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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

Dessert

Delicje a Jaffa style cake from Poland

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While not a traditionally Polish dish, we did discover a very popular cookie in Poland. It had become one of Ed’s favorites before I made the permanent move to PL.

The treats are wonderfully delicate, little rounds bits of sponge cake with a generous blob of jelly (a wide variety of flavors), all topped with chocolate. They come in a small package that is resealable as if that would be necessary.

 

The blue package says Delicje in a lovely script. A little detective work tells me that delicje translates to dainty, and dainty they are.

I’ve also read that Delicje has become so well known, so popular, that the brand name has become synonymous with these little cookies and vise versa, much like Coca-Cola and cola flavored soda.

My investigation also tells me that the proper name for these lovely bites is Jaffa Cake and they come from the UK, although I’ve heard Brits say that the Delicje cookies are better than the British Jaffa Cakes.

Come to find out, you can buy them on Amazon! The description says “Jaffa cake style european biscuits from Poland.”

In case you’re like me, and you think homemade is generally better, and it’s just fun to experiment with new things, I have a recipe for you. Yes, you can DIY your own Delicje.

Purchases via the Amazon link on this page generate a small commission for this website.

Homemade Delicje a Jaffe style cake from Poland

For the cake base, I made ladyfingers, piping them into circles rather than lines. I’ve made ladyfingers before when baking some of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s recipes, but this time, I used a simple recipe from Serious Eats that just uses one bowl, no separating the eggs. It batter and finished product turned out beautifully.

If you have a good source for lady fingers (I hear Trader Joe’s are nice), there is no reason why you couldn’t use them and just make long Delicje rather than round.

Once the little sponge cakes are baked, they’re topped with jam and dipped in chocolate. I took a shortcut with the chocolate.

To be truly professional, I should have tempered the chocolate, Tempering is a process that insures that the chocolate molecules align properly to set up nicely, giving you a crisp shiny finished product.

If you have a sous vide machine, with the precise temperature control, it’s the easiest way I’ve found to temper chocolate.

I just used a melted chocolate bark coating for dipping. If you go with purchased ladyfingers and chocolate coating, these become really fast and easy, but then again, for faster and easier, there is always Amazon.

I took some of these to work. My colleagues thought the fruity jam was a nice surprise and appreciated how surprising light and soft the cake was. How about you, have you tried Delicje a Jaffa style cake from Poland? I think you’ll love these.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Delicje a Jaffa style cake from Poland

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 24 min
  • Total Time: 54 minutes
  • Yield: approx. 30 cookies
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: baking
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Light sponge cakes topped with jelly and covered in chocolate

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • 3/4 to 1 cup cup of your favorite jelly or jam
  • 12 ounces chocolate flavored bark coating

Instructions

  1. Whisk together eggs, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl, heat over a pan of boiling water, being sure the bowl doesn’t touch the hot water and that water doesn’t get into the chocolate, heat up 160 F
  2. Mix on high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until 4 times the original volume and when the beaters are raised, the eggs should be thick enough to briefly mound up like soft serve as they drop
  3. Sift the flour and corn starch over the egg mixute and gently fold in until uniformly combined
  4. Fill a piping bag with a 1/2 inch round tip (or ziplock bag with 1/2 inch snipped off of one corner) and pipe into circles about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking pan
  5. Bake approximately 12 minutes until cakes are firm, being careful not to overbake, cool
  6. Top with jelly or jam, chill
  7. Melt bark coating according to package directions, stir, carefully dip the jellied tops of cookies into the chocolate, removing any excess chocolate without disturbing the jelly
  8. Chill before serving

Keywords: delicje jaffa cake poland

 

 

5 Polish Flavored Liqueurs (Nalewki)

by 5 Comments

Friends have noticed my passion for Polish flavored liqueurs (nalewki). Commercial versions are available, but my favorite are the homemade variety. I enjoy them so much that I’m willing to painstakingly type Polish recipes into Google Translate to try them out.

Nalweki translates to tinctures (medicines made by dissolving a drug in alcohol), and many varieties are thought to have medicinal qualities, but I’m after the heartfelt social benefits of sharing something that you began to prepare months ago with friends.

Most often, I’m using some seasonal fruit, sugar and vodka. Allowing osmosis to work until the fruit is very boozy and the vodka is very fruity. Usually this slow addition of fruit juice to the spirits yields a product that is lower in alcohol than vodka.

This makes it easier to sip, more pleasurable fruity flavors to savor, and less burn going down.

DIY liqueurs with these Polish flavored vodkas! #polishhousewife #liqueurs #poland #infused #vodka #recipe

What better way to honor your dinner guests than to pull out a bottle of your homemade liqueur at the end of a meal? To help you in that end, I’ve prepared this round-up of my five favorite nakweki.

My current favorite and popular classic is a cherry liqueur, but who knows what will come next. I’m interesting in trying something with ginger. Making these traditional recipes made me bold enough to my hand at creating blueberry and apple flavored liqueurs inspired by a local chef’s house made moonshine.

In the interest of full disclosure, I earn a small commission on purchases via the Amazon links below.

I’m eager to hear about your nalewki making adventures. What’s your favorite? Did you go all out, make gallons to present all your friends with gift bottles? Na zdrowie! — Lois

  1. Cherry liqueur – Wisniak or Wisniowka, depending on whether it’s made with sweet or sour cherries according to some, but I find Wisniowka the more commonly used term, and to be honest, it’s just fun to say.
  2. Lemon liqueur – Cytrynowka, similar to the more widely know Italian limoncello, and easy to make if you live in the southwest or Florida where friends are always looking to give you a few bags of lemons in the winter. It’s our equivalent of leave zucchini on your neighbor’s porch day.
  3. Tangerine liqueur – Mandarynkowa, I’ve made this two different ways, more recently just using the zest and not the juice, both are delicious.
  4. Plum liqueur – Sliwkowa, plums are such a classic flavor is Polish cuisine. I like this for sipping or it makes a tasty cocktail with tonic water.
  5. Honey spice liqueur – Krupnik, the same name is also given to a barley soup, but we’re talking about the liqueur (no barley), it’s reported to be very good for a cold or cough.

 

 

Polish Potato Plum Dumplings (Knedle ze śliwkami)

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Polish Potato Plum Dumplings (Knedle ze śliwkami), one of those dishes that might make an appearance for dessert, maybe it’s a side dish, what about breakfast? It’s a nice combination of flavors, plums that are both sweet and tart, the dumpling that’s a little on the salty side. I like that bite of sweet and salty, don’t you?

Polish Potato Plum Dumplings (Knedle ze śliwkami)

These dumplings are popular throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and you can finish them in many different ways. I simply browned them after boiling and sprinkled them with sugar. I think next time I’ll bring breadcrumbs into the mix. I think the texture will add a nice contrast.

I’ll be curious to hear how your family eats these dumplings.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Polish Potato Dumplings with Plums (Knedle ze śliwkami)

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 35 min
  • Cook Time: 25 min
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 4 or 8 dumplings
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A potato dumpling filled with plum and finished in a number of ways!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 – 1 cup flour
  • 4 plums
  • 4 teaspoons sugar

Optional garnishes:

  • cinnamon
  • breadcrumbs and butter
  • sour cream
  • heavy cream

Instructions

  1. Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, cool, rice or mash, add butter, egg, and salt, work in just enough flour to make a dough that isn’t sticky
  2. Heat a large pot of salted water to a slow boil for cooking the dumplings
  3. Divide dough into 8 pieces, pat each piece into a circle about 3 – 4 inches in diameter
  4. Slice plums in half and carefully remove pit, fill the hole left by the pit with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
  5. Wrap plums halves in dough, working the dough until it encompasses the plum and you’ve sealed the edges completely
  6. Put the dumplings in the simmering water, cook for about 5 minutes, when they float to the top, they’re done (I cooked mine in two batches)

Finish in any number of ways:

  1. Serve with sour cream and sugar
  2. Brown in butter and roll in sugar
  3. Brown breadcrumbs in butter, sprinkle on dumplings, top with heavy cream sweetened with sugar
  4. Roll dumplings in breadcrumbs, brown in butter sprinkle with sugar
  5. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon to any one of the above

Notes

Traditionally, the plum halves are reassembled after pitting, or it’s pitted without completely slicing it in two, and the whole plum is put in a dumpling, but I didn’t want dumplings that would be larger than a baseball, so I just did halves.

Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami)

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Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami) can be made with most any stone fruit or berry, even rhubarb. (For larger fruits, dice them into small pieces.) In this case, I’ve used the delicious cherries that I’m picking up for less than a buck a pound. If you’ve been reading my blog very long, you know that some of those cherries are also steeping in vodka.

Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami)

I made a small cake, baked it in a loaf pan. You could easily double the recipe and bake it in a 9 x 13 pan or even in a bundt pan, in which case, I’d be tempted to call it a babka. I went small because there are only two of us at home nowadays, and one of us usually ends up taking baked goods to work to share with colleagues. I’m embarrassed to say that no one got to share in this cake. It’s that good, and it didn’t last long.

Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami)

The cake is only lightly sweet, the flavor of the fruit really comes through. The fruit makes the finished product super moist, a lovely contrast with the buttery crispness of the crust. One variation that I read about on a Polish food blog called Moje Wypieki (translates to My Pastries) is to marblize the cake by dividing the batter in half and adding a tablespoon of cocoa powder to half of the batter. Then you alternate the batter as you spoon it into the pan. You can also drag a knife through the splotched batter to give it more of a swirl.

I would have been hesitant to heat up our little Polish apartment in the summer, probably baking super early in the day or waiting for a cooler spell because like most homes, we had no cooling. Here in Tucson, our summer rains have arrived, giving us days that are only hot, not hotter than blazes. Not to worry, thanks to air conditioning, it’s very pleasant year round.

I hope you can find time to bake Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami). Do let me know if you decide to share it with others. 😉 And please share the love and pass this recipe along to your friends.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami)

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 20 min
  • Cook Time: 60 min
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 slices
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A very moist, lightly sweet cake, with a crisp buttery crust

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup butter milk (or 1 teaspoon vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup)
  • 2 cups pitted cherries
  • powdered sugar for garish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 and spray a loaf pan with oil or spread with butter
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
  4. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and buttermilk, beat about two minutes
  5. Pour into greased pan, top with cherries, pressing cherries down into batter
  6. Bake about 60 minutes, until top springs back when touched lightly and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, cool 10 minutes before removing from pan, cool completely before slicing, dust with powdered sugar

Keywords: Polish Cake Cherry

Polish Cake with Fruit (Ciasto z Owocami) a lightly sweet, moist cake with a buttery crisp crust #polishfood #polishrecipe #polishcake #polishhousewife #summercake #cherrycake PolishHousewife.com

Truskawka z bitą śmietaną i bezy (Polish strawberries, whipped cream & meringue)

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Truskawka z bitą śmietaną i bezy (Polish strawberries, whipped cream & meringue) is something I first sampled at Elzbieta’s home, my dear Polish friend with whom I’ve had so many fun culinary adventures. Spending the day in Swarzędz with Elzbieta always meant sharing at least one meal together and maybe a bike ride or paddling around the lake. One memorable day, Ela put together a delicious dessert made of diced strawberries, crumbled meringue kisses and whipped cream. Minimal ingredients and preparation provided maximum taste!

These are flavors and textures popular around the world. Think Pavlova, only easier. This recipe is also known as Eaton Mess, a dessert thought to originate at Eaton College in the late 1800s. I will contend that there was a Polish cook in the kitchen. 😉

I’m using purchased meringues, so this can literally be prepared in just a few minutes, rinse and dice strawberries, whip some cream, tu jest, there it is!

Truskawka z bitą śmietaną i bezy (Polish strawberries, whipped cream & meringue) need to be part of your summer! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. If I’ve tempted you to make this, please rate the recipe 5 stars in your comment. Dzieki! xxx

Smacznego!

Lois

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Truskawka z bitą śmietaną i bezy (Polish strawberries, whipped cream & meringue)

  • Author: polishhousewife
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Description

The flavor and texture of Pavlova without all the work!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 – 4 tablespoons powdered sugar (to taste)
  • 1 cup of diced strawberries
  • 1 cup of meginue kisses, crushed

Instructions

  1. Whip chilled cream with vanilla and powdered sugar until soft peaks form
  2. Option A: layer cream, then strawberries, and then crumbled meringue into individual serving dishes
  3. Option B: Combine cream, berries, and merginue, scoop to serve

 

 

Wuzetka – WZ Ciasto – Polish Chocolate Cream Cake

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Wuzetka – WZ Ciasto – Polish Chocolate Cream Cake, which I have also heard described as a cream filled pie (no!), gets its name from the street that housed the bakery that was the first to make the creamy chocolate treat in the early 1940s. The bakery was located on Warsaw’s East – West route, East – West in Polish being Wschod – Zachod. Other professional bakers began to make the eye-catching cake, and home bakers joined in too.

Wuzetka - WZ Ciasto - Polish Chocolate Cream Cake

It’s two layers of a light chocolate spunge, soaked in syrup and filled with stabilized whipped cream and topped with chocolate ganache. YUM! Some recipes will have you bake two thin cakes, some will have you bake one and split it. To a certain extent, it depends on the kind of pans you happen to have. I was afraid my 8 inch square would be too small, so I baked one thin layer in an 11 x 15 inch jelly roll (cookie sheet with raised edge) pan and cut the cake down the middle of the pan to get my two layers.

a chocolate cake filled with a thick layer of whipped cream topped with chocolate ganache, wz ciasto wuzetka

This is one of those many cakes, so popular in Poland that you’ll see cut with geometric precision. My knife work isn’t that precise. I figure that I can always trim the edges to get clean straight lines even if it’s not a perfect cube.

We served this cake for Father’s Day. I’m sure you’ll find an occasion that will be made even more festive by serving Wuzetka – WZ Ciasto – Polish Chocolate Cream Cake, and while mine was very tasty, I know yours will be better. I say that with no false modesty. Your WZ cake will be better because you won’t forget the baking powder!

Smacznego!

Lois

 

 

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Wuzetka – WZ Ciasto – Polish Chocolate Cream Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
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Description

A Polish chocolate cake filled with cream and topped with ganache!

Ingredients

for the cake:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup corn starch
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 8 eggs, seperated
  • pinch salt
  • 2/3 cup sugar

for the syrup:

  • 1/4 cup cherry vodka (option, use 1/4 water if you don’t want alcohol
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

for the filling:

  • 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
  • 5 tablespoons water
  • 1 quart heavy cream, less 2 tablespoon (reserve for ganache)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla or 2 tablespoons cheery vodka
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar

for ganache:

  • 1 cup of chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 tablespooons butter
  • cherries for garnish

Instructions

for the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Sift the flour, corn starch, cocoa powder, and baking powder
  3. Seperate the eggs (be sure that none of the yolk gets in with the whites, the fat will keep them from whipping up), beat the whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form
  4. Cream yolks with sugar for several minutes, until light and fluffy, stir flour mixture into the yolks
  5. Fold in the egg whites, in four small batches
  6. Grease pan (11 x 15) and line with parchment paper, spread batter into pan and bake for 15 minutes or until it springs back when touched lightly in the center, cook, cut into two layers, 7.5 x 11 inches each

for other components and assembly:

  1. place one cake layer on serving platter bottom side up or in parchment lined pan (let the parchment hang over the edge so you can use it to lift the cake out of the pan)
  2. Combine the cherry vodka, hot water, cocoa , and powdered sugar, spoon over the bottom layer of cake
  3. Sprinkle gelatin over 5 tablespoons water, heat just until it dissolves, and cool to room temp
  4. Whip cream with vanilla (or cherry vodka) and powdered sugar until soft peaks form, add gelatin, whip until stiff peaks form
  5. Reserve enough whipped cream to decorate the top, spread the remainder over the bottom layer, top with second cake layer, place it bottom side up, and spoon syrup over the top layer (you may not use all the syrup, but don’t miss any spots)
  6. Place chocolate chips, cream, and butter in a bowl, microwave for 45 seconds, stir until dissolved, heating for a few more seconds if necessary, stir until smooth and shinny, spread over top layer and refrigetate
  7. Before serving, cut into squares and top with a piped star or dollop of whipped cream and a cherry

Wuzetka - WZ Ciasto - Polish Chocolate Cream Cake #polishrecipe #polishfood #polishhousewife #ciasto PolishHousewife.com

Lody Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Ice Cream)

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I have an important piece of foodie advice for you. When you visit Poland, you must eat ice cream, eat the ice cream at every opportunity. It’s just wonderful. While I’m trying to recreate a Polish ice cream, not too sweet, I can only get so close with this Lody Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Ice Cream) because I’m using American dairy products. I have nothing against Americnan dairy, but it’s just better in Poland. I’m not sure why. Smaller farms, less commercial production process? Different grass? Happier cows? I can’t say, but I found everything from ice cream to yogurt to cream cheese to just have more flavor.

Lody Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Ice Cream)

You’ll notice a theme here, the other main ingredient is peaches, in this case from our little Desert Gold peach tree. After peach cocktails, peach barbecue sauce, and peach cake, this batch of peach ice cream finished off the harvest.

Find some yummy peaches and try Lody Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Ice Cream).

Smacznego!

Lois

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Lody Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Ice Cream)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 3 hours
  • Cook Time: 30 min
  • Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 10 servings
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Description

Smooth and creamy with a light peach flavor

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoonflour
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 4 cups ripe peaches, peeled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon or rum (optional)

Instructions

  1. Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt until well combined
  2. Over medium heat, warm milk until it begins to steam, very slowly, add hot mixture to the eggs a tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition, as the cold egg mixute begins to warm, you can add a little more with each addition, but don’t rush it, you don’t want scrambled eggs
  3. Once it’s all combined, return to the saucepan, and over medium heat, stirring (from the bottom of the pot) constantly, cook for 15 – 20 minutes, it will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and you should be able to leave a clean trail by tracing your finger over the back of the spoon
  4. Remove from heat, cool, chill at least a couple of hours or overnight
  5. Puree peaches and add to custard, pour into ice cream freeze and process according to manufacturer instructions until firm, add bourbon or rum just before finished (don’t add too much, the alcohol will keep it from freezing)
  6. Move to the freezer for another hour or two before serving

Ciasto Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Cake)

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Ciasto Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Cake) is just one of the many peach recipes I’ve made this week after picking about 5 pounds of peaches from our Desert Gold peach tree last Sunday. This variety ripens early and does well in the desert. The peaches are on the small side, but thet are so juicy and absolutely delicious. I’ve whipped up a peach cocktail and a peach barbecue sauce, and I’m not out of peaches yet!

I don’t know about you, may it depends on where one lives, but I’d gotten to the point where I’d stopped buying fresh peaches. I was just so tired of getting home with fruit that was so far from ripe and had no flavor at all. It seemed like baking with canned or frozen peaches was just more of a sure thing. You can imagine how happy I was to find I could grow peaches in Zone 9. I’ve taken to tieing paper lunch bags around the peaches about the time the birds become interested. It protects them for the last week or two while they ripen on the tree. I’m happy to share, but this seems to be the only way to insure that we get a few. I’m sure the birds went through more than an equal amount.

This is a pound cake like recipe, buttery but with a fluffly light texture, topped with sliced peaches. I made sort of a lattice pattern, but you can do whatever you like. Circles, lines, concentric squares. Like most Polish desserts, it’s not too sweet and emphasizes natural flavors, a nice treat after a meal or with a cup of tea or coffee. If you find some yummy ripe peaches, try making Ciasto Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Cake). You won’t be disappointed!

Smacznego!

Lois

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Ciasto Brzoskwiniowe (Peach Cake)

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 40 min
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 12 - 16 servings
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Description

A simple, delicious cake topped with sliced peaches

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2  cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, (or 1 teaspoon vinegar and milk to make 1/2 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups peeled and sliced peaches
  • powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F
  2. Beat butter, add sugar and bear for a couple of minutes, add eggs one and a time and beat until light and fluffy, another 3 – 5 minutes
  3. Combine dry ingredients and add to batter alternating with buttermilk and vanilla
  4. Pour into prepared (greased and dusted with flour or use baking spray) 9 x 13 inch pan
  5. Top with sliced peaches and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and top springs back when touched lightly
  6. Cool, lighty dust with powdered sugar before serving

Kremówka Papieska or Papal Cream Cake

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A reader asked if I had a good recipe for Pope’s Cake, something that was new to me. I hope this, Kremówka Papieska or Papal Cream Cake, will fit the bill. A little research told me that kremówka (cream cookie), pastry cream sandwiched between two layers of puff pastry, very similar to the French Napoleaon, became famous when Pope John Paul II reminisced about the pastry from a bakery in his hometown of Wadowice.

All of my research and my own experience leads to me make a couple of recommendations regarding the top and bottom crust of the pastry. Poke the puff pastry many times with a fork before it goes in the oven, to let out steam as it’s baking, and hopefully keeping it somewhat flatter.

In addition, you might after “forking” the crust, cover with parchment and a cooling rack, a little something to hold it down. You want the light crisp layers, but you don’t want a lot of airy space in between the layers. Or maybe consider making a rough puff pastry, which should give you a flaky crust but with a little less volume, but let’s face it, what could be easier than using frozen puff pastry?

Kremówka Papieska or Papal Cream Cake

 

The first batch I baked, I did nothing to, other than roll it a tiny bit, The height, out of the box, was just right for my baking sheets, so I rolled it to be about 1.5 – 2 inches wider. I put it in the oven an didn’t check it for 15 minutes. By that time, it was already puffed up at least 4 inches high, a ridiculous amount for a top and bottom crust. . . insert quick trip to the grocery store. . . the second time I baked puffed pastry, I decided to bake only one sheet, cutting it in half for the top and bottom crusts. Using half a sheet was ideal because it gave me the desired thickness of pastry cream.

I poked the sheets with a fork every inch or so, I put parchment paper and an upside-down cooling rack on top of the poked pastry, removing the “toppers” for the last two minutes to baking to be sure the pastry could dry out. This time, my frozen puff pastry only got to be about an inch thick, a marked improvement, but still a little thick for my purposes. I split it in half crosswise, giving me top and bottom crusts of about 1/2 an inch in thickness. Perfect! Finally!

I’ll tell you that I lost my nerve and didn’t cook the pastry cream quite long enough. When chilled, it wasn’t setting up firm enough to use as a filling in this recipe. So in order to save it, I first added some gelatin by softening a bit of unflavored gelatin in water and then heating until it dissolved, and cooling to room temp. This is the process I use to stabilize whipped cream.

I chilled again for a few hours, but it was still too runny. Next, I put it back on the heat and stirred in a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch into about 1/4 cup of water and I whisked this slurry into the custard, cooking it until it was steaming and just beginning to bubble. It cooled over night, and it was finally enough. Whether it was the addition time or the corn starch that made the difference, I can’t say, but I was very relieved.

I hope your Kremówka Papieska or Papal Cream Cake turns out perfectly!

Smacznego!

Lois

The Amazona links below are affiliate links, meaning Amazon sends me a few cents if you make a purchase

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Kremówka Papieska or Papal Cream Cake

★★★★ 4 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
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Description

A rich vanilla pastry cream sandwiched between crisp puff pastry, a favorite with Saint John Paul II

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 vanilla bean or 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup corn starch
  • 1 cup butter
  • powdered sugar for decorating

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F, divide frozen puff pastry into two equal pieces, poke at 1 inch intervals with a fork, place on a parchment lined baking sheet, top with parchment, and an upside down cooling rack, bake for 15 minutes, remove top parchment and cooling rack, bake at least 2 minutes more or until golden brown, cool
  2. Pour milk into saucepan, slice vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds and add to milk (or vanilla extract) heat almost to boil
  3. In a bowl beat egg yolks and sugar until light yellow and fluffy, add corn starch and mix until well combined, very slowly (a spoonful at a time in the beginning) add hot milk, stirring constantly
  4. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until very thick, some say it should coat the back of a spoon and running your finger through it should leave a clear path, cool to room temp covered with plastic wrap, pushed down on top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming
  5. When completely cool, whisk in softened butter
  6. Depending on the height of the puff pastry, either use one piece as the bottom crust or spilt one and use the bottom half, spread with pastry cream, cover with the second, top half and press gently, use a spatula to smooth out the sides, refrigerate overnight
  7. The next day cut into rectangles with a light sawing motion, not with pressure
  8.  Before serving, generously dust with powdered sugar.

 

 

Cafe Affogato

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I’m sure I’m not the first person to have said, food knows no borders. How else could our first exposure to Cafe Affogato be in Poland? The first I’d heard of it was when Ed told me about having one at a golf course with his Polish golf pro friend, Przemek. I had a couple of Cafe Affogatos while we lived in Poland. One of the more memorable was at a driving range. You can read all about that here. While we’re on the subject of difficult to pronounce Polish names, how about Przemek? He was the golf pro at this posh driving range. At first, I thought it was Shemek, but no. You must find a way to mumble Prz in front of that . . .shemek.

 

Cafe Affogato

How did we come to be having Cafe Affogato for breakfast here in Tucson? Well, we’re having them in the morning because we don’t have decaf espresso. We’re having them again because on a recent trip to Costco trying to remember what we were shopping for, we drove by Tuscon’s new Top Golf, a multi-level driving range that serves food and drinks. It’s Chuckie Cheese for grownup golfers. We haven’t been yet, and I said that we should make a point of trying it out because it was as close as we would get to Hotel Solei, home of the driving range mentioned in the paragraph above. That led to planning to buy ice cream and what cute little cups we would use to serve our Cafe Affogatos.

If you haven’t had one yet, let me explain that affogato is Italian for drowned. It’s simply a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato drowned with hot espresso. It is a dessert or a beverage? You’ll find it in both places on the menu depending on where you are. It’s so simple that I feel a little silly putting it into a recipe format, but that the only way to let search engines know that I’m writing about how to prepare something. You can, of course, do as others do and fancy it up a bit, with other flavors of ice cream, syrups, sprinkles, or maybe even some yummy baked good under the ice cream, brownie affogato?

Smacznego!

Lois

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Cafe Affogato

  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Italian
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Description

A scoop of vanilla ice cream drowned in hot espresso

Ingredients

2 scoops vanilla ice cream or gelato

2 shots hot espresso or strong coffee

Instructions

Place a scoop of ice cream in each cup of glass

Top with hot coffee

Serve with a spoon

Notes

Go all out with favored ice creams, sprinkles, syrups, make it your own!