Let's try "Bác," a Czech potato cake baked in a rectangular pan and served as a side dish with the main course. It has a wonderful aroma of garlic and ham, and each bite melts in your mouth. Traditional Czech cuisine has never tasted better!
➜ About the recipe
This dish is traditional to the area of western Bohemia that includes the towns of Domazlice and Plzen. People in other parts of the Czech Republic may have never heard of this specialty dish because it's considered a regional delicacy.
The base of the savory dish consists of yeast batter made from shredded potatoes, warm milk, flour, and spices. The risen dough is poured into a rectangular sheet pan and baked in the oven until the surface turns golden brown.
➜ Pronunciation
The dish is known in Czech as bác, báč, bacán or liťák.
Curious how to pronounce these Czech words? I have recorded a short audio clip with my (real) Czech. The first word you can hear is bác, the second báč, the third bacán, and the last one liťák!
Please keep in mind that this recipe, like many other Czech dishes, has several variations. In my recipe, you will find a version where I add garlic, fried bacon, and ground black pepper to the savory cake. If you want a more neutral tasting cake, just omit these ingredients.
MY TIP: A fan of potato dishes? Try another Czech classic, bramboraky, pan-fried potato pancakes!
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech savory potato cake from scratch, you will need:
- Raw potatoes; any all-purpose variety such as Yukon gold (if you are based in the US). In some versions of the recipe, the potatoes are cooked with their skins on, let cool, peeled, and run through a potato ricer. However, I've used the raw shredded potato method with success.
- All-purpose flour; in the USA, you can use Wondra flour, which has a coarser texture than plain wheat flour
- Dry yeast; or fresh yeast if you get some
- Egg; the egg gives the cake a better structure and makes sure it doesn't fall apart and stays together better
- Milk; warm. Some of the milk will serve for the initial yeast starter; the rest will be poured into the bowl with the other ingredients when making the cake batter.
- Sugar; to feed the yeast while making a starter
- Fresh garlic; for a typical Czech flavor!
- Ground black pepper and salt; to taste
- Lard; or unsalted butter. Some for frying the ham, then for greasing the baking dish and brushing the cake surface while baked to help it become crispy and golden.
- Smoked ham; cubed. Ham or bacon is added to the savory cake to make it more festive. To enhance the taste, I fried the ham cubes in a pan beforehand.
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
Equipment: I baked the potato cake in a rimmed cast iron rectangular pan with handles measuring 9x12 inches (22x30 cm). In Czech, this type of cookware is called a "pekac."
Feel free to use a 9x13 inches baking dish, which is the most common in the US. The potato cake will be slightly lower, but that will not affect the delicious outcome.
➜ How to make sheet pan potato cake
Before you start: Peel the garlic cloves and mash them using a hand presser.
STEP 1: Make yeast starter: Mix about half a cup of lukewarm milk in a small bowl with a teaspoon of sugar and the dry yeast. Allow to rise in a warm place until foam forms on the surface. This process takes about 10 minutes.
STEP 2: Cut the ham into small cubes and fry it in two teaspoons of fat in a frying pan over medium heat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
STEP 3: Peel the raw potatoes and shred them finely. I use a hand box grater (not a food processor) for this. Then put the potato shreds in a sieve and squeeze the excess liquid over the sink.
TIP: Learn how to peel and shred raw potatoes.
STEP 4: Put the shredded squeezed potatoes, eggs, flour, activated yeast starter, remaining lukewarm milk, fried ham, mashed garlic, salt, and ground pepper into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mix until combined. The result should be a batter of semi-liquid consistency.
STEP 5: Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour.
TIP: I let the yeast batter rise in a closed oven with a pot of hot water on the bottom.
⤍ Learn how to make dough rise in the oven.
STEP 6: Grease the baking dish with fat (lard or butter). Pour the raised potato mixture into it and smooth the surface.
STEP 7: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and bake the potato cake for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C). For a delicately crispy crust, brush the cake surface with a tablespoon of melted lard or butter, and bake for another 5–10 minutes until the cake turns golden.
➜ Serving
Old World Bohemians commonly served this savory cake warm and sliced as a tasty side dish to the main course, most often with sauces.
The more add-ins to the cake, such as crackling, ham, garlic, or marjoram, the more likely it is to be eaten as a separate dish.
Enjoy savory Czech cake for breakfast, a snack, or a light dinner. If you want to eat authentically as the Czechs did many years ago, add a scoop of sauerkraut.
➜ Storage
At room temperature: Cover the completely cooled cake with a clean kitchen towel and store it on the kitchen counter, where it will keep for about three days.
In the fridge: Cut the cooled cake into slices and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about six days.
In the freezer: Bac cake freezes perfectly. Stack the cooled cake slices in an airtight container and store them in the freezer, where they will last for at least four months.
➜ Useful tips
- In some villages around Domazlice, people sprinkled the cake's surface with poppy seeds before putting it in the oven. If you like poppy seeds, try this way too.
- If you like the smell of marjoram, a typical Czech spice, add a teaspoon of it to the potato batter.
More Czech potato recipes:
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Savory Potato Cake (Czech Bác)
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk warm but not hot
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar to make yeast starter
- 2 teaspoons lard (or unsalted butter)
- 5 medium potatoes such as Yukon golds
- 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and pressed
- ½ Tablespoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 7 ounces smoked ham
Instructions
- Before you start: Peel 3 cloves garlic and press them.
- Make yeast starter: Mix about half a cup of lukewarm milk in a small bowl with ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons active dry yeast. Allow to rise in a warm place until foam forms on the surface.
- Cut 7 ounces smoked ham into small cubes and fry it in 2 teaspoons lard in a frying pan over medium heat. Set aside and allow to cool completely.
- Peel 5 medium potatoes and shred them finely. I use a hand box grater (not a food processor) for this. Then put the potato shreds in a sieve and squeeze the excess liquid over the sink.
- Put the shredded squeezed potatoes, 1 egg, 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, activated yeast starter, the rest of 2 cups milk (lukewarm), fried ham, mashed garlic, ½ Tablespoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, mix until combined.
- Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour.
- Grease the baking dish with fat (lard or butter). Pour the raised potato mixture into it and smooth the surface.
- Preheat the oven to
350 °F and bake the potato cake for 30 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400 °F. For a delicately crispy crust, brush the cake surface with a tablespoon of melted lard or butter, and bake for another 5–10 minutes until the cake turns golden.
Notes
- Makes about 16 slices.
- SERVING: Old World Bohemians commonly served this savory cake warm and sliced as a tasty side dish to the main course, often accompanied by sauces. The more add-ins, like crackling, ham, garlic, or marjoram, the more likely it is to be enjoyed as a standalone dish.
- In some villages around Domažlice, a small town in west Bohemia, people sprinkled the cake's surface with poppy seeds before baking it. If you like poppy seeds, give this method a try!
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