Polish Christmas Fruitcake {Keks Świąteczny}

Anna

7 years ago

24 / 100

This is not your average fruitcake. It’s not dry and heavy, but instead soft, lightly sweet and studded with a balanced variety of dried fruit and nuts. It will completely bust the bad rep of mass-made fruitcake and convince you to keep this recipe in your box of favorite recipes.

Keks świąteczny [kehx sh-viow-teh-chnyh] is often made in many Polish homes for Christmas. More often than not, you will also see a piernik, poppyseed cake or roll, apple cake and cheesecake served along side of keks. In my home, we also made shortbread cookies. No Christmas is complete without my grandmother’s cookies, and a good variety of sweet desserts to go along with the vast array of 12 Christmas dishes.

Polish Christmas Fruitcake {Keks Świąteczny}

Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45-55 min

Ingredients

1 lb / 500 g of mixed dried fruit and nuts - raisins, mangos, prunes, walnuts, almonds
8 oz / 225 g of butter at room temperature
1 cup / 120 g of powdered sugar
5 eggs - whites and yolks separated
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 cups / 250 g of all purpose flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Crush and slice dried fruit and nuts.
Cream butter with sugar until well combined and fluffy. Add egg yolks one by one and keep mixing. Add vanilla extract and gradually add flour mixed with baking powder. Finally add fruit/nut mixture.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites with salt on high speed until stiff foam forms. Gently fold into fruitcake batter until well combined.
Transfer batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350°F / 180°C for 20 min. Turn heat down to 325°F / 160°C and bake for another 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean and top of the cake is golden brown. If top is browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil.
With the help of a small strainer sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

What will your family prepare to satisfy the sweet tooth this year? Leave me a comment below.

Smacznego!

With love,

Anna