Cuisine: The Polish Palate
Course: Desserts, Baking
Diet: Vegetarian, Pescatarian
Occasion: Dessert & Tea Time, Comfort Food, Afternoon Snack, Summer Harvest, Spring Harvest, Culinary Heritage, Brunch

Drożdżówka z Truskawkami (Traditional Polish Strawberry Yeast Cake)

A rustic, pillowy yeast cake topped with jammy fresh strawberries and a thick, buttery crumble.
Prep time 30m
Temp 180°C (356°F)
Cook time 45m
Rest time 2h 5m
Total 3h 20m
Yield
12
Per serving:
359 kcal
52g Carbs
7g Protein
12g Fat
By Adam Dworak
Published: 09 September 2026

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Ingredients

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Kitchen Kit

  • Large Mixing Bowl
  • 23 x 33 cm Baking tin
  • Baking paper
  • Measuring Jug
  • Small saucepan
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Tea Towel
  • Paring knife
  • Skewer

Method

  1. Warm the milk slightly (it should be blood temperature, not hot). Crumble the fresh yeast into a jug, pour in the warm milk, and stir in 15g of the sugar and 15g of the flour. Leave it in a warm spot for 15 minutes until frothy and alive.
  2. Melt half of the butter (80g) in a small pan and set it aside to cool completely.
  3. Chuck the remaining 80g of cold butter into a bowl. Tip in 100g of the flour and 65g of the sugar. Use your fingertips to rub the mixture together until it forms heavy, clumpy boulders. This is your kruszonka. Chuck it in the fridge to chill.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, crack in the eggs and whisk them with the remaining 80g of sugar and the vanilla extract until pale.
  5. Tip the remaining 485g of flour and the salt into the egg mixture. Pour in the foamy yeast liquid. Bring it together with a wooden spoon, then turn it out onto a surface and knead for 5 minutes until a rough dough forms.
  6. Slowly pour the cooled, melted butter over the dough. It will look like a slippery mess at first—don't panic. Keep kneading and bashing for another 5 to 8 minutes until the butter is completely absorbed and the dough is smooth, glossy, and elastic.
  7. Pop the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and leave in a warm place for about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
  8. While the dough proves, hull the strawberries and slice them in half.
  9. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23x33 cm rectangular baking tin with parchment paper.
  10. Punch the air out of the risen dough. Tip it into the lined tin and use your knuckles to gently stretch and press it out to the corners.
  11. Scatter the halved strawberries evenly over the dough, pressing them in slightly. Grab your chilled kruszonka from the fridge and crumble it generously over the top of the fruit. Let the tin sit uncovered for a final 20 minutes to puff up slightly.
  12. Bake in the centre of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the crumble is deeply golden. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.
Chef's Note & Storage
Room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in a tea towel for up to 3 days. Do not refrigerate, as the cold will stall the crumb and make it stale faster.
00:00

Polish Summer in a Tin

There is no smell quite like it. When late spring bleeds into summer and the local markets are suddenly flooded with deep red, sun-warmed strawberries, every Polish kitchen pivots to yeast dough. Drożdżówka z truskawkami is the undisputed king of the afternoon coffee break. It’s a rich, pillowy yeast cake that acts as a mattress for tart fruit, capped off with a thick, buttery rubble of 'kruszonka' (crumble). It is rustic, forgiving, and exactly the sort of bake that demands to be torn apart with your hands rather than sliced with a knife.

CHEF'S SECRET: The enemy of a good yeast dough is rushing the fat. If you add your melted butter before the gluten has had a chance to form, it coats the flour proteins and prevents them from linking up. Always knead your dough until it starts to feel elastic, and only then stream in the cooled, melted butter.

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The Kruszonka Philosophy

A proper Polish crumble isn't a dusty afterthought; it is a structural element. You want it heavy, buttery, and clumping together in distinct boulders rather than fine sand. Making it first and chilling it while the dough proves ensures it holds its shape in the oven, baking into golden, biscuit-like nuggets that provide the essential textural crunch against the soft fruit and yielding crumb.

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