Fale Dunaju is a Polish apple cake with cocoa. It is a very soft coffee cake where the key flavours are given by the baked apples and unsweetened cocoa. Cut through it and you’ll see how special this cake is as each slice displays a beautiful wavy pattern. It’s what gives it its name, which translates as waves of the Danube cake.
Waves of the Danube cake
Fale Dunaju is a fantastic apple cake. The addition of cocoa to apple cake makes it incredibly tasty, and the texture is firm but soft, which makes Fale Dunaju an excellent cake to enjoy with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. But this Polish apple cake’s strongest asset is definitely its appearance. Every slice displays a beautiful wavy pattern. This is achieved by pressing sliced apples through the 2 layers that make up this cake. The cake will naturally rise as it bakes, but the weight of the apples will prevent it from rising uniformly. This creates the waves of the Danube.
Flowing through various cities such as Budapest and Vienna, the Danube is the second-longest river in Europe. The river does not flow through Poland, though. In fact, despite having a Polish name and being a well established Polish apple cake recipe, Fale Dunaju derives from a German recipe, Donauwelle. The German name means exactly the same thing, waves of the Danube. The apple cake recipe most likely made its way across Poland when part of it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The main difference between Donauwelle and Fale Dunaju is the fruit used to create the wavy pattern. The Austrian-German version has sour cherries, while the Polish cake uses apples. The variation was likely simply caused by produce availability. Poland is the largest producer of apples in Europe, and the 4th in the world (as of 2017). Donauwelle is also traditionally topped with buttercream, while I have often encountered the Polish version just topped with sugar.
Apple juice and bison grass vodka make up Poland’s most renown cocktail.
Fale Dunaju ingredients
To make this Polish apple cake with cocoa you will need:
- Room temperature margarine
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Apples
- Coarse cane sugar for topping
You don’t need to use margarine unless you wantto keep this cake dairy free. If I don’t have margarine around I will use butter, they both work great. The reason I’m listing margarine here is because I am following my grandma’s recipe, and that was her fat of choice for baking.
Here’s another Polish dessert with apples: apple rice pudding!
Serve this chocolate apple cake with a scoop of homemade hazelnut ice cream!
How to make this Polish apple cake
- Peel and slice the apples, and set aside. They may slightly brown as they sit, but this will in no way affect the final product.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the whites to soft peaks. While mixing, add a little sugar, then set aside.
- In another bowl, cream the margarine with the rest of the sugar. Add the yolks, one at a time.
- Sift the baking powder and half of the flour into the margarine mixture and fold in by hand using a spatula. Once incorporated, fold in the second half of the flour. The batter should be rather firm.
- Gently fold in the egg whites making sure not to knock too much air out of them. This will make the batter runnier and fluffier.
- Pour half of the batter into a 24-cm round cake pan and spread it all over the bottom, making an even layer.
- Sift the cocoa powder into the rest of the batter and fold in. Spread cocoa batter all over the other batter layer.
- Press apple slices into the batter, making sure to pierce right through both layers so that the fruits touch the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle the cane sugar all over the cake top. Bake the cake at 180°C (360°F) for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Avoid testing near an apple slice as the cake might be more moist there.
More Polish recipes
Make a Polish-themed dinner and serve this cake as dessert! Here are some Polish recipes to warm up a lovely fall/winter dinner!
- Start off with a bowl of Pomidorowa, Polish tomato soup. Very often soup is served as a starter in Poland, to fill up the empty stomach with something warm and comforting before the main dish.
- Continue with these delicious chicken livers with onions – serve them with a slice of sourdough bread to fully appreciate the buttery main.
- Add a warm drink on the side, and Polish mulled beer is just the perfect choice.
In the mood for more cake? Make sure to try this Polish honey semolina cake, too! That is actually my favourite Polish cake!
Do you like Polish or Eastern European cuisine? Let me know in the comments! And of you want more inspiration on lovely Eastern European food, go check out my posts on where to eat Polish in Krakow as well as what we saw and what we ate two days in Vilnius.
This recipe was originally published in October 2015 and has been updated in October 2020.
Polish apple cake "Fale Dunaju"
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
- Spatula
- Mesh sieve
- Tablespoons
- Cutting board and knife
- Baking tin
Ingredients
- 250 g margarine (room temperature)
- 200 g sugar
- 5 eggs (room temperature)
- 300 g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 apples
- 1 tbsp coarse cane sugar
Instructions
- Peel and slice the apples, and set aside. Don't worry if they slightly brown as they sit. This will not be a problem once the apples get cooked in the cake.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the whites to soft peaks. While mixing, add a little sugar, then set aside.
- In another bowl, cream the margarine with the rest of the sugar. Add the yolks, one at a time.
- Sift the baking powder and half of the flour into the margarine mixture and fold in by hand using a spatula. Once incorporated, fold in the second half of the flour. The batter should be rather firm.
- Gently fold in the egg whites making sure not to knock too much air out of them. This will make the batter runnier and fluffier.
- Pour half of the batter into a 24-cm round cake pan and spread it all over the bottom, making an even layer.
- Sift the cocoa powder into the rest of the batter and fold in. Spread cocoa batter all over the other batter layer in the baking pan.
- Press apple slices into the batter, making sure to pierce right through both layers so that the fruits touch the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle the cane sugar all over the cake top.
- Bake the cake at 180°C (360°F) for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Avoid testing near an apple slice as the cake might be more moist there.
Wow gorgeous!
Thank you! 🙂
so pretty!
Looks so so good! And pretty too! I agree wiht Lynz 🙂
Family recipes never let you down 😀 Thanks!!
The cake looks great and very tasty!
Thank you very much! It really tastes great, you should try it!
Eva, this is such a lovely family recipe, and I love the beautiful pattern on top of the cake! I have missed your posts very much and was so happy to see that you had posted today! However, I completely understand — life can become very busy and time can fly by so quickly!
I was feeling really sorry to be away from the blog because it had become a routine I was enjoying a lot, but I was so busy I completely lost track of time – November is almost over? ùHow did that happen?! I’ll try to get back to a little more regular blogging now!
I completely understand — it seems the last few months have flown by very quickly! It’s wonderful to hear from you again, Eva!
I could stare at these cake photos for hours….WOW!
Thanks a lot! I tried to include some other objects in the pictures, not only cake-related, and I like how they fit in the photos 🙂
Looks delicious! I’m definitely going to try that soon. 🙂
Please do! It has a wonderful soft texture 🙂
This apple cake is gorgeous, Eva! Family recipes are always the best! 🙂
Thanks Jessica!! ^^ And I totally agree, you never ever ever go wrong with family recipes 🙂
I’ve never heard of this type of cake before, but would love to try because it looks delicious! Love the chocolate and apple pairing here. Bet it smells AMAZING as it bakes 🙂
YES! It fills the kitchen with a wonderful apple and cocoa scent. The only thing that beats that smell is the flavour of the cake when you finally get to taste it 😀
this one won my heart totally. I just love the top. I have never tried a polish recipe before. I guess what best other than an apple cake.
I think every place has a traditional recipe for apple cake or pie, or apple something (I’m thinking strudel). Glad I had this chance to introduce you to a Polish recipe!!
I generally don’t think about pairing chocolate with apples, but this cake has such a striking, beautiful appearance. I love the waves!
Once I just ditched the apples and used pears (that’s what I had). I also couldn’t care less about the wavy pattern and just went all chocolate (because chocolate and pear is heaven). It was divine! So if you think that you would like it better like this, I’d say go for pears!
I love the idea to add cocoa powder to an apple cake. I’ve never tried that before but the flavor combination sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it!
It is quite peculiar to have cocoa powderin an apple cake recipe, I agree. I hope you enjoy!
It certainly is a lovely recipe. Don’t you just love traditional recipes passed down in a family. I wish I would have known my Italian grandparents but they died when my parents were young. There is a decided German influence in our Italian food because of where we lived. I’d love to have a taste of your apple cake.
I am guessing your roots are in the Trentino Alto Adige region then, if you speak of German influences in your food? Italian food is much more varied than what people tend to know. I am from one of the regions that border with France and we do share something of our food tradition with the French of the region just across the Alps. My husband is from the other side of northern Italy and his food is heavily influenced by the Balkans and by Austria! It’s amazing how rich a food heritage can be!
I love fall just because it is apple season!! This cake looks like the perfect recipe to make with all of the apples I am going to be buying!
Fantastic! I’m glad I helped you plan for an apple recipe now that it’s the perfect time for that kind of baking!
This cake is gorgeous! It certainly lives up to its name. I would love to make it for a fall harvest celebration.
I’m happy I revamped this post in time for apple season because I love sharing this recipe!
What a beautiful cake! I really like the addition of chocolate to the top layer. This would be perfect for a fall treat.
It really is, I make it every fall. When apples are in season and all you need is the comforting flavour of a childhood favourite… Autumn is also my favourite season, so it all pairs up so wonderfully.
Wow! This is so pretty and I love how few ingredients it takes to make! That is my favorite part!
It’s really simple! Perfect to bring to parties, it requires minimum effort (well, if you don’t count the whisking workout!) and it always pleases the crowds 😀
I love family recipes. I wish I had gotten more from my grandmother before she passed. Thanks for sharing!
Having her recipes as her legacy is what makes me feel like she’s still around. She passed away earlier this year and it still feels so strange. But she lives on in her recipes, and I think it is a beautiful way to be remembered.
That is one gorgeous cake!! love that ripple effect on the inside. Definitely nice to see a new cuisine (:
I’m glad you got to see something new in my post 🙂