Making a fruit yeast cake can be an excellent way to use up your leftover fruit or berries before they go bad. Simply cut up some strawberries and mix them with blueberries or raspberries.
The sweet and slightly sour taste of berries, mixed with a fluffy and delicate yeast cake, makes this a perfect combination.
Fruit yeast cake means summer to me
This fruit yeast cake recipe makes me think of summer. As a child, I would often devour it with a warm cup of milk after a swim in the Mazurian lakes on summer evenings.
Even today, when I eat fruit yeast cake, I pour myself a cup of milk or make a “bawarka”, which is warm tea with a hint of milk, to accompany my indulgence.
Top it with a crunch!
I enjoy making this recipe with an extra crunch. The perfect way to combine the juicy fruit and soft texture of the cake is to top it off with a lightly sweet crumble.
I like to make mine with brown sugar because it adds a hint of caramel and compliments the sour taste of berries perfectly.
Sweet or not too sweet
Some people also like to coat their fruit yeast cakes with a sugar glaze on top of the crumble, but I find that the glaze adds too much sweetness. I prefer desserts that are not overwhelmingly sweet. By adding too much sugar, many of the other delicate flavors disappear.
I like giving presence to all the different flavors in my recipes rather than a single one. Retaining balance in baking is important to allow for a symphony of flavors to compliment each other and produce a pleasing taste for your taste buds. Plus, why add the extra calories when a small quantity of sugar goes a long way.
My favorite flour for making Fruit Yeast Cakes
For yeast cakes, I always use wheat flour from Poland, type 550 [click HERE to BUY] It has a good amount of protein and enough gluten to make the cake extra fluffy.
Also, since this is a traditional Polish recipe, I like using the same type of flour my grandmother used, and make it as authentic as possible. If you don’t have access to Polish flour, all-purpose wheat flour will work as well.
Fruit Yeast Cake - Dough
Ingredients
- 4½ cups wheat flour Polish Type 550
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 6 tbsp cane or white sugar
- 1 cup whole or 2% milk
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ tsp salt
Instructions
-
In a pot, combine milk, eggs, egg yolk, and sugar using a whisk while warming the contents over a low heat until the ingredients reach lukewarm temperature.
-
Remove from the stove top, make sure the mixture is not too hot, and add the yeast. Whisk it all together and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
-
In the meantime, using a bowl from a stand mixer, combine the flour, vanilla, and salt. Mix the ingredients with a spoon.
-
Pour the combined liquid ingredients into the bowl with the flour, and mix all the ingredients together with a spoon.
-
Using a dough hook, knead the dough for about 5 - 8 minutes, or until the dough starts pealing off the walls of the bowl.
-
When the dough is being kneaded, in a small pot, melt the butter over a low heat. Make sure not to burn it. Let the melted butter cool off for a few minutes.
-
While the dough continues to knead, slowly pour in the melted butter.
-
Continue kneading until the butter is absorbed into the dough.
-
Once the dough is well kneaded, the consistency is elastic, and the outside has a slight sheen, cover the dough with a clean dish towel and let it rest for 45 - 60 minutes.
-
As the dough is resting, prepare the fruit and the crumble (see recipes below on how to prepare the fruit and the crumble.)
-
Once the dough has rested enough, and doubled in size, take it out of the bowl, pour it into a baking pan (size 9" x 13" inches or 23 x 33 cm) lined with parchment paper, and spread it evenly, using your hands.
-
Cover the surface of the dough with the prepared berries.
-
Using your hands, sprinkle the crumble on top of the fruit evenly.
-
Cover the yeast cake with a clean dish cloth and let it rest for at least an hour.
-
Preheat the oven to 330° - 350° Fahrenheit, or 165° - 180° Celsius maximum.
-
Bake the cake for 35 - 45 minutes, depending on your oven's temperature.
-
Check if your cake is browning enough. If after 35 minutes the edges still look pale, bake it for additional 10 minutes or until the juice of the fruit stsrts bubbling on the surface.
Fruit for Yeast Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh strawberries
- 2 cups blueberries
Instructions
-
Wash and dry the strawberries and blueberries.
-
Using a sharp knife, cut up the strawberries in small chunks and combine them with the blueberries.
-
You can add a tablespoon of brown sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice to the fruit if the strawberries and the blueberries are a bit tart or not very sweet.
Crumble
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp wheat flour Polish type 500 "Krupczatka"
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
-
In a cup or bowl, combine sugar, flour, and butter.
-
Using your hands, firmly press the ingredients together, until the texture becomes flaky.
-
Pressing the tips of your fingers, spread the crumble on top of the fruit covered yeast cake.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
You do not say how much yeast to use.
Thank you, Eve. I appreciate you pointing this out. I corrected it. You need 2 and a quarter of a teaspoon of yeast for this recipe.
Ola
How many grams is one cup?
Hello Irena!
Thank you for reaching out. In my recipes 1 cup translates to about 125 grams of flour.
Hope this helps 🙂
Ola
I have kidney disease and cannot have all purpose wheat flour only all purpose white flour
Dien dobry, Ola! I worked in Poland in 1990 and enjoyed this kind of cake made with raspberries. So yummy! I have been trying for ages to find the recipe, and found yours. Thank you! I will now make this delicious ciasto. So many fond memories of Polish food. Blessings from England xxx