Fruit yeast cake

It’s probably one of the most standard homemade cakes in Poland, or at least it used to be. It’s pretty easy to pull off, but the yeast does need time to do its job. It’ll work with most fruits, like apples, pears, plums, etc. Plums are the most ‘classic’ variation.

Fruit Yeast Cake

Calle ingredients:

  • 32 grams fresh yeast, or 16 grams granulated (I often use 20 in case of the latter – so there’s no half empty packets left)
  • 1 cup of lukewarm milk
  • half a cup of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 zest from half of a lemon or orange
  • pinch of salt
  • 80 grams butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg yolks (you can use whole, but add two tablespoons of flour in such case)
  • 480 grams of wheat flour (about 3,25 cups)
  • 1 kilogram of fruit – plums, pears, apples or a mix

Crumble:

  • 180 grams of wheat flour
  • 100 grams of sugar
  • 16 grams of vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 125 grams of melted butter
  • 1/4 teaspoons of cinnamon (optional)

Method:

Sift the wheat flour with instant yeast. If using fresh make a starer by dissolving the yeast in the milk with a tablspoon of sugar. Add remaining ingredients and knead, adding the butter towards the end. Adjust the flour as required to make soft, elastic dough. Form into a ball and cover, set aside in a warm place until it doubles in size. It should take about 1,5 hour but might vary depending on the room temperature.

Meanwhile, prepare the crumble. Mix flour with sugar and vanilla, and pour over hot melted butter. Knead and crumble in your hand, set aside.

Line a big baking tray, approximately 30 x 40 cm, with baking paper and gently spread the dough on top. Spread the fruit on top of the dough – it’s usually done by spacing plum halves evenly in a grid. Toss the crumble uniformly on top and set aside again until it doubles again – should take another hour.

Bake in 180C for around 40 minutes, until the crumble is slightly browned.


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