Magda's Cauldron

If you had asked me years ago which Polish dessert would completely steal the hearts of guests on my Kraków food tours, racuchy z jabłkami wouldn’t have been my first guess.

We have so many showstoppers in Poland. There’s our rich, velvety sernik (cheesecake), or delicious szarlotka. Racuchy, simple, yeast-risen apple pancakes dusted with powdered sugar, always felt almost too humble to mention. To me, they were just the food my grandma made on a chilly afternoon when I came home from school, using simple ingredients she always had in her pantry.

But time and time again, as we sit around the table and guests take their first bite of these golden, fluffy pancakes, something magic happens.

It turns out that childhood comfort food speaks a universal language.

Why fresh yeast makes all the difference

Fresh yeast gives the dough a cloud-like interior, a gentle chew, and that deep, nostalgic aroma that fills the entire home as they fry. Combined with tart autumn apples, it’s a texture that’s worth waiting for.

Racuchy z jabłkami / Traditional Polish apple pancakes

• Servings: Makes 15-20 pancakes
• Prep Time: 1 h 20 min
• Cook Time: 20 min
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Fluffy Polish apple pancakes (racuchy) made with a yeast dough and diced apples. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

Ingredients

• 250 g flour (all-purpose flour)
• 15 g fresh yeast (or approx. 5 g / 1.5 tsp dry active yeast)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 50 g butter (melted)
• 250 ml milk (lukewarm)
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 1–2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
• powdered sugar for dusting
• oil for frying

Dough

1. Prepare the yeast starter: Crumble the fresh yeast, mix with ½ tablespoon of sugar and half of the lukewarm milk. Set aside until it starts to bubble.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine the flour, egg mixture, yeast starter, remaining milk, melted butter, and salt.
4. Beat until you get a smooth, thick batter.
5. Fold the diced apples into the batter.
6. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
7. Heat oil in a frying pan.
8. Spoon portions of the batter onto the pan.
9. Flip when the edges lightly golden brown. Fry until golden on both sides.
10. Transfer the fried pancakes onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain off excess fat.
11. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.

Recipe adapted from Kuchnia Polska pod redakcją Stansiława Bergera