Mazurek

Mazurek (mazurki in the plural version) are cakes that have a shortcrust pastry base and some kind of gooey filling on top - usually chocolate or toffee, but poppy seeds are also an option. For Easter, I made both chocolate and toffee, so here are the recipes for both :)

For a 30x25cm tin you will need

300 g of flour
200 g of cold butter
100 g of sugar
2 eggs

For the chocolate filling:

1 glass of milk or cream
4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
100 g of butter
200 g of dark chocolate
150 g of sugar
Nuts and fruits for decoration

For the toffee filling:

100 g of sugar
150 g of at least single cream but double cream preferably
100 g of white chocolate
Nuts for decoration


Combine the ingredients for the dough by kneading them together. Form into a ball and wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour. Then, roll it out thinly and grease your tin. Line the tin with the pastry and form a high and thick edge (higher than mine, as you can see the filling ran out). Stab it with a fork or (blind)bake in the preheated oven at 180° C for 15-20 minutes, until it starts browning at the edges.

In the meantime, prepare the fillings. For the chocolate filling, mix in the cocoa with the milk and sugar and heat it up on a hob. Add the butter and the chocolate and dissolve everything, mixing from time to time. For the toffee filling, caramelise the sugar in a frying pan that is non-stick (very important!), do not stir the sugar at all! Wait until it reaches a golden brown colour and you see bubbles forming. Then, add the cream and mix in well. If you have clumps at the beginning, don't worry, they will dissolve easily later on. Bring it up to the boil and then take it off the heat. Mix in the chocolate until everything is combined nicely. (Found here: http://kotlet.tv/kajmak-i-toffi-prosty-przepis)

Take the pastry base out of the oven and let it cool down a bit. Then pour in the filling and decorate with fruits and nuts. Enjoy :)