This is a list of Polish desserts. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Central European cuisines, especially German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines, [1] as well as Jewish, [2] Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian, [3] French and Italian culinary traditions. [4]
Name | Image | Description |
---|---|---|
Andruty kaliskie | Light sweet, flat waffles | |
Babka (baba) | | A sweet yeast cake that's also consumed in other areas of Eastern Europe |
Budyń (kisiel mleczny) | | A milk-based dish with the consistency of a thick gel, popular as a dessert. |
Chałka | ![]() | Sweet white wheat bread from Jewish cuisine |
Chocolate-covered prune (śliwki w czekoladzie) | ![]() | Chocolate with an entire dried plum as a filling |
Ciepłe lody | | Waffle cone filled with very sweet egg white mousse, sometimes topped with chocolate |
Drożdzówka | ![]() | Sweet roll made with yeast dough and variety of fillings |
Faworki (or chrust) | ![]() | Angel wings |
Karpatka | ![]() | A cream pie with custard-like filling. |
Kisiel (kisiel owocowy) | ![]() | A fruit dish with the consistency of a thick gel, popular as a dessert. |
Keks | ![]() | Cake with candied and dried fruit. |
Kogel mogel | | An egg-based homemade dessert popular in Eastern Europe made from egg yolks, sugar, and flavorings such as honey, cocoa or rum. It is similar to eggnog. A Polish variation includes the addition of orange juice, creating a taste similar to an Orange Julius. |
Kołacz | | A traditional Polish pastry, originally a wedding cake |
Krówki | ![]() | Polish fudge; semi-soft milk toffee candies. |
Kutia | ![]() | A sweet grain pudding, traditionally served in Ukraine, Belarus and some parts of Poland. |
Strucla z makiem (makowiec) | ![]() | Polish poppy seed roll. A pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread (a viennoiserie) with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed, raisins with almond essence. |
Makówki | ![]() | A traditional poppy seed-based dessert from Central Europe. |
Mazurek | ![]() | A variety of pastry (a cake) baked in Poland, both at Easter, and also at Christmas and holiday season. [5] Pictured is traditional home-made mazurek. |
Mieszanka Wedlowska | E. Wedel mix; assorted chocolate covered candy | |
Miodek turecki | ![]() | Candy sold during All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day at cemeteries in Kraków |
Napoleonka (kremówka) | ![]() | A Polish cream pie made of two layers of puff pastry, filled with whipped cream, creamy buttercream, vanilla pastry cream (custard cream) or sometimes egg white cream, and is usually sprinkled with powdered sugar. [6] |
Pączki | ![]() | Pastries traditional in Polish cuisine; the Polish word pączki is often translated to English as " doughnuts ". |
Pańska Skórka | ![]() | Hard taffy sold at cemeteries during Zaduszki and at Stare Miasto (Old Town) in Warsaw |
Pawełek | Chocolate bar with a flavored filling that contains a small amount of alcohol. | |
Prince Polo | ![]() | A mass-produced candy bar made in Poland. Pictured is the milk chocolate and hazelnut variety. |
Ptasie mleczko | ![]() | A soft chocolate-covered candy filled with soft meringue (or milk soufflé). [7] |
Ptyś | ![]() | A round small cake, made with choux pastry, filled with cream (made with whipped cream) and sprinkled with powdered sugar. |
Racuchy | ![]() | Small pancakes often made with yeast dough often stuffed with apples and served with powdered sugar. |
Rogal świętomarciński | | Croissant stuffed with white poppy seeds, traditionally prepared in Poznań on the occasion of Saint Martin's Day |
Ruchanki | ![]() | Flat, oval racuchy from bread dough or sponge cake, hot fried on fat. |
Rurki z kremem | ![]() ![]() | Tubular-shaped pastries with sweet filling |
Sękacz | ![]() | A popular Lithuanian-Polish traditional cake. Dough is ladled on a rolling cylinder creating distinctive layers and characteristic peaks (sęki). |
Sernik | ![]() | A baked cheesecake is one of the most popular desserts in Poland, made primarily by using twaróg, a type of fresh cheese. |
Szarlotka | | Apple cake called szarlotka or jabłecznik is made from sweet crust pastry and spiced apple filling. It can be topped with kruszonka (crumbles), meringue, or a dusting of caster (powdered) sugar. An additional layer of budyń (milk kissel) sometimes can be found. In restaurants and cafes, it is usually served hot with whipped cream and coffee. |
Toruń gingerbread (toruńskie pierniki) | ![]() | A traditional Polish gingerbread often flavoured with honey. |
Torcik Wedlowski | E. Wedel tart; a large, circular, chocolate covered wafer with hand-made decorations | |
Wuzetka | | A chocolate sponge and cream pie originating from Warsaw |
Kutia or kutya is a ceremonial grain dish with sweet gravy traditionally served mostly by Eastern Orthodox Christians and some Catholic Christians predominantly in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, but also in parts of Lithuania and Poland during the Christmas – Feast of Jordan holiday season or as part of a funeral feast. The word with a descriptor is also used to describe the eves of Christmas, New Year, and Feast of Jordan days.
Knödel or Klöße are boiled dumplings commonly found in Central European and East European cuisine. Countries in which their variant of Knödel is popular include Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. They are also found in Scandinavian, Romanian, northeastern Italian cuisine, Ukrainian, Belarusian and French (Alsatian) cuisines. Usually made from flour, bread or potatoes, they are often served as a side dish, but can also be a dessert such as plum dumplings, or even meat balls in soup. Many varieties and variations exist.
Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, matzo meal or flour and a binding ingredient such as egg or applesauce, often flavored with grated garlic or onion and seasonings. They may be topped with a variety of condiments, ranging from the savory, to the sweet, or they may be served plain. The dish is sometimes made from mashed potatoes to make pancake-shaped croquettes. Some variations are made with sweet potatoes.
Pączki are filled doughnuts found in Polish cuisine.
Polish cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other national cuisines. Polish cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.
Pierogi or pierogies are filled dumplings, made by wrapping unleavened dough around a filling, and occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish, finally cooked in boiling water.
European cuisine comprises the cuisines originating from the various countries of Europe.
Eastern European cuisine encompasses many different cultures, ethnicities, languages, and histories of Eastern Europe.
Kugel is a baked casserole, most commonly made from lokshen or potato. It is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish, often served on Shabbos and Jewish holidays. American Jews also serve it for Thanksgiving dinner.
Kalduny or kolduny are dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms or other ingredients, made in Belarusian, Lithuanian, and Polish cuisines, akin to the Polish pierogi, Russian pelmeni and the Ukrainian varenyky.
Belarusian cuisine refers to the culinary traditions native to Belarus. It shares many similarities with cuisines of other Eastern, Central and Northeastern European countries, based predominantly on meat and various vegetables typical for the region.
Smetana is the English-language name for the types of sour cream traditionally prevalent in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It is a dairy product produced by souring heavy cream. It is similar to crème fraîche, but nowadays mainly sold with 9% to 42% milkfat content depending on the country. Its cooking properties are different from crème fraîche and the lighter sour creams sold in the US, which contain 12 to 16% butterfat. It is widely used in cooking and baking.
Šakotis is a Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian traditional spit cake, similar to the German Baumkuchen. It is a cake made of butter, egg whites and yolks, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire.
Sorrel soup is made from water or broth, sorrel leaves, and salt. Varieties of the same soup include spinach, garden orache, chard, nettle, and occasionally dandelion, goutweed or ramsons, together with or instead of sorrel. It is known in Ashkenazi Jewish, Belarusian, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Armenian, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian cuisines. Its other English names, spelled variously schav, shchav, shav, or shtshav, are borrowed from the Yiddish language, which in turn derives from Slavic languages, like for example Belarusian шчаўе, Russian and Ukrainian щавель, shchavel, Polish szczaw. The soups name comes ultimately from the Proto-Slavic ščаvь for sorrel. Due to its commonness as a soup in Eastern European cuisines, it is often called green borscht, as a cousin of the standard, reddish-purple beetroot borscht. In Russia, where shchi has been the staple soup, sorrel soup is also called green shchi. In old Russian cookbooks it was called simply green soup.
The poppy seed roll is a pastry consisting of a roll of sweet yeast bread with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling of poppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of minced walnuts, or minced chestnuts.
A Polonophile is an individual who respects and is fond of Poland's culture as well as Polish history, traditions and customs. The term defining this kind of attitude is Polonophilia. The antonym and opposite of Polonophilia is Polonophobia.
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central, Eastern, Northwestern and Northern Europe, and their descendants, particularly in the United States and other Western countries.
Poland's cuisine, influenced by its German, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian, and other conquerors over the centuries.