Butter cake with currants and streusel Recipe
Butter cake with currants and streusel is a classic Polish sheet cake from a rectangular pan, perfect for weekend baking “for everyone”. It has a buttery, fluffy base, tart, juicy currants and a thick, loudly crunchy streusel topping. This version is designed for a large amount of fruit, doesn’t collapse and holds up well to slicing and transport.
This type of butter cake with currants and streusel is a typical Polish sheet cake baked in a large pan, often seen on garden plots and at family gatherings in summer, usually made with fruit from your own bushes.
This sheet cake combines a strongly buttery, homemade character with a generous amount of tart currants that don’t sink into the batter. The streusel is a full-fledged layer rather than just a sprinkle – after baking it forms a thick, crunchy crust. Thanks to the stable base, the cake is easy to cut into squares for picnics or to take to work.
Why this version works
- A relatively high amount of butter gives a moist yet stable base.
- Well-dried currants limit juice leakage and reduce the risk of a soggy, underbaked layer.
- Chilled, thick streusel bakes evenly and stays crunchy for longer.
- A 20×30 cm pan ensures an even height and a properly baked center.
Chef's tips
If you’re using freshly rinsed currants, give them a few minutes on paper towels – the surface should be matte, not shiny with water, otherwise the juice will thin the batter too much., The most common mistake is cutting the cake straight from the oven; the center then streaks like it’s underbaked, even though it would be perfect after cooling., If your oven heats strongly from below, bake on the middle rack and, if needed, switch to top heat only for the last 5 minutes to finish the streusel without burning the bottom.
How to serve
Cut into square pieces and serve on a large board with a bowl of sour cream or thick yogurt on the side so everyone can add a spoonful to complement the tart currants., It’s a great dessert after a light summer grilled meal or a “sheet pan” bake for school fairs, picnics and garden plots – easy to pack and serve without plates.
Watch out for
- Do not overmix the batter after adding the flour so you don’t overdevelop gluten.
- A layer of batter that’s too thin in the pan will dry out easily at the edges.
- If your oven browns strongly from the top, you can lightly cover the cake with baking paper towards the end.
- Do not cut the cake while hot – the center will look underbaked even if it would be perfect once cooled.
Substitutions
- You can replace up to 60 g of wheat flour with ground almonds for a nutty note.
- Part of the currants can be replaced with sour cherries or gooseberries, keeping the total amount of fruit the same.
- Swap vanillin sugar for a teaspoon of vanilla extract added to the butter.
Ingredients
- butter soft, for the cake - 150 g
- sugar for the cake - 130 g
- eggs at room temperature - 3 pieces
- flour wheat, for the cake - 220 g
- baking powder - 2 teaspoons
- milk at room temperature - 80 ml
- red or black currants fresh or frozen, without stems - 250 g
- vanillin sugar for the cake - 1 teaspoon
- flour wheat, for the streusel - 80 g
- sugar for the streusel - 50 g
- butter cold, for the streusel - 50 g
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (top and bottom heat). Line a roughly 20×30 cm pan with baking paper with higher sides and press it well into the corners so the batter doesn’t escape underneath.
- Prepare the streusel: put 80 g flour and 50 g sugar into a bowl, add cold butter cut into cubes. Rub with your fingers until you get crumbs ranging from fine sand to pea-sized pieces, then place the bowl in the fridge so the streusel firms up well.
- Rinse the currants in a sieve, dry thoroughly with paper towels and remove them from the stems. The fruit should feel dry to the touch; if using frozen currants, do not thaw them, just break up any clumps into individual berries.
- Beat the soft butter with the sugar and vanillin sugar on high speed for 4–5 minutes, until the mixture clearly lightens in color, increases in volume and looks like a light buttercream.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing briefly after each addition just until combined. If the mixture temporarily curdles and looks grainy, don’t worry – it will smooth out once you add the flour.
- Mix 220 g flour with the baking powder. Add it to the butter mixture alternately with the milk: a portion of flour, mix briefly, a portion of milk. Mix only until combined, until the batter is smooth, thick and slowly falls from the spatula.
- Transfer the batter to the pan and level it with a spatula, making sure to spread it well into the corners. The surface should be even, without dips, because fruit juice can pool in any hollows.
- Scatter the currants evenly over the top. If they are very juicy, dust them lightly with a tablespoon of flour – the fruit should be only lightly coated, not completely white.
- Take the streusel out of the fridge, rub any larger clumps between your fingers and sprinkle it over the cake, leaving some small gaps here and there so steam can escape. The streusel layer should be distinctly thick and irregular.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the streusel is golden and the edges of the cake slightly pull away from the paper. A skewer inserted into the center should come out dry or with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Cool in the pan and slice only once it is at least lukewarm.
Storage
It’s best on the day of baking, when the streusel is at its crunchiest. After 1–2 days in a cool place the streusel softens from the juice and the center becomes more compact; you can refresh the crunch by briefly reheating a slice in the oven.
When I bake this cake for a trip to the garden plot, I cut it into squares right away and pack them into a metal tin – the streusel stays pleasantly crunchy even the next day.
