Mazurek Królewski
There are many traditional Polish baked goods that cross over from one holiday to the next but it is the Mazurek that is a signature aspect of Polish Easter, specifically. That’s why we’ve asked one of America’s favorite Polish food bloggers to give us a simple recipe for this unique cake! Take a look below for a homemade recipe for the Royal Mazurek (Mazurek Królewski) by Karolina Klesta of the Polish Foodies blog!
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The Royal Mazurek or Mazurek Królewski is a beautiful shortcrust pastry that's popularly eaten as a traditional Easter dessert. Sometimes filled with walnuts, sometimes jam, sometimes frosting, and sometimes all three of these, the pastry is often seen in a lattice-like format.
But where in Poland did the mazurek originate?
There are a few different legends about this - all different!
- One legend says that Mazurek may have been brought to Poland by the Turks when they were trading spices in the 17th century.
- Another one says that the flat mazurek cake was invented by the Lecithic Mazurzy tribe that lived in the Masovian mountains, probably near Plock.
- The third legend tells that this cake is named after the Polish folk dance mazurka.
We might never find out the true origins of the mazurek, but we do know that it will always be a part of the Easter dinner table.
The Easter mazurek is made by rolling out dough into a round or rectangular shape and then creating a lattice pattern across it with more dough.
The lattice gets filled with cream frosting or different flavors of fruit preserve, or sometimes even chocolate icing.
You'll also find mazurek wielkanocny made without lattice too. You'll find them decorated like Easter bunnies and pussy willows, or simply covered with lots of almonds.
One thing to remember while making a mazurek, you should never make it more than 2.5 cm or 1 inch tall!
A rich dessert that graces the feasting tables of homes in Poland, no wonder the mazurek is also called the royal królewski!
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Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 30 minutes
Additional time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 55 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Royal Mazurek dough ingredients
- 3 sticks of butter (330g)
- ¾ cup (150g) of sugar
- 3 cups (360g) of all-purpose flour
- 5 eggs (4 boiled egg yolks + raw egg yolk)
- 3.5oz (100g) of crushed blanched almonds
- zest of half an orange
- a pinch of salt
Other ingredients
- a jar of thick jam (10oz/280g)
- icing sugar
RECIPE DIRECTIONS
- Hard-boil 4 eggs. Peel and separate egg yolks from egg whites. You will need 4 boiled egg yolks only.
- Separate 1 raw egg yolk from egg white. You will need 1 raw egg yolk only.
- Mix all the ingredients for the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Line a baking sheet (14''x17'') with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).
- Roll out ¾ of the dough on the parchment paper. It should be about ½" (1.5cm) thick.
- Using a knife, cut the edges of the dough to shape it into a square.
- Use the remaining dough to make the diamond-shaped lattice. Remember to shape the edges as well.
- The dimples in the dough should be deep enough to place the jam inside after baking.
- Bake for about 35 minutes and allow to cool.
- Place some thick jam inside each of the dimples.
- Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Smacznego!