Polish Bundt Cake {Babka Piaskowa}
No matter what generation Polish you are, you must know Polish Bundt Cake or Babka Piaskowa, which means “Sand Babka” (not sure if it’s because of its color or because of the fact that it crumbles) and it has been around for centuries. It is the most basic version of babka, but definitely not boring. If done right, its moist and soft, sweet with a hint of lemon. Some decorate it with melted chocolate and nuts or powdered sugar.
Other popular variety is Babka Marmurkowa (Marble Babka). Both worth trying.
Babka is traditionally made for Easter in Poland. A piece of this Polish bunt cake will also be placed in a basket taken to church for blessing. This means it must be an important part of this holiday. You can read about my Polish Easter here.
You can also watch me make this delicious dessert in the video published to my YouTube channel:
Polish Bundt Cake {Babka Piaskowa}
Ingredients
- 5 eggs - separated
- 1 c / 200 g of granulated sugar
- 9 oz / 255 g of melted butter
- ¾ c / 95 g of all-purpose flour
- ¾ c / 90 g of potato flour (or corn starch)
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- ½ tsp vanilla
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 2 pinches of salt
- 1 tbsp of butter for greasing the pan
- 1 tbsp of bread crumbs for the pan
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Separate yolks from whites. Add sugar to yolks and beat until fluffy. Slowly add melted butter (not hot) and beat until combined.
Add flours, baking powder, a pinch of salt, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix for a couple of minutes.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with another pinch of salt until stiff, about 3 minutes. Add to cake mixture and gently fold until combined.
Grease bundt cake pan with butter and sprinkle bread crumbs to prevent cake from sticking. Transfer cake batter into pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.
Take out and cool. Serve topped with powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, or sugar glaze.
Happy cooking and smacznego!
Anna
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Babka piaskowa was my favorite when I spent 4 years in Poland, especially from a small bakery just off Plac Washingtona. Should you have contact with a bakery inWarsaw you might suggest the recipe for lemon squares. I am sure that Varsovians, being the gourmets that they are would enjoy them.
Smacznego jak to kiedys mnie mowiono jako obcokrajowca w Polsce.
Where can you buy potato starch? Or can you make it somehow?
Substitute with corn starch. 👍🏻
Recipe says potato flour which I used only to realize it should actually specify potato starch. The two are different… I used the potato flour and recipe came out wrong so next time I will look for potato starch or just use cornstarch.