Discover the vast and varied Polish baking tradition, old and new, Jewish and diasporic, in this authoritative collection of 120+ recipes from James Beard Award finalist Laurel Kratochvila.

Poland’s distinctive baking culture is a product of its rich and complicated history, from the World Wars to the rise of Communism to the cultural exchange that inevitably happens to a country with seven neighbors and endless migration. Step into the Polish piekarnia (bakery) and be greeted by an abundance of tiny cookies and rugelach, decorative layer cakes and cheesecakes, sweet yeast buns and danishes, and hearty rye breads and sourdough loaves.

In this repertoire-expanding baking book, American-born, Berlin-based baker and 2023 James Beard Award finalist Laurel Kratochvila brings you more than 120 familiar and inventive treasures—innovative recipes of her own and from pioneering Polish bakers, including: Horseradish, Beet, and Summer Greens Bialys; Sunflower Rye Loaf Plum Butter; Carnival Donuts; Rano Piekarnia’s Summer Bilberry Buns; Chocolate and Whipped Cream Warsaw Cake; Karpatka (Cream and Choux Cake); Soft Iced Torun Gingerbread; Rose and Almond Jewel Rugelach; Twisted Krakow Bagels; Sauerkraut and Mushroom Rolls; and much more.

Vivid storytelling and fascinating historical details illuminate each recipe’s significance: If you want to start a fight with a French person, tell them that baba au rhum is Polish. In the eighteenth century, while exiled in France, Polish King Stanislaw I sent a dry babka back to the kitchen, spurring his pastry chef to soak it in sweetened alcohol to everyone’s delight—and thus, the emblematic French dessert was born in a Polish court.

Beautiful photography makes it feel as if you're right there beside Laurel, stepping into a warm bakery on a cold winter's day, picking baskets of wild bilberries in July, and biting into a soft yeasted bun, jammy strawberries oozing down your chin. Cheesecakes, wafer cookies, gingerbread, country loaves: these recipes aren't just for those curious about the new wave of Polish bakeries or nostalgic for the old-world treats or Jewish delights of their childhood—they're for any home baker looking to fill their cookie jars and bread boxes with inspiration.