Drobenka is used in the Czech Republic to sprinkle on sweet pastry before it's baked in the oven. For instance, we use drobenka to sprinkle „koláče“ or „bublanina“.
Drobenka is also called žmolenka in some Bohemian regions or posypka in Moravia.
Our German neighbors call it Streusel, and the closest word for it in the USA is probably crumb topping or simply streusel.
How to Make Streusel Topping?
The basic ingredients are flour, granulated sugar, and butter. The secret of streusel topping lies in the correct ratio between these three.
In the Czech Republic, the streusel topping (drobenka) is made from 2 parts of flour, 1 part of butter, and 1 part of sugar – 2:1:1 ratio.
Mix all the ingredients together using your fingers to get a crumbly mixture. No blender this time, please!
Useful Tips
- Fruit pies require more drobenka because fruit is juicy, and drobenka absorbs the juice.
- To add more taste to drobenka, add cinnamon, ground almonds, or vanilla.
- If you want the drobenka to be crunchy after baking, add one egg yolk to the basic ingredients.
- Use softened butter in the drobenka; it will be easier to work with.
My mom’s cake made from sweet yeast dough topped with drobenka / žmolenka / posypka, or simply streusel topping:
Questions Answered:
Classic Czech drobenka is made from flour, coarse sugar and butter in ratio 2:1:1.
To keep drobenka crunchy even the next day, add one yolk while making it.
The problem is in adding too much butter. Try to make drobenka crumb topping using basic ingredients in the ratio: 1 part of butter, 1 part of coarse sugar, 2 parts of flour, combine thoroughly with your fingers.
Recipe
Drobenka - Czech Streusel Topping
Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ stick (65 g) butter cut into small pieces
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Mix everything with your fingers until a thick, crumbly heap forms – all done in 5 minutes!
- Sprinkle on kolaches or buchta sheet cakes.
Notes
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Tara Mckeithen
I need the recipe to the blueberry coffee/breakfast cake. My grandmother would make a cake sprinkled with this streusel topping on it .. the recipe here with blueberries is too thin .. my grandmother passed in 1983 and i haven’t had it since .. PLEASE HELP ME!
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Tara, thank you for your comment; I'd be happy to suggest recipes for streusel coffee cakes that might work well with blueberries. Please try these: Plum streusel coffee cake or Apricot streusel sheet cake, both are tried and tested recipes using streusel topping that I can highly recommend. Best wishes, Petra
Sarah
This is a really easy way to spice up your fruit pies! They have always been a bit bland for me, but after I discovered drobenka and tried it my pies have been much better received.
Petra Kupská
This Czech drobenka / posypka topping is most often used on fruit pies, and you're right. When you sprinkle streusel on a pie, you elevate it a level higher! 🙂
Melanie Goad
I have tons leftover after making kolaches is there a way to save the leftovers?
Petra Kupská
Stored in the fridge, the streusel topping will definitely keep for at least a week. I'm not sure if the drobenka topping can be frozen effectively. Apparently so, but I don't have any own experience with it.
I would try adding some flour to the crumbles to make the topping more "dusty", and then I would make a small cake in the sense of this recipe: Crumble sheet cake
Something like:
1. layer of streusel topping
2. layer sweetened cottage/tvaroh/farmers cheese diluted with a little milk poured over streusel topping
3. layer of fruit (small pieces of any fruit)
4. a final layer of little streusel topping (if any left)
Then bake the cake in the oven until done. The baking time depends on the cake size.
I hope this helps!
Melanie
Thank you so much for your reply! My great-grandparents came to the states from Beharovice in Moravia and I am really enjoying discovering the food from their country through your blog. Thank you for doing this in English!