Polish Summer Fruit Cake [Ciasto z Owocami}
Sour cherries remind me of summers in Poland when I was little, sitting in the shade of the sour cherry tree in my grandparents garden. The tree produced so many, we (by we, I mean the adults in the family, I can’t take much credit here) had to get creative with utilizing ALL of them. If you’re Polish like me, you know NOTHING goes to waste. Some were cooked into fruit soup, some canned for “kompot“, some cooked into cakes and some eaten right off the tree. As sour as they are, I really enjoyed eating them right off the tree, once you had a few, your mouth got used to mouth-watering sour taste.
I’m making a simple and quick fruit cake today. One that you can throw together before a party or when you have an abundance of summer fruit. You can, like me use sour cherries, blueberries, raspberries, plums or red or black currants, if those are available in your area. I like how light the cake is, and how the sour cherries cut the sweetness of the cake with their puckering taste. If you haven’t had sour cherries before, you have to try some. Ciasto z Owocami [cheeah-sto z o-vo-tsa-mee] may become your favorite summer dessert.
Polish Summer Fruit Cake {Ciasto z Owocami}
Ingredients
- 2 c of fruit (sour cherries, plums or berries)
- 9 oz / 250g of butter (at room temperature)
- 5 eggs at room temperature
- 1 c / 250g of granulated sugar
- 2 c / 250g of flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- ADDITIONALLY:
- Powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
Bring eggs and butter to room temperature. Wash fruit and remove pits (if using plums, cut them into smaller pieces).
Beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Separate the whites from yolks. Add yolks to butter/sugar mixture one by one and beat until combined. Mix flour with baking powder and salt and gradually add to mixture.
Beat egg whites to form firm foam. Gently fold egg whites into mixture until combined.
Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line a 9x13 inch / 22x33 centimeter baking dish with parchment paper. Transfer mixture into baking dish and spread fruit evenly on top. Bake for 45-55 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry (there may be a bit of moisture from the fruit).
Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
What’s your favorite summer fruit? Leave me a comment below.
Smacznego!
Anna
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You brought back fond memories of being with my Babcia under our sour cherry tree! She would pull the limbs closer with the crook of her cane so we could pick-and eat!- the fruit. I will certainly use this recipe with raspberries from my back yard. Thank you!
It’s like we were sitting under the same tree 🙂 Lovely!!
Strawberries,when I visited my Bahcia in Rzeszow, we went to pick strawberries> They were the best I have had. My girlfriend Stella bought back from Poland plants that we both still have. Never get tired from eating them.
I agree, Polish strawberries are delicious.
Sounds wonderful . My grandma was from Rzeszow. I will have to try some.
Hi, can you use frozen cherries??
Yes, just thaw before baking. 😊
So good and easy to make with ingredients I always have on hand. Used cherries yesterday and will try other fruits in the future.
Should this cake be stored in the refrigerator? Do you think it would freeze well?
It will last longer in the fridge but I store it at room temperature. It never lasts long in my house😉
I’m going to try this with our fresh raspberries from the garden.
I loved the black currents and black current juice in Poland, can rarely find it – only once a year at the Polish Christmas faire in Madison Wisconsin.
My Mamo made a summer ciasto but used sour cream or butter milk instead of butter — with plums or peaches or blueberries— which ever fruit were in season
Do you have a similar recipe?
The recipe does not specify the type of flour. Do you use plain or self raising flour?
Plain/All-purpose flour. I like adding baking powder separately. 😊
I had a basket of plums that were starting to all ripen faster than we could eat them. So I looked up your recipe and made this cake last night. So simple and so delicious! Couldn’t wait to put the powdered sugar on it last night so corner pieces were missing, lol!
Will try with peaches next! 😋