Šakotis

Sękacz

Polish sękacz
Type Cake
Region or state Lithuania, Poland
Creator Bona Sforza or the Yotvingians
Cookbook:Sękacz  Sękacz

Lithuanian šakotis, Polish sękacz ("tree cake"; literally "branchy"[1]) is a Polish-Lithuanian traditional spit cake. It is a cake made of butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and cream, cooked on a rotating spit in an oven or over an open fire.

History

The cake (center) served onto plates (right and left) showing interior rings like a tree when cut

The cake became popular during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1791). Its origins are attributed to either the Italian Queen Bona Sforza of Poland or the Baltic tribe of Yotvingians. The Yotvingians settled in the early and high Middle Ages in Podlasie, while Bona Sforza is known to have implemented many agriculture, infrastructure and manufacture reforms.[2]

Its name means "branched tree" or "tree with many branches" due to its distinctive shape (it is often conical, like a pine tree, and with the drips as branches). It is baked in a time- and labor-intensive process,[3] by painting layers of dough onto a rotating spit in a special open oven or over an open fire.

It can be decorated with chocolate and flower ornaments, but it is often served plain. Šakotis is one of the most important desserts in Lithuanian celebrations, especially at weddings or other special occasions such as Christmas.[4]

It was the sweet chosen to represent Lithuania in the Café Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lankauskas, Gediminas (2015). The Land of Weddings and Rain: Nation and Modernity in Post-Socialist Lithuania. U of Toronto P. pp. 208–11. ISBN 9781442612563.
  2. ↑ Klaus Klöppel: Polnische Ostseeküste: Danzig, Masuren, Baedeker, ISBN 3-8297-1171-9
  3. ↑ Bremzen, Anya von (2014). Det goda sovjetiska köket: Minnen, mat och längtan (in Swedish). 2244. p. 242. ISBN 9789186729592.
  4. ↑ Baker, Mark; Presser, Brandon; Dragicevich, Peter; Richmond, Simon; Symington, Andy (2012). Lonely Planet Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania. Lonely Planet. p. 43. ISBN 9781743213049.