Alternative names | Easter shortcake [1] |
---|---|
Type | Pastry |
Place of origin | Poland |
Serving temperature | Room |
Main ingredients | flour, sugar, butter or margarine, eggs, icing, candied or dried fruits, nuts |
Mazurek is a variety of cake baked in Poland for Easter. [1] [2] It has a flat shape [3] and is very sweet. [3]
According to Polish gastronomy coursebooks, typical mazurek is a cake that can be made of one or two sheets of short (or half-short) pastry or one sheet of short (or half-short) pastry covered with a sheet of butter sponge cake [2] . The two sheets are fixed together with a help of a layer of marmalade. [2] In case of one-sheet version, marmalade is skipped or goes on top, under the layer of icing. The top of mazurek is covered with a layer of icing (i.e. sugar icing or kajmak) or jelly. [2] It is also decorated with nut-based icing or almond-based icing and candied fruits [2] . Traditionally, home-baked mazurek cakes are often decorated with dried fruits and nuts.
In the one-sheet version, the cake includes the borders made of rolled half-short pastry [2] [4] . Sometimes the shortcrust base is crowned with a lattice made of half-short or macaroon pastry.
Among other versions, often to be found in popular cook books and gastronomy coursebooks is "Gypsy mazurek" (mazurek cygański). A sheet of half-short pastry is half-baked, covered with a layer made of dried fruit, almonds, egg yolks creamed with sugar and whipped egg white and baked again. [2]
The cake's name may have its origins in the Masovians (old Mazurzy) tribe inhabiting the Mazovia region of central Poland. [5] Another theory says it might originate from the word mazurek (Polish for mazurka), traditional folk dance in triple metre from Poland. A shortcrust pastry, Mazurek is considered one of the primary desserts of Easter across Poland. What distinguishes it from other festive dessert cakes is the abundance of decoration with dried fruit and nuts, [5] its overall sweetness, and chocolate icing, contributing to its prolonged freshness.
Although considered uniquely Polish, almost a seasonal national dessert, [6] the recipe for Mazurek came to Poland most likely from the East, [5] via the spice trade-route from Turkey [5] in the early 17th century.
Its symbolism is closely associated with the period of Wielki Post (Polish for Lent) thus marking its successful completion. In fact, after a 40-day fast (not a total abstinence from food by any means), which is celebrated in Christian liturgy in memory of the Temptation of Christ, mazurek was supposed to be the rich reward for adherence to faith and tradition. Although today, the religious meaning of mazurek is virtually lost in Poland, the cake is closely associated with the seasonal celebrations nevertheless. [6]
Usually, the decorative patterns includes Easter symbols like hares, pussy willows and Easter greetings. [4]
News portal Wirtualna Polska insisted that mazurek cannot resemble any other regular cake. It is supposed to be flat in multitude of varieties, each with different flavour and lavishly decorated. [3] Twelve of them (served side by side, as claimed by the magazine), would not be entirely out of line traditionally. [3]
At Christmas, the emphasis on a symbolic number twelve is closely related to the Twelve Apostles at the Last Supper, [7] celebrated by Catholics by twelve different food offerings. [8]
The nutty mazurek ("nutty Easter shortcake" [1] , pol. mazurek orzechowy) was entered onto the list of Polish traditional bakery and confectionery products for the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MRiRW) on 3 November 2011, described in a particular way. [9] The shortcrust (half-short) base is prepared from ground walnuts, flour, sugar, margarine, small number of eggs and a little bit of sour cream. [1] The frosting is a walnut cream [9] or, according to Polish Food magazine published by MRiRW, icing made of sugar, water and milk powder melted together [1] . The thick layer of icing is spread over baked cake and finally decorated with dried fruit (raisins), almonds and walnuts into a pattern [9] [1] . "Nutty mazurek" is supposed to be considerably flat, rectangular, 20 centimetres (7.9 in) by 40 centimetres (16 in) in size, very sweet with distinct aroma of walnuts, golden or golden-brown in colour [9] .
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water, and shortening that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. The word "pastries" suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries as a synecdoche. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.
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Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal, sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.
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A layer cake or sandwich cake is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing, but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling and the number of layers are visible.
Cake decorating is the art of decorating a cake for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers, national or religious holidays, or as a promotional item.
Napoleonka, colloquially kremówka, is a Polish type of cream pie. It is made of two layers of puff pastry, filled with whipped cream, creamy buttercream, vanilla pastry cream or sometimes egg white cream, and is usually sprinkled with powdered sugar. It also can be decorated with cream or covered with a layer of icing.
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Easter cakes are cakes prepared and served during the Easter season. Sharing a cake with family for Easter is an Easter tradition in many denominations and countries.
(Translation: If the tradition is to be followed, there should be 12 mazurek cakes at Easter, each with different flavour.) Aby tradycji stało się zadość, na wielkanocnym stole powinno być ich 12, a każdy o innym smaku.