Top 9 Must-Try Polish Cakes: Bake and Enjoy!

Polish cakes are something special in Poland’s dessert scene! I’ll introduce you to classics like Babka and Makowiec, as well as hidden gems waiting to be discovered.

If you like baking, you’ll find some amazing Polish cake recipes to add to your repertoire.

 Let’s give these delicious cakes a proper introduction!

9 Traditional Polish Cakes

I’m craving a crumbly cake or some vanilla-flavored pastry cream. What about you? I hope you find it on this list!

Polish cheesecake, or sernik, is made with twaróg (fresh farmer’s cheese), sugar, eggs, and occasionally sour cream or heavy cream.

This type of cake can be made with or without a crust. The crust is usually shortcrust pastry or cookie crumbs.

Sernik can be flavored with vanilla, citrus, or raisins and served with fruit preserves or sour cream.

I really enjoyed this Polish recipe and I hope you do too!

Karpatka is a Polish dessert from the Carpathian mountain region. It’s made of two layers of choux pastry filled with luscious vanilla cream.

I love the look and taste of this cake. It’s so good sprinkled with powdered sugar on top.

It’s also surprisingly easy to make, with the choux pastry baking up light and airy.

If you like honey and sponge cake, they come together in this popular dessert called miodownik.

Honey cakes often have buttercream frosting between their sponge layers, and a chocolate icing or ganache on top.

In this recipe, it takes a bit of a turn and gets served as a moist and crumbly bundt cake. Sounds fantastic to me! 

It’s even better if you make it with dark honey for a richer flavor.

Unique to chocolate pumpkin babka are the autumnal tastes of pumpkin and rich chocolate.

A maple brown sugar frosting tops off this sweet treat, making it the star of any show.

Although babka is more sweet bread than a cake, I couldn’t resist including it here. In any case, cakes were initially bread variations.

So go ahead and serve it for your special occasions!

This yeast-enriched, no-knead lemon babka is a Polish Easter staple. Its lemon zest and vanilla taste create a delicate, fluffy pastry with the proper sweetness and acidity.

I love the lovely lemon icing on this lemon babka! It really gives it a cake-like flavor, although you can always opt for a simple sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Spreading Nutella over buttery brioche dough creates a delicious sweet-nutty taste. 

After baking to a golden crisp, Nutella Babka is best served sliced to show the chocolate pattern.

I think it’s an amazing alternative to regular chocolate cake. Plus, who can resist Nutella?

I absolutely love making apple pie. In this Polish recipe, the apple filling is seasoned with brown sugar and cinnamon to top a buttery, flaky crust.

A cookie-like dough that’s woven into a lattice gives it a very pie-like appearance. But you can assemble it any way you like.

For example, you can put your apple filling between two layers of dough for a more traditional cake-like look.

Warm szarlotka topped with vanilla ice cream is my favorite way to serve this dessert.

Sękacz (Polish Tree Cake)

Sekacz, or “Tree Cake,” is a beautiful Polish version of spit cake. Thin layers of batter are placed on a rotary spit and cooked briefly before adding more layers.

When sliced, the cake resembles tree rings, hence the name.

Spit cakes vary across Europe. You can learn more about Czech Trdelník and Romanian Kürtőskalács in my collection of renowned Czech desserts and traditional cakes from Romania.

Makowiec (Poppy Seed Cake)

Add Polish culture to your events with makowiec, a poppy seed cake. It’s a beautiful Polish cake with poppy seeds, honey, sugar, and sometimes almonds or raisins.

When you slice it, you’ll see a beautiful braided or swirl pattern in the filling. 

Makowiec is popular year-round, but the holidays make it even more special.

Have you ever tried any of these Polish cake recipes? Leave a comment with your story!

Interested in Polish foods? Discover the best Polish cookie recipe with my guide to kolaczki and enjoy other finger foods from Poland.