Cook This: 3 recipes from The Sweet Polish Kitchen, including a classic crustless cheesecake

Make Ren Behan's home-baking recipes for nostalgic Polish treats: crustless cheesecake, pancake fritters with fruit and Stefanka, a chocolate and honey layer cake

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Published Sep 20, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  10 minute read

Clockwise from top left: food writer Ren Behan, sernik, a classic Polish cheesecake; racuchy, pancake fritters with stewed apples and honey-roasted plums; and Stefanka, a chocolate and honey layer cake. FOOD PHOTOS BY NASSIMA ROTHACKER/AUTHOR PHOTO BY YUKI SUGIURA

Our cookbook of the week is The Sweet Polish Kitchen by British food writer Ren Behan.

Jump to the recipes: sernik (classic Polish cheesecake), racuchy (pancake fritters with stewed apples and honey-roasted plums) and Stefanka (chocolate and honey layer cake).

With a career in family law, writing a second cookbook wasn’t at the forefront of Ren Behan‘s mind. But when she pitched the idea of The Sweet Polish Kitchen to her agent and publisher, they were instantly on board. “It was a kind of kick-yourself moment. I don’t know why it took me so long to find that confidence, but equally, it was quite nice because it was a natural process, and we didn’t feel under any pressure. It was just a book that was definitely waiting to happen, I would say, definitely waiting to be written.”

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The sweet recipes in Behan’s first book, Wild Honey & Rye (2018), were particularly popular, and people often tag her in their posts of bakes and cakes on social media. Before the pandemic, she travelled to Poland, which helped solidify the idea of The Sweet Polish Kitchen. More recently, Behan took a couple of family trips to ensure she captured current trends. “I was taken by this new wave of Polish patisserie that was as good as French patisserie, in my opinion, and wasn’t getting a spotlight.”

Behan was born in Manchester, England, to Polish parents and lives in St. Albans with her husband, Ed, and three children. As a food writer who completed a diploma in food journalism and took a course in food styling at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London, she takes equal inspiration from her culinary heritage and Poland’s fast-changing food culture. Behan strikes a balance between the two in The Sweet Polish Kitchen, drawing on the “huge vegan movement” in Krakow and Warsaw, for example, in recipes such as a plant-based, gluten-free chocolate hazelnut cake and nostalgic family favourites such as the brown sugar semolina with apples and honey made by her mother, Alicja Marczak.

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When Behan visits family in Poland, they often have a substantial spread on the table with a mix of sweet and savoury. “No one leaves hungry,” she says. Having a cake on the table alongside small plates of salads and smoked meats is commonplace. Bakes, cakes and sweet things feature in the Polish kitchen year-round, but especially during the holidays. In the book, Behan highlights these festive moments with chapters devoted to carnival treats, Easter, Christmas and other occasions. “It’s nice to tap into the seasons and the time of the year. And for me, just realizing how intrinsically linked baking and sweet goods are with those key dates in the calendar.”

In addition to practicing law and writing cookbooks, Behan does freelance recipe development, which she sees as a creative escape. She enjoys baking recipes from other cultures, but when it comes to family birthdays, she inevitably turns to a Polish-style torte layered with cream and fruit. During carnival season, she makes pączki (filled doughnuts), and, at Christmas time, she bakes traditional Polish recipes such as piernik (gingerbread), made with flour, honey and spices.

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The Sweet Polish Kitchen is British food writer Ren Behan’s second cookbook exploring her Polish heritage. Photo by Interlink Books

As much as she likes to return to the classics throughout the year, Behan also looks for opportunities to explore. The Basque burnt cheesecake trend that swept the world spurred her to shine a light on unsung Polish cheesecakes such as sernik, a classic crustless baked cheesecake, and Krakowian-style cheesecake. Polish baking and sweet treats as a whole are underrepresented in cookbooks, says Behan.

She highlights that there has long been a rich tradition of bakeries and patisseries in Polish cities. But like elsewhere, the country has seen a rise in artisan bakers and micro-bakeries returning to traditional methods. For home bakers, Behan thinks some of the lockdown habits have stuck. “It’s not being afraid to spend time on something or thinking to yourself, ‘OK, I’m going to set aside a bit of an afternoon of baking.’ And I think people are taking the time to do that, which is lovely to see.”

On the flip side of the more involved layer cakes and custard-filled doughnuts, many of the recipes in The Sweet Polish Kitchen are quick to put together, from “no-bake” coconut and almond cake to Polish-French toast with roasted plums and stewed apple-filled racuchy (fritter pancakes).

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Behan’s 14-year-old daughter, Elena, “a keen baker,” helped her test the recipes and weigh and measure ingredients. Elena would test the recipes by herself, and Behan offered to step in if she needed help. Often, Elena managed the whole bake by herself. “So I know these recipes are simple and achievable, and readers are finding the same as well — and not just the baked recipes. There are lots of recipes in here that are desserts. So things that you can make, like the pancakes, that go into a frying pan. The pastry twists (faworki/chrusty) you make at carnival season — they’re fried. They’re not baked. And then there’s a section at the back that’s exclusively desserts. So there’s something in there for everyone and certainly for all skill levels.”

She and Elena also tackled many of the handwritten family recipes in Behan’s collection together, translating the often scant instructions and finding ways to simplify the process. “It just became a part of our lives. There were times when we didn’t think we were writing a book. We were just baking, and I was writing things down.”

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SERNIK

Sernik, a classic Polish cheesecake, has no base. Since it’s baked in a pan lined with parchment paper, it’s one of the easiest Polish cheesecake recipes to make, says Ren Behan. Photo by Nassima Rothacker

Classic Polish Cheesecake

Serves: 10-12

1 cup (200 g) sugar, preferably superfine
1 stick and 6 tbsp (200 g) butter, at room temperature
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
3 1/2 cups (800 g) cream cheese or twaróg sernikowy (see note)
Scant 1 cup (200 mL) sour cream
2/3 cup (150 mL) whipping cream
1 2/3 cups (250 g) raisins
3/4 cup (90 g) cornstarch or potato starch
Icing sugar, for dusting

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 340F (170C). Line an 8 in (20 cm) round springform cake pan with a single sheet of parchment paper. Push the paper into the pan, making sure that some of it sticks up over the rim — you don’t have to do this too neatly. Wrap the outside of the pan with a large piece of foil.

Step 2

In a stand mixer, beat together the sugar and butter for a few minutes until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat again. Add the cream cheese, sour cream and whipping cream, then beat until completely smooth. Coat the raisins in a little of the cornstarch or potato starch, then stir them into the mixture, along with the rest of the starch.

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Step 3

Pour the mixture into your lined cake pan, then tap the pan on your work surface to help settle any bubbles.

Step 4

Prepare a bain marie: take a large, shallow roasting pan and fill it with hot water until three-quarters full. Place your cheesecake pan into the hot water and transfer to the oven. Bake in the centre of the oven for 55 minutes-1 hour. It is ready when the sides are firm but the centre is still a little jiggly. The top should be lightly golden. Once baked, turn your oven off, open the door slightly and leave the cheesecake inside the oven for 1 hour.

Step 5

After this time, remove the cheesecake carefully from the oven and remove the foil from around the pan. Leave the cheesecake to cool down, then place it in the refrigerator to chill completely overnight.

Step 6

The next day, carefully remove the cheesecake from the pan and remove the parchment paper. Dust with icing sugar and cut into slices to serve.

Note: If you’re at a Polish grocery shop, look for twaróg sernikowy. It’s used for cheesecakes and is already smooth, like regular cream cheese or curd cheese.

RACUCHY

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Racuchy, pancake fritters, “are a childhood favourite in most Polish kitchens,” says Ren Behan. Photo by Nassima Rothacker

Pancake Fritters with Stewed Apples and Honey-Roasted Plums

Makes: 12

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup (250 mL) milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
2 tbsp vegetable oil, or as needed, for frying
Icing sugar or ground cinnamon, for dusting
Whipped cream, to serve

For the stewed apples:
3 eating apples, peeled, cored and cubed
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp white sugar or light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp water

For the honey-roasted plums:
6 plums, halved and pitted
3 tbsp light brown sugar
A generous drizzle of honey

Step 1

Make the stewed apples first. Put the apples, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon into a saucepan, add the water, cover with a lid, and cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Step 2

If serving with the roasted plums, preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Place the plums, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the sugar and drizzle with honey. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until soft.

Step 3

For the pancake fritters, put the eggs into a bowl with the flour, baking powder, milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt and sour cream or yogurt. Whisk everything together until you have a smooth batter.

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Step 4

Heat the oil in a large, wide frying pan over medium heat. Using a large tablespoon, spoon some of the batter into the pan to form an American-style pancake. Place 1 tablespoon of the stewed apples into the centre, then top with a little more batter. Repeat to make two other pancake fritters in the pan. Fry on one side for 1-2 minutes until golden, then carefully flip each pancake fritter over and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes on the other side. Transfer the pancake fritters to a plate lined with paper towels once fried. Add a little more oil to the pan each time and fry the pancake fritters in batches of three at a time, so that you don’t overcrowd the pan.

Step 5

Serve the pancake fritters with a dusting of icing sugar and eat straight away, or serve them with the roasted plums, whipped cream, and a sprinkling of cinnamon for an extra treat.

STEFANKA

“There are various iterations of (Stefanka), but honey layer cake is, of course, very popular because you can get Ukrainian honey layer cakes. You can get Polish honey layer cakes. Honey is a very traditional ingredient, full stop, in that part of the world,” says Ren Behan of the chocolate and honey layer cake. Photo by Nassima Rothacker

Chocolate and Honey Layer Cake

Serves: 12

For the sponge cake:
A little butter, for greasing
6 eggs
1 cup (200 g) sugar, preferably superfine or icing sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) honey
2 1/2 cups (300 g) cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or almond extract

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For the semolina filling:
3 cups (750 ml) milk
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1/2 cup (90 g) semolina
1 stick and 6 tbsp (200 g) butter, at room temperature

For the honey soak:
2-3 tbsp honey mixed with 2-3 tbsp water

In addition:
1 x 10 1/2 oz (300 g) jar of plum butter, plum jam or other fruit conserve

For the chocolate topping:
5 1/2 oz (150 g) good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
7 tbsp (100 g) butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp honey

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350F (180C). Grease and line two 9×12-in (23×30-cm) rectangular baking pans with butter and parchment paper.

Step 2

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. This will take 10 minutes, so be patient. Add the honey and beat again. Sift in the flour and baking powder, and stir with a metal spoon until incorporated. Stir in the ground almonds and vanilla or almond extract.

Step 3

Pour the batter equally into your cake pans, tap gently on the work surface to settle any bubbles, and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans.

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Step 4

Once cool, turn out the cakes and slice them evenly so that you have four thin layers of cake.

Step 5

For the semolina filling, gently bring the milk, sugar and vanilla to a rolling boil in a saucepan. Pour in the semolina and stir continuously until the mixture thickens. This will take at least 10 minutes on low heat. Take care so that the mixture in the bottom of the pan does not burn. Tip the mixture into a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down on the semolina, and set aside to cool.

Step 6

When the filling has cooled completely, beat the butter in a separate clean bowl until fluffy, then add the cooled semolina to the butter, a tablespoonful at a time, until it is all incorporated.

Step 7

I prefer to assemble the cake in a rectangular pan lined with fresh parchment paper. Place one layer of sponge cake into the pan and brush with a third of the honey soak. Next, spread a thin, even layer of plum butter/jam over the cake, then spread a third of the semolina filling over that. Repeat for the next two layers and leave the top layer plain.

Step 8

For the chocolate topping, melt the chocolate, butter and honey together over low heat until smooth and glossy. Leave to cool slightly, then pour the topping over the cake.

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Step 9

Leave the whole cake to cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. When ready to serve, carefully remove the cake with the parchment paper around it, then remove the paper before serving.

Recipes and images excerpted from The Sweet Polish Kitchen: A Celebration of Home Baking & Nostalgic Treats by Ren Behan. Copyright ©2023 by Ren Behan. Published by Interlink Books. First published in 2023 in Great Britain by Pavilion, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

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