Recipe for: Spring Potato Babka with Bacon and Asparagus - photo 1
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Recipe for: Spring Potato Babka with Bacon and Asparagus

Main dishes Regional Cuisine of Poland 90 min Medium 1 wyświetleń ~23.77 PLN * - (0)
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Description

Traditional Polish potato cake served in a spring version: a crispy golden top, moist interior with pieces of smoked bacon, and a delicate sorrel sauce on the side. The dish combines the rustic flavor of potatoes with the smoky aroma of bacon and the freshness of seasonal asparagus. It is suitable as a hearty main dish for a family dinner or a festive table; it pairs wonderfully with sour sorrel sauce or simple sour cream with dill. Visually, it attracts with the contrast of the golden-brown cake and the bright green additions.

Ingredients Used

Ingredients (14)

Servings:
4
  • Potatoes 8 szt. (~1200 g)
  • Chicken egg 3 szt. (~180 g)
  • Onion 2 szt. (~300 g)
  • Smoked bacon 200 g
  • Wheat flour 80 g
  • 18% cream 200 ml
  • Butter 30 g
  • Rapeseed oil 30 g
  • Asparagus 200 g
  • 🌿 Przyprawy
  • Salt 8 g
  • Black pepper 4 szczypty (~2 g)
  • Marjoram 4 g
  • ✨ Opcjonalne
  • Sorrel 30 g
  • Dill 1.5 pęczki (~30 g)
💰 Szacowany koszt dania: ~23.77 PLN (5.94 PLN/porcję)
* Brak cen dla niektórych składników

💡 Kliknij na składnik aby oznaczyć jako użyty

Preparation steps

Preparation of ingredients

1

Wash the potatoes under cold water. Peel them with a peeler. Peel the onion and cut it in half, then dice it finely. Cut the bacon into cubes about 1 cm on each side. Take the eggs out of the fridge to bring them to room temperature (about 20 minutes before use). Preheat the oven to 200°C (top-bottom).

Ingredients: Onion, Smoked bacon
Use a sharp potato peeler and a stable cutting board. It's a simple preparation, but sometimes the bacon can slip — hold it in place with your hand. Preheat the oven while you prepare to reach the desired temperature.

Preparing the potatoes

2

Grate the peeled potatoes on a fine grater or in a food processor with a fine shredding disc. Try to grate quickly so that the mixture doesn't darken. After grating, transfer the potatoes to a very clean kitchen towel or a gauze diaper and wrap the mixture in it.

Use a large bowl under the grater to collect the juice. If you don't have a grater — use a food processor with the appropriate attachment. Take breaks while grating to avoid tiring your hands.
3

Squeeze the cloth with the potatoes over a bowl or sink — extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the mixture in batches and squeeze firmly until you have a relatively dry, lumpy potato mass. Keep the starch collected at the bottom of the bowl — it will be needed as an additional binding agent.

Press as hard as you can until the cloth is almost dry — this is the key to a crispy cake. You can use a potato ricer or squeeze it tightly with your hand. Keep the liquid and starch separate.

Sautéing

4

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon (15 g) of rapeseed oil. Add the chopped bacon and fry over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until the fat renders and the cracklings start to brown. Add the chopped onion and fry for another 5-6 minutes, until the onion becomes soft and slightly golden. Transfer the bacon with the onion to a plate, leaving the fat in the pan.

Ingredients: Rapeseed oil, Smoked bacon, Onion
Use a wide skillet with a diameter of 24–28 cm. Do not fry on too high heat — the bacon will become tough. The cracklings should be crispy, and the onion should be translucent and sweet.

Babka cake

5

Transfer the drained potato mixture to a large bowl. Add the cooled cracklings with onion, crack in the eggs, sprinkle in the wheat flour and marjoram. Add a tablespoon of starch from half the bowl (if you collected it) along with salt and pepper. Finally, add the 18% cream and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients are combined — the mixture should be firm but not dry. Check the seasoning: heat a small pan and fry a teaspoon of the mixture; if the taste is good — the mixture is ready.

Ingredients: Smoked bacon, Onion, Wheat flour, Marjoram, 18% cream, Salt, Black pepper
Use a wooden spoon or a mixer with a whisk attachment on low speed. If the mixture is too runny, add a spoonful of flour; if too dry, add 1–2 tablespoons of cream. The mixture is ready when it holds its shape and does not spread after being formed.

Preparing the pan

6

Grease the bundt pan, 24 cm springform, or cast iron skillet well with butter and brush a thin layer of oil (20 g of butter for greasing the pan). Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on the bottom — tap the pan to remove excess flour.

Ingredients: Butter, Rapeseed oil, Wheat flour
The best is a 24 cm springform pan or a cast iron baking skillet. If you are using a skillet, remember that it needs to be placed in a hot oven — check that the handle is metal and can withstand the temperature.

Baking

7

Transfer the potato mixture to the prepared dish and smooth the top with a spoon. Place it in the preheated oven at 200°C and bake for 25 minutes, until the top sets and lightly browns. After 25 minutes, open the oven and brush the top with melted butter (remaining butter 10 g) to speed up browning, then reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 25–30 minutes. The cake is ready when the top is deep golden and a skewer inserted comes out dry or with a few small potato crumbs.

Ingredients: Butter
Use the middle of the oven (middle rack). If you have a convection setting, reduce the temperature by 10–15°C. Check the doneness with a skewer — it doesn't have to come out perfectly dry, the potato mixture should remain moist but not raw.

Preparing asparagus

8

Prepare the asparagus: snap off the tough ends (by bending the asparagus in your hands at the natural breaking point). In a pot, bring salted water to a boil (1 l of water for 200 g of asparagus + 4 g of salt). Add the asparagus and blanch for 2–3 minutes (depending on thickness) until they are bright green and slightly crisp. Immediately transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking. In a pan, melt 10 g of butter, briefly sauté the drained asparagus for 1–2 minutes, and season with salt and pepper.

Ingredients: asparagus, Salt, Butter, Black pepper
For blanching, use a large pot of boiling water. The asparagus should cook briefly — they should be firm. Cooling them in ice-cold water will stop the cooking process and preserve their color.

Sorrel sauce (optional)

9

If you are using sorrel: chop the sorrel leaves and dill. In a small pan, heat 1 tablespoon of cream (about 30 g) with 1 tablespoon of butter (10 g), add the chopped sorrel and sauté for 1–2 minutes until wilted. Add the remaining cream (170 g), season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Finally, stir in the chopped dill. The sauce should be creamy and slightly tangy.

Ingredients: sorrel, Dill, 18% cream, Butter, Salt, Black pepper
Optional step — it's worth preparing the sauce at the end of baking so that it is fresh and green. If you don't have sorrel, you can serve simple sour cream with dill (add dill to the sour cream and season).

Finishing and serving

10

Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for 8–10 minutes to allow the mixture to "stabilize" a bit. Gently remove it from the mold (if using a springform pan, run a knife around the edges). Cut into 6–8 thicker pieces. On a plate, place a piece of the cake, next to it lay 4–5 asparagus spears, drizzle with optional sorrel sauce or set a bowl of sour cream sprinkled with dill.

Ingredients: asparagus, sorrel, Dill, 18% cream
Use wide serving plates. If the cake is stuck to the bottom, hold the pan over hot steam for a few seconds — the steam will help loosen it.

Fun Fact

💡

Potato babka is a dish with peasant roots — it used simple, local ingredients like potatoes. In southern and central Poland, there were local variations with the addition of bacon, onion, or cottage cheese.

Best for

rodzinny obiad wiosenny obiad regionalne spotkanie kulinarne

Tips

🍽️ Serving

Serve hot, straight out of the oven, with a sour sauce (e.g. sorrel sauce) or with thick sour cream with dill. For a festive version, you can add thin slices of fried bacon on top. A side of young cabbage salad or cucumber cold soup pairs well.

🥡 Storage

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days in a sealed container. Reheat in the oven at 180°C for 10–15 minutes to regain crispness. Freezing is not recommended — the texture of the potato may become mushy after thawing.

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