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Side view of 3 plesniak cake slices on top of wooden surface.
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Polish Pleśniak Cake

Polish pleśniak cake consists of layers of shortcrust pastry, a tangy fruit mixture and soft meringue. Delicious and perfect for any occasion! The post incudes easy to follow, detailed step-by-step instructions.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Polish
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 14 minutes
Cooling time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 14 minutes
Servings 15 squares
Calories 344kcal
Author Monika Dabrowski

Equipment

  • 8½/13-inch pan 22/33 cm
  • Food processor
  • Box grater
  • Blender
  • Mixer

Ingredients

  • 3¾ cups all purpose/plain flour
  • 1⅓ teaspoons baking powder
  • ⅓ cup confectioners'/icing sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 sticks+2tbsp butter chilled, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons yogurt plus 1 tsp, chilled
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 5 large eggs separated, at room temperature
  • 2½ tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons potato starch
  • 1 cup+1tbsp superfine/caster sugar
  • 1.1 pounds mixed fruits tart, ex. red/black currants, berries, sour cherries, etc. frozen or fresh
  • 20 prunes pitted, finely chopped
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Make fruit mixture: Cook the fresh/frozen fruit with prunes over a medium heat for about 20 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated, stirring often. Puree then set aside to cool.
  • Make pastry: Place the flour, baking powder, salt, confectioners' sugar and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of yogurt and vanilla extract and pulse until the ingredients come together in a dough.
    TIP: Alternatively make the pastry by hand.
  • Chill pastry: Form a thick log and cut it in half. Cut one half into 2 equal parts. Place one of these small parts in a large shallow bowl, flatten, add the cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of yogurt and knead in. Place all the dough parts in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes preheat the oven to 375 F/180 C/160 fan/gas mark 4.
  • Blind bake crust: Remove the large dough from the freezer (and place the remaining 2 in the fridge for now), cut into thin slices (4-5 mm) and spread over the bottom of the pan. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan spreading as evenly as you can (it will be quite a thin layer). Pierce all over with a fork and bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
    TIP: If your pan isn't non-stick either grease it lightly and dust with flour before using or line with parchment.
  • Add fruit layer: Spread the fruit mixture over the crust.
  • Add chocolate pastry: Coarsely grate the chocolate dough over the fruit layer. Pat very gently to make it level (without pressing down too much) then refrigerate. If you have switched the oven off preheat it again to 325 F/170 C/150 fan/gas mark 3.
  • Make meringue: Place the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, add a pinch of salt and beat for a minute or so starting from the lowest setting then slowly increasing to 3 on a stand mixer (not higher) until the mixture looks like a bubble bath (it shouldn't have stiff peaks at this point so don't overbeat it). Start (slowly) adding heaped tablespoons of superfine sugar (setting 3 on a stand mixer) beating for a minute after each addition. After adding the last of the sugar beat for 2 minutes. The mixture should be thick and glossy. Turn the mixer off and sift the potato flour over the top. Using the lowest setting (this is important!) mix the flour into the meringue just to incorporate.
  • Make meringue and crumb layers: Remove the cake pan from the fridge and gently spread the meringue over the chocolate dough filling any gaps to remove air pockets. Coarsely grate the remaining dough over the whole thing.
  • Bake: Bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes then lower the heat to 300 F/ 150 C/gas mark 2 and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the pleśniak in the oven until cooled completely (1.5-2 hours). Do not open the oven door at any point during baking and cooling.

Notes

    • Use frozen or fresh mixed berries, red/black currants, sour cherries or another sour tasting fruit, along with prunes. Some pleśniak recipes use red/black currant jam, or another sour tasting jam, which are fine to use, instead, provided they are quite thick, not runny. Bear in mind, however, that jam contains a lot of sugar and your cake might be too sweet. 
    • To save time make the pastry while you wait for the fruit mixture to cool.
    • The egg whites must be at room temperature.
    • It's important not to overbeat the egg whites (see Instructions).
    • Allow the cake to cool completely in the oven to ensure the meringue stays light and fluffy. The top might look a little uneven but that's normal.
    • Cover your pleśniak cake with a tea towel and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days. After that time keep in a cool place for up to 2 more days.
    • Freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 344kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 162mg | Potassium: 256mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 662IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 2mg