Metrowiec – Polish meter-long cake

Metrowiec or meter-long cake, a reader asked if I had a recipe. I’d never heard of it. A quick google search and I knew I wanted to make it. Metrowiec is so visually striking that I was hooked at first glance.

The appearance with vertical stripes of chocolate and white cake with layers of filling in between was also mind-boggling. How did they do that?

In case you are also not familiar, let me explain the process. You bake two chiffon cakes That means the cakes use baking powder for leavening and the fat is oil rather than a solid like butter or shortening, and they don’t use a lot of flour. Chiffon cakes tend to have a flat-ish top, and a light delicate texture.

One cake is white and one is chocolate. They’re baked in loaf pans. When your cakes are cool, you slice them into slices that are just less than an inch thick. You make vanilla pudding, almost like pastry cream, but you’re using corn starch (or potato starch) rather than flour. When the pudding is cool, you beat it into whipped butter. This becomes the filling between the layers.

As you frost (with the pudding) you alternate the layers, white, filling, chocolate, filling, white, etc. You could assemble this into one very long (almost meter-long) cake, but most people make two loaves unless you have a very long tray and room for the tray in your fridge.

Don’t worry if this is a little messy. The hero shot of this cake will always be sliced rather than the whole. That’s where the visual interest lies.

These zebra-like loaves are then enrobed in chocolate. What could be better? The tricky part comes in here. When you’re ready to serve, slice on the diagonal, making sure you’re getting three slices in your diagonal cut. That’s how they get the vertical stripes. Mystery solved.

I did read that someone did the initial cake slicing on the diagonal and assembled alternating slices with cream in between, so when she sliced the finished product, she could slice straight across and still get a mix of colors.

I also read that the cake freezes well, and we’re testing that idea. With no dinner parties currently in our future, I wrapped up slices for my parents and for Ed’s co-workers when he’s back in the office later this week. They’re waiting in the freezer for a convenient delivery date, so I hope that comment was true.

This may be my favorite Polish cake. It’s pretty, not overly complicated. I baked the cakes one evening, wrapping the cooled cakes in plastic wrap until I was ready for them. I have two loaf pans, but they’re different sizes, so I had to bake one at a time. I made the filling and assembled the next morning. I think it was easier to slice the delicate cakes because they had a good long rest after baking. You’ll want to slice with a serrated knife.

I mention using an offset spatula to spread the chocolate icing on the sides of the cake. You can certainly make this without an offset spatula, but it’s a tool I recommend you add to your kitchen if you don’t have one. They’re just so handy, and I’m not big on kitchen gadgets. If you think about it, bricklayers use a trowel for a reason. That bend makes the job easier.

This recipe is based on two Polish food blogs Moje Wypieki and Domowe Wypieki.

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My Metrowiec chiffon cake shortcut

I’ve written the recipe below with the usual process for making chiffon cakes. That’s not what I actually did. Years ago, my daughter and I were selling biscotti at a farmer’s market. Ours were lighter than the usual biscotti. You wouldn’t break a tooth on them. The difference was that in the initial creaming of butter, sugar, and eggs, we worked a lot of air into the mixture. We turned the Kitchen Aid on high and let it run for 5 – 10 minutes. Our end product, twice baked, was lighter than the norm. I tried that process here.

I didn’t separate the eggs. I mixed whole eggs with the sugar and whipped them until they were light and fluffy, almost white in color. Then I added the remaining ingredients, the oil, and water first, then the dry ingredients. It makes a runny batter. The resulting cake was still very delicate and light. If we we made both versions and put them side by side, there might be a slight difference in texture, but there was nothing disappointing about my outcome with this shortcut. Yes, I guess I’m a little lazy and will avoid separating eggs if I don’t have to.

I hope I’ve convinced you to give Metrowiec a try!

Smacznego!

Lois

Metrowiec – Polish meter-long cake

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• Author: polishhousewife
• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 100 min
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 18 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Polish

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Description

Metrowiec alternates, delicate layers of light and dark chiffon cake with a creamy vanilla filling and finished with a chocolate coating.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

light cake:

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

dark cake:

• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 1/4 cups flour, less 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

filling:

• 2 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 10 tablespoons butter

icing:

• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 9 tablespoons butter

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Instructions

for the light cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan by greasing and dusting with flour. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Separate 3 eggs. Mix the yolks with sugar until light and fluffy, add the vanilla, oil, and water. When combined, add the flour and baking powder.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
4. Cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, remove cake and cool completely on a rack.

for dark cake:

1. Follow the same process as for the light cake, but substitute 2 tablespoons of cocoa for 2 tablespoons of the flour.

for the filling:

1. Mix 1/2 cup milk in a bowl with the egg yolks and corn starch.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and the sugar to a saucepan, heat until boiling. Everso slowly, add the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. I add as much milk as will fit in the bowl. Pour the egg yolk mixture into any remaining milk in the saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium – medium/high heat. Stirring constantly. I like to use a flat bottomed wooden spoon for this. As mine began to simmer, it started to look lumpy. I removed it from the heat and whisked it for a minute. The texture was fine, very creamy. Cool completely, covering the top with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming (the wrap should be touching the top of the pudding, not the top of the pan).
3. Beat the vanilla, butter, and the pudding a bit at a time, and beat until light and fluffy.

for the icing:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool while you assemble the cake.

to assemble:

1. Slice the cakes into 3/4-inch slices. Alternate the slices, so that you have two loaves that are both dark and light.
2. Spread the filling between each layer, 1/3 – 1/2 inch thick. Pour the chocolate icing over the top of the cakes, using an offset spatula to frost the sides.
3. Keep refrigerated. Remove from the fridge about 4o minutes before slicing to soften the chocolate a bit, so it will slice without cracking.
4. When serving, slice the cake on the diagonal being sure to include at least three slices to get alternating colors.

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Notes

An alternative chocolate topping: Combine all the ingredients, pour over the top, spreading on the sides with an offset spatula. 10 tablespoons butter, melted, 10 tablespoons cocoa, 11 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 5-6 tablespoons of milk

Lois Britton

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.