Polish yeast traybake
Yeast traybakes usually fail on one thing: the dough is dense because too much flour went in. An enriched dough with butter and eggs is entitled to be sticky for the first ten minutes of kneading — adding flour at that point turns a fluffy cake into a bread roll. The sponge starter is the second condition: it shows whether the yeast is alive at all.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Sponge starter 20 min
- Kneading 15 min
- Rising 70 min
- Crumble 10 min
- Rising in the tray 20 min
- Baking 40 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMake the sponge and test the yeast
Crumble the yeast into the warm milk, add a spoonful of sugar and three of flour, stir and leave for 20 minutes. It should foam visibly and double. If nothing happens after 20 minutes the yeast is dead — there is no point going further.
Ingredients: 150 ml milk · 30 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 3 tbsp plain flour
TipTest the milk on your wrist: it should be barely warm. Above 45°C the yeast dies and no later step will help.
A foaming cap after twenty minutes — the yeast is alive.Knead through the stickiness
Add the flour, remaining milk, sugar, eggs, salt and zest to the sponge and knead 8 minutes. Then pour in the lukewarm melted butter in a stream and knead another 7 minutes. The dough will be sticky — do not add flour, after the butter it leaves the bowl by itself.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 100 ml milk · 90 g sugar · 120 g butter · 3 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 pcs lemon
TipThe dough is ready when it pulls away from the bowl and stretches into a thin membrane without tearing.
Smooth and glossy, leaving the sides — with no extra flour.Let it rise
Cover and leave somewhere warm for 60–70 minutes until doubled. A finger dent should spring back slowly. Dough enriched with butter and eggs rises more slowly than plain bread — do not rush it with more heat.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 100 ml milk · 90 g sugar · 120 g butter · 3 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 pcs lemon
Rub the crumble
Rub the flour, sugar, cinnamon and cold butter between your fingers into pea-sized lumps. Chill it until baking — warm crumble melts into the cake instead of sitting on top.
Ingredients: 800 g Italian prune plums · 120 g plain flour · 90 g sugar · 80 g butter · 1 tsp cinnamon
Spread the dough and fruit
Spread the dough in a lined 25×35 cm tray. Arrange the plums cut side up, close together and press them in lightly. Cut side up — otherwise the juice runs into the dough and makes a soggy layer. Cover with a cloth and leave for 20 minutes so the dough puffs up again; meanwhile heat the oven to 180°C.
Ingredients: 800 g Italian prune plums · 120 g plain flour · 90 g sugar · 80 g butter · 1 tsp cinnamon
Cut side up and packed close — the juice stays in the fruit.Bake for forty minutes
Scatter over the crumble and bake at 180°C for 38–42 minutes. Test with a skewer between the fruit, not in it. The cake should be dry and the crumble golden. Cool on a rack and dust with icing sugar.
Ingredients: 800 g Italian prune plums · 120 g plain flour · 90 g sugar · 80 g butter · 1 tsp cinnamon
Before you start
Other fruit
Rhubarb, apples, apricots and blueberries all work. Toss very juicy fruit in a spoonful of flour — it binds the excess juice.
Soggy layer under the fruit
A wet layer beneath the fruit usually means too much juice. Scatter a spoonful of breadcrumbs over the dough before arranging the fruit.
Shelf life
Yeast traybake is best on the first day and stales fast. Sliced and frozen it keeps a month; reheat 10 minutes at 160°C.
