When it comes to škubánky, you would hardly find any similar recipe in world cuisine. Škubánky is a typical Czech sweet treat made from boiled potatoes combined with flour, sprinkled with poppy seeds and sugar.
What Are Škubánky
Škubánky is a sweet dessert made from boiled starchy potatoes with added flour. Flour is steamed with the hot boiled potatoes and then mixed in a smooth mass.
Škubánky is shaped with two greased spoons, then put on the plate and sprinkled with ground poppy seeds and powdered sugar. At the end, melted butter is poured over škubánky.
My tip: Try these Poppy seed noodles, Czech "nudle s mákem", too!
Pronunciation
I recorded a short audio clip on pronouncing the Czech word škubánky. The first word in the audio is "škubánky", the last is "škubánky s mákem", which means škubánky with poppyseed.
Ingredients
The main ingredient for making škubánky are starchy brown potatoes.
- Brown potatoes; high in starch
- Water; for cooking the potatoes
- Flour; ideally coarse flour, in Czech we use “hrubá mouka”, in the USA semolina/farina should work as well, or grab plain all-purpose flour
- Salt
For the topping: ground poppyseed, powdered sugar, unsalted butter
Instructions
While the list of ingredients for the škubánky recipe is pretty short, you should follow these steps correctly to get a perfect result.
STEP 1: Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium dices about ½ inch in size.
STEP 2: Place the diced potatoes in a pot, add water, and only cover the potatoes (that means not too much water). Salt the water.
STEP 3: Bring to a boil, reduce the temperature, cook the potatoes for 15 minutes until soft.
STEP 4: Drain ½ water, keep the rest in a pot, set aside (no more cooking).
STEP 5: Crush the hot potatoes with a hand masher immediately, get a wooden spoon and make about 20 holes with its reverse side through the mashed potatoes until you reach the bottom of the pot.
STEP 6: Add flour evenly to cover the whole surface of mashed potatoes. Some flour will also fall into the holes.
STEP 7: Cover the pot with a lid, keep the steam going through the flour for 15 minutes.
STEP 8: Remove the lid, mash the potatoes again, then get a wooden spoon and mix everything. A smooth mass should be created. This step might be a bit difficult; don’t give up and continue until “škubánky dough” is ready. It can take about 5-10 minutes.
STEP 9: Form the škubánky using two tablespoons.
Serving
Place the škubánky on a plate, dust with poppyseed, powdered sugar, top with melted butter. Serve warm. Dobrou chuť 🙂
🍰 More Czech desserts:
- Krupicová kaše – semolina porridge
- Lívance – yeasted pancakes
- Bábovka – marbled bundt cake
MY TIP: Škubánky on their own taste neutral. You can serve them as a side dish for example with bacon or grated cheese.
Here are day old škubánky fried in butter, served with salmon:
Storing
Store the škubánky covered with a foil in a fridge. They last for about three days.
There is one secret: škubánky tastes even better the second day, fried from all sides in a pan with melted butter. This way, they’ll get a nice crispy golden crust.
Czech Škubánky s mákem
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ lbs (650 g) starchy potatoes
- 1 and ½ cups (360 ml) water
- 1 and ⅔ cups (220 g) flour
- salt
Topping
- 3 Tbps ground poppy seeds
- 5 Tbsp powdered sugar
- melted butter
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and dice them into medium dices about ½ inch in size.
- Place diced potatoes in a pot, add water, and only cover the potatoes (that means not too much water). Salt the water.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the temperature, cook potatoes for 15 minutes until soft.
- Drain ½ water, keep the rest in a pot, set aside (no more cooking).
- Crush the hot potatoes with a hand masher immediately, get a wooden spoon and make about 20 holes with its reverse side through the mashed potatoes until you reach the bottom of the pot.
- Sprinkle flour evenly over mashed potatoes and cover the whole surface. Some flour will also fall into the holes.
- Cover the pot with a lid, keep the steam going through the flour for 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid, mash the potatoes again. Get a wooden spoon and mix mashed potatoes in a smooth mass.
- This step might be difficult, don’t give up and continue until “škubánky dough” is ready. It can take about 5-10 minutes.
- Using two spoons dipped in lard, shape škubánky.
- Place škubánky on a plate, dust with poppy seeds, powdered sugar, top with melted butter. Serve warm.
Notes
- Makes 3 portions.
- If possible, always use potatoes high in starch.
- On the second day, you can fry škubánky from all sides in a pan with melted butter. They’ll get a nice crispy golden crust.
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
Oh-oh, your link for lupacky ends up at this recipe for skubanky!
I just found your website and I am VERY impressed with the quality of your work, the layout, ease of use, all the descriptive information about when and how to serve a recipe, good English, etc. I know it all comes from more than a stay-at-home mom who is cooking for her two teenage boys!
I love my Czech heritage and exploring Czech cuisine, and will continue to use your site as an excellent reference. My father's family--Kotval surname--originated near Kutna Hora. I am connected with very distant relatives who now live in Usti nad Labem. My mother's family--Bohac and Hejny surnames--originated south of Tabor. I have traveled twice around the Czech Republic and have visited all of the home villages.
Hi Pamela, thank you so much for your kind comment, I really appreciate it!
I'm lucky that I enjoy running a blog with Czech recipes and I hope that my enthusiasm won't leave me.
Oh, those Czech towns you mentioned are scattered all over the Czech Republic! Kutná Hora is a beautiful historic town, as is Tabor in southern Bohemia. Ústí nad Labem, on the other hand, is in northern Bohemia, relatively close to where I live.
I hope the time will come soon when we can travel without restrictions and you will come to Bohemia again. I think there are a lot of places worth discovering here.
Many greetings from the Czech Republic, Petra