cream on top. Love it!
polishhousewife
That sounds really good, Rosemary! You had me at salt pork!
Linda Betz
THIS is amazing!!! Thank you for giving us this recipe. My only change was that I cooked the meat in a large cast iron skillet then added the rest of the ingredients and popped it into the oven. One pan cooking! Fabulous recipe.
polishhousewife
I love one-pan cooking, brilliant!
Michael
Made this tonight to go along with some smoked Polish sausage.
Grating the potato by hand was some work, since I don’t have a food pro, but it was absolutely worth the effort. It was the star of the meal.
And so many possibilities for variation…