Polish Cake
- apprenticecakemum
- Apr 12
- 3 min read
This is such an easy crowd pleaser for adults and children alike. My mother used to make it for all of our family birthdays or celebrations and that tradition has continued amongst my sisters and myself, and will most likely carry on into future generations. It can be made in 15 minutes and is set and ready to eat in an hour.
I am not sure where Mum found this recipe, but our neighbours were Polish, so that may have been the source. Don't you sometimes wish that you had asked your parents more detail and insights about their childhood and early adult life while they were still alive. If you are lucky enough to still have your parents around, then don't waste this precious opportunity.
Ingredients:
115 g (4oz) unsalted butter or margarine (I prefer butter)
230g (8oz) good quality digestive biscuits (not the horrible tasting cheap ones )
250g (9oz) of milk chocolate, the eating, not cooking variety. (This is an approximate measurement depending on how thick you like the chocolate top layer .)
20g (One tablespoon) Golden Syrup
10g (Two dessert spoons) of Bournville cocoa powder. ( I know how outrageously expensive it is, but it actually makes a massive difference to the end taste, so sort out sponsorship or get your extended family to bail you out, after all, they will hopefully get the benefits, as long as you and your lot don't pig out first. )
Method :
Dissolve the butter, golden syrup and cocoa powder in a saucepan on low heat, stiring to mix well. Once fully combined, turn off the heat, but leave on the stove top.
At the same time melt the chocolate using whichever melting technique you prefer (See Foundation Kitchen Skills )
Crush the digestive biscuits. The easiest and quickest way, is to break the biscuits by hand into pieces into a large freezer bag, seal the end, then using a rolling pin, bash the biscuit pieces to break them into a crumb. Take care to avoid overdoing it, we want a rough crumb, not a fine mix. So not a full on angry vent bash, but a genteel firm bash. Try and get the right mode, it makes the difference between a concrete cake base and a delicious, easy to cut biscuit base which will work seamlessly with the final product.
Once you are ready, add your perfectly bashed biscuit crumb to the ingredients in the pan.
Grease a lined cake tin or pyrex pie dish, approximately 18cm (7 inches)
Press the mixture in the pan into the dish using moderate, not heavy pressure, aiming for an even surface. If you press it down too hard, you will find it much more difficult to cut into pieces once set.
Pour the melted chocolate over the biscuit layer and spread evenly to cover the whole surface.
Cover with a plate or cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour or until ready to eat.
Let me know what you think.
I have actually so far, never come across anyone of any age, that didn't love this bake. But you may have a different outcome or taste experience, so please get in touch. The amazing thing is, that totally new insights and ideas come from each of your experiences and feedback, and that is what makes all of this so exciting and creative.
I think we should think of ourselves as a total team, all learning these skills together. But at the same time helping each other with our own successes, failures and taste preferences, or indeed, new discoveries.
How else can we all grow to the best that we want to be, and do it together. ( I'm not quite as enlightened as all of this sounds, but you get the gist )
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