Polish Easter mazurek with kajmak: shortcrust, a thick caramel layer, walnuts and candied peel
The Easter mazurek in one of its best-loved versions: a thin, crisp shortcrust made with butter and egg yolk, a thick layer of kajmak (dulce de leche) made from boiled condensed milk, and walnuts, raisins and candied peel arranged in rows on top. The kajmak cooks itself in the can for two and a half hours; you can also buy it ready-made. Flat, sweet, cut into small squares, because nobody manages more than one.
Your own work in that: 35 min.
- Kajmak cooking 150 min
- Shortcrust 15 min
- Chilling 30 min
- Baking 20 min
- Cooling 30 min
- Kajmak and decoration 20 min
- Setting 60 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneCook the kajmak in the cans
Put the unopened cans of condensed milk in a pot, cover with water by at least 5 cm and simmer 2.5 hours, topping up with boiling water so the cans stay submerged the whole time. Lift out and cool completely before opening. Best done the day before.
Ingredients: 2 pcs sweetened condensed milk · 60 g butter
TipA can sticking out of the water can burst. Keep it submerged throughout, and open it only when cold: hot kajmak under pressure spurts.
Cans under water, two and a half hoursMake the shortcrust
Rub the cold cubed butter into the flour, icing sugar and salt to crumbs, add the yolk and sour cream and quickly bring together into a ball. Flatten, wrap in film and chill 30 minutes. Cold butter and brief handling are the whole secret of a crisp base.
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour · 150 g butter · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · 1 tbsp sour cream, 18 % · 1 pinch salt
Crumbs, yolk, sour cream, quickly into a ballLine the tin
Heat the oven to 180 °C. Roll the dough between two sheets of paper into a rectangle the size of the tin, transfer to the paper-lined tin, press the edges, level and prick densely with a fork so it doesn't bubble up in baking.
Thin, even, pricked all overBake the base
Bake 18–20 minutes, until pale golden and dry. Cool completely in the tin, 30 minutes. Kajmak goes only onto a cold base, otherwise it softens it.
Pale golden, dry, coldBeat the kajmak with butter
Turn the cold kajmak out of the cans into a bowl, add the soft butter and beat with a spoon or mixer until smooth and glossy. The butter makes the kajmak spreadable and stops it sticking to the knife once chilled.
Ingredients: 2 pcs sweetened condensed milk · 60 g butter
Smooth, glossy, spreadableSpread
Spoon the kajmak onto the cold base and spread in an even layer right to the edges with a spatula or a knife dipped in hot water.
An even layer to the very edgesDecorate and chill
Arrange the walnuts, raisins and peel in rows or a pattern, pressing them lightly into the kajmak. Refrigerate an hour, until the layer sets. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water into 5 × 5 cm squares. Covered and cool, it keeps a week.
Ingredients: 80 g walnut halves · 40 g raisins · 40 g candied orange peel
TipThe classic pattern is alternating rows of walnuts and raisins with a border of peel all round. A mazurek is meant to be flat and decorated: it is the one cake of the year where too much ornament is good manners.
Rows, a border, an hour in the fridge
Before you start
Kajmak without boiling cans
Ready-made dulce de leche from the shop, 700 g, beaten with the butter, gives the same result in five minutes. The homemade one from cans usually has a deeper, more caramel flavour.
With chocolate
Instead of nuts, pour 100 g melted dark chocolate with a spoon of butter over the kajmak and lay the nut pattern on the chocolate. The dark chocolate balances the sweetness of the kajmak.
The base bubbled or shrank
Too few pricks, or dough not rested in the fridge. Prick densely, chill the full 30 minutes, and if it still bubbles, press it down with the back of a spoon straight out of the oven while it is soft.
