Placek is a Polish bread, topped with sweet crumbles, and has always been a staple in my family, especially around the holidays. My Oma (German for Grandma) always, always made a few loaves of Placek whenever we visited, and while she is no longer with us, it will always remind me of home, her love for her family, and the holidays spent with her in Buffalo, NY. As we come up on the holiday season (already, I know!) I thought there was no better time to share one of my favorite dishes that brings back the best memories.
While no one will ever be able to make this as perfect as Oma did, my family all tries, and even if we can’t reach her level of perfection, we still enjoy having Placek whenever we are together. While we typically have it for breakfast, you can enjoy Placek any time of the day, and I can guarantee you’ll be hard pressed to save any leftovers.
This sweet breakfast bread is so special to my family and I, that I have a copy of the recipe in Oma’s handwriting hanging in my kitchen, and my sister had cutting boards engraved with the same recipe card for my cousins, aunt and mom. I’ve included pictures in the blog below of these sweet keepsakes. Give this recipe a try, and be sure to share your thoughts, I know Oma would be overjoyed to see others enjoy it as much as I did growing up.
What You’ll Need
You don’t need much to make this delicious bread – just cake mix, canned apple pie filling, eggs, vanilla, butter, sugar and flour.
Getting Started
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two loaf pans.
In a large mixing bowl, using a food processor or immersion blender, puree the apple pie filling until smooth.
Add 3/4 cups of the flour, eggs, vanilla and cake mix and mix until well combined and smooth.
Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans.
In a food processor, combine the remaining flour, sugar and butter until well blended and crumbs begin to form. The crumbs are the best part, so I recommend doubling these ingredients (this is what I did for this batch and is what you see pictured).
Using your hands, crumble the topping over the loaves evenly.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until set. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool.
Serve
Once cooled, remove the loaves and slice to serve.
Oma’s Placek
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 can apple pie filling
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup flour
Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two loaf pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a food processor or immersion blender, puree the apple pie filling until smooth.
- Add 3/4 cups of the flour, eggs, vanilla and cake mix and mix until well combined and smooth.
- Divide the batter between the two prepared loaf pans.
- In a food processor, combine the remaining flour, sugar and butter until well blended and crumbs begin to form. The crumbs are the best part, so I recommend doubling these ingredients (this is what I did for this batch and is what you see pictured).
- Using your hands, crumble the topping over the loaves evenly.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until set. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool.
- Once cooled, remove the loaves and slice to serve.
Basil & Thyme 