Mazurek kajmakowy
Caramel Mazurek Easter Tart- Yield
- One 13 x 9-inch tart; 24 small squares
- Active
- 40 minutes
- Total
- 3 hours, including chilling and cooling
- Difficulty
- Easy
The story
Mazurek is the flat Easter tart of Poland, and in Polish the word covers a whole family of them. Most start with a thin shortcrust base, sometimes a sponge, and some are built in two layers. The topping can be walnut, almond or hazelnut cream, jam, icing, jelly or kajmak, the thick milk caramel used in this version. An older name is ciasto mazurskie, and Polonist files the tart under Mazovia, the region around Warsaw. Mazurek is also baked for Christmas Eve, but it is above all an Easter cake, listed with babka, cheesecake, żurek and white borscht among the things a Polish Easter table must have. It is served on Easter Sunday, which falls on March 28 in 2027.
The decoration is the part people remember. Bakers cover the caramel with walnut halves, almonds, candied orange peel or dried fruit, and some pipe melted chocolate into willow twigs, with flaked almonds standing in for the catkins. This version is baked as a rectangular sheet, which leaves room for patterns, and cut into small squares because the topping is rich.
Bake the base up to two days ahead and spread the caramel on Holy Saturday, so it has a night to set before the Easter table is laid.
Ingredients and method
The full recipe, with US and metric measures and stand-ins for hard-to-find ingredients, is part of the Easter edition. Buy it once and keep the PDF.
Want to try first? Barszcz biały is free to cook.