Rogaliki means little horns and these rolls are made into a crescent shape which look like horns.
This amount of dough makes 16 rolls and you will need 2 greased baking sheets.
Many Polish yeast recipes make a rozczyn – a leaven in the form of a batter or starter to begin with – I have liked using this method very much.
Older Polish recipes use fresh yeast. I tend to use dried yeast and had very good results. I like using the little measured out sealed packets of dried yeast, which are sufficient for up to 500g of flour and are equivalent to 25g of fresh yeast.
Here I made a Basic sweet yeast dough – version 2.
Now this could be Basic sweet yeast dough version 3 – I keep refining the recipe and this now has to be the very best yet!
Ingredients
Leaven – Starter
150g plain flour
200ml warm milk
4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 pkt of dried yeast (= 1 tablespoon)
Rest of Ingredients
300g plain flour
100g butter
2 yolks
*
a little more milk might be needed
Egg white to glaze
Icing sugar to dust
Method
Mix the yeast and sugar into the hand hot milk.
Put the 150g of flour into a bowl and mix in the milk mixture until it is like double cream.
Cover the bowl and leave it to rise.
*
Rub the butter into the 300g of flour until it is like breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolks and the yeast starter.
Mix till you get a soft dough – you might need to add a tablespoon or so of milk – depends on the flour.
Knead the dough till you have a nice smooth ball.
Leave in a bowl, covered, to rise and double in size.
*
Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C
Grease two baking sheets.
*
Knead the risen dough lightly for a few minutes.
Divide the dough into two.
Roll the dough out to make a circle/oval.
With a knife or pizza cutter divide the dough into 8 (nearly) triangles.
Place a teaspoon of filling at the fat end.
Roll up the triangle from the fat end to get the horn shape.
You can curve it slightly.
Place them on a baking sheet – as far apart as possible.
Brush the tops with egg white.
Cover loosely and leave for about 15 minutes.
Bake for around 14 – 15 minutes.
*
Leave to cool slightly and then dust with icing sugar.
The tiered cake stand is by Laura Ashley & the tea plates are Las Palmas by Aynsley from the 1960s.
Option
You can use half plain flour & half spelt flour – this also gives good results.
Fillings
You can use a whole range of fillings with the easiest to prepare being jam (though sometimes this is the hardest to keep in the pastry!). Traditional Poppy seed mix and sweet cheese mix as in many of my previous posts are often used.
Here are just a few new ones ….
Prune Filling
Make some very strong Earl Grey tea.
Chop up around 200g of pitted prunes.
Place the prunes into a bowl and cover with the warm tea.
Leave for a few hours to plump up the prunes.
Add the grated rind of a lemon.
Simmer the prunes gently.
Keep stirring & heating to drive off the any liquid – you want a thick pulp.
Leave to go cold completely before using.
Walnut Filling
Grind 100g of chopped walnuts.
Add the nuts to around 3 tablespoons of apricot jam.
Mix well together.
Ground Almond Filling
100g of ground almond.
Add the nuts to around 3 tablespoons of apricot jam.
Mix well together
Date Filling
Chop 200g of dried dates.
Place in a small saucepan and cover with water – you can add a little lemon juice as well.
Mazurek is the name of a Polish cake which often uses a type of pastry similar to shortcrust or shortcake. It is usually made in a square or rectangular shape.
Bake a mazurek base using one of the ciasto kruche – pastry recipes and allow it to cool.
Biszkopt is a fat free sponge cake which means it does not have any butter, margarine or oil in it – just eggs, sugar & flour.
This recipe in my Polish cookery book is described as oszczędna which means economical and compared with many of the recipes which use 4 or more eggs it is.
I used this recipe to make a cake which is very popular in Poland – rolada which is a roulade or roll.
I was really pleased with this recipe & think I will continue to use this the most.
Ingredients
40g potato flour
3 tablespoons of plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder.
2 eggs separated
65g icing sugar plus 1 tablespoon of icing sugar & extra for dusting.
2 tablespoons of boiling water
Also you need a tin 23 x 32cms & 3 sheets of greaseproof paper
Fillings
Jam
Lemon Curd – This is very English but I am sure it would be loved in Poland –
Marks & Spencer’s Sicilian lemon curd is superb!
Butter Cream filling of your choice – I used coffee & rum here.
Method
Pre-heat oven to GM 4 – 180°C
There are lots of steps in this recipe & after several trials, I have given the steps in the order I found worked the best.
Grease and line a 23 x 32cms baking tin – you can also grease the paper on the upper side – I have found this does make it easier to remove the cake.
Mix together the potato flour, plain flour and the baking powder.
Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff then add in 1 tablespoon of icing sugar and whisk again.
Whisk the egg yolks until they are pale then add the 2 tablespoons of boiling water and whisk again, add the icing sugar and whisk till the mixture is pale and creamy.
Gently fold in the flour mixture.
Fold in the stiff whites.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan & bake for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and lightly dust with icing sugar then turn this out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper also dusted with icing sugar.
Place another piece of greaseproof on top of this and roll up the cake (starting with a short side) with the paper.
Leave this to cool.
Unroll the cake and spread with jam, lemon curd or a butter cream filling of your choice & then roll up the cake again.
Dust the cake with icing sugar.
Rolada with lemon curd
Blue edged plates 1930s Allertons Ltd
Sandwich plate H&K Tunstall
Rolada with jam
Coffee & Rum Butter Cream
Ingredients
2 egg yolks
100g icing sugar
120g of butter
2 tablespoons of strong coffee
2 tablespoons of rum
Method
Make some strong coffee using 20g of ground coffee and boiling water and then strain it and leave to cool.
(You can of course use instant coffee – my mother used Camp coffee years ago & it is still available)
Beat the egg yolks, butter & icing together
Add the coffee & rum and mix well in.
You can add a little more icing sugar if you think the mixture is too soft.
Biszkopt is a fat free sponge cake which means it does not have any butter, margarine or oil in it – just eggs, sugar & flour.
The word originates from the old Italian biscotto & Medieval Latin bis coctus – which means twice baked – though why I do not understand as this sponge is only baked once!
The English word biscuit also has this origin.
This sponge is used to make tort – layer cake 0r gateaux – however as these are usually such large cakes – I have used it for another popular cake in Poland – rolada – which is a roulade – often called a Swiss roll – though I have not been able to find the reason for this Swiss connection.
Rolada
Ingredients
4 eggs – separated
4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
4 tablespoons of plain flour
Icing sugar to dust
You will need 3 sheets of greaseproof paper
Fillings
Jam
Butter Cream Icing
Lemon Curd – this is very English – but would be loved in Poland – Marks & Spencer’s Sicilian lemon curd is superb!
Method
Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C.
Grease and line a 23 x 32cms baking tin – you can also grease the paper on the upper side – I have found this does make it easier to remove the cake.
Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff.
Whisk together the egg yolks & sugar until they are pale and fluffy.
Fold in the flour.
Fold in the egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan & bake for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and lightly dust with icing sugar then turn this out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper also dusted with icing sugar.
Place another piece of greaseproof on top of this and roll up the cake (starting with a short side) with the paper.
Leave this to cool.
Unroll the cake and spread with jam, lemon curd or a butter cream filling of your choice & then roll up the cake again.
Kołaczyki means little wheels from the word koła which means wheels.
In a previous post – Bułeczki – Sweet Yeast Buns– I gave a recipe for basic sweet yeastdough – since then I have tried out a slightly different recipe – nearly the same ingredients but a slightly different method – and I think these turned out to be the best yeast buns I have ever made – so this is – Basic sweet yeast dough version two.
A few reminders when using yeast in baking
Learn to be patient – you cannot control the timings exactly with yeast, it depends on the temperature of the room and the flour used and other variables.
Do yeast baking on a day you are planning to be in & have other things to do, but ones you can break off from when needed.
Heat the milk so it is at body temperature – use the finger test – too hot and you will kill the yeast – too cold is okay – it will just take longer.
An egg glaze often burns too quickly – I have found an egg white or egg white & water glaze gives a better result.
Older Polish recipes use fresh yeast. I have used dried yeast and have had very good results. (I have not tried using easy bake yeast for this recipe).
Basic Sweet Yeast Dough Version 2
Ingredients
Leaven – Starter
100g plain flour
30g fresh yeast or 15-20g dried yeast
125ml milk
Rest of ingredients
3 egg yolks
60g sugar
50g melted butter or block margarine
400g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon
2-3 drops of vanilla essence
125ml milk
and
Save 1 egg white for use as a wash on the buns.
Method
Warm the milk slightly – so it is just warm to the touch – and add the yeast and mix together.
Put the flour in to a bowl and add the milk and yeast mix it all together and leave it covered until it is double in size.
Melt the butter and leave it to cool.
Whisk the yolks and sugar until they are pale and fluffy.
Grease 2 baking sheets – You should get around 15 buns. – invite people round!
Into a large bowl put: the flour and the salt, the yeast starter, the yolk mixture, the zest of a lemon, the vanilla essence and the milk.
Mix it all together so that you get a soft dough that comes away from the side of the bowl – you do not have to knead it.
Then work in the melted butter (this is the hardest part) until it is all incorporated and you have a uniform shiny dough.
Cover the dough with a cloth and leave this to rise until it is double in size.
Onto a floured surface place the dough and form it into a rectangle and then roll this out until it is around 2cm thick.
Using a 8cm diameter cutter cut out circles of dough and place them on the greased baking sheets, leaving room for the dough to rise.
Gather together the left over dough and repeat the process.
Cover the trays and leave the circles to rise and double in size.
Pre heat the oven to GM5 – 190ºC
Use a clean napkin or tea towel and cover the base of a tumbler.
Use the covered tumbler and press down on the centre of each circle to form an indentation into which you will put a filling.
In Polish the word for a fat free sponge cake which is made with just eggs, sugar and flour is biszkopt.
A sponge cake which uses butter or margarine which is creamed with the sugar is described as piaskowy – this adjective means sandy – hence the title of this post!
I have not managed to find an explanation as to why it is so described but have found this term in all my Polish cookery books.
Pani Stasia’s Sponge Cake
This is a recipe which I learnt from my mother’s friend who we knew as pani Stasia*.
Pani Stasia made wonderful cakes but unfortunately I did not write many of them down – however I did for this one and it is the basis for many of my other cakes and buns.
This recipe is equivalent to the British cake – Victoria Sponge – named after Queen Victoria in whose reign this became popular & who is said to have liked this cake very much.
Having been looking at recipes in my Polish cookery cooks I realise that pani Stasia adapted this recipe for England as self raising flour and caster sugar are not found in Polish shops.
(*Pani translates as Madam, Lady or Mrs and is a polite form of address – it is like donna in Italian or for example saying Miss Mary in the Southern States of America.
Stasia is the shortened form of the Polish name Stanisława. (The feminine form of Stanisław)
St Stanisław is the patron saint of Kraków & Poland, he was a martyr, murdered by the Polish king Bolesław II the Bold in 1079 – a story which has much in common with St Thomas à Beckett and the English king Henry II in 1170).
Ingredients
Eggs
Butter or Block Baking Margarine
Caster Sugar
Self Raising Flour
I usually use 3 or 4 eggs for this recipe – in the photographs below I have used 4 eggs to make 2 cakes which were then sandwiched together with jam and white chocolate butter cream.
Method
Grease and line the base of 2 x 21.5cm sandwich tins. – I find anodised aluminium tins are the best. (my old tins say 8 1/2 inch on the base – 21cm or 22cm would be OK)
Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°c
The first thing you have to do is weigh your eggs – complete with their shells.
Weighing Eggs
You then weigh out the same amount of butter or block margarine, caster sugar and self raising flour.
At first I thought this was very strange but now find that it gives a very good way of getting the right proportions no matter what size the eggs are.
I heard the late Marguerite Patten in an earlier recorded programme on the radio a few weeks ago saying that Victorian cooks often used this method.
Cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one by one whisking again until the the mixture is light and fluffy again.
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon taking not to over mix the mixture and knock out all the air.
Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 prepared tins.
Bake in the centre of the oven for around 25 to 30 minutes – the cake should be golden brown and be clean when a cake tester is used.
Cakes cooling awaiting being sandwiched together
This cake is very versatile and here I have sandwiched it together with blackcurrantjam (given to me by my friend who had made it with fruit from her allotment) and white chocolate butter cream.
Sweet whipped cream is not found in Polish cookery – butter creams and similar are the standard fillings for layer cakes.
On the bottom cake first spread on the jam and then top this with the butter cream.
This butter cream is sweet and needs the contrast of a tart jam, damson jam would be another alternative.
White Chocolate Butter Cream
Ingredients
60g White chocolate
40g Butter – unsalted is best
80g Sieved icing sugar
Method
Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of hot water and allow to cool.
Cream the butter and the icing sugar.
Beat in the cooled, melted chocolate.
Note
Take care – if the melted chocolate is too hot then you will end up having to add more icing sugar and the butter cream will be very sweet.
Dust the finished cake with icing sugar.
Plates are Burleigh Ware – Burges & Leigh Ltd —– Blue Mist around 1930s
Journey From A Polish Kitchen 