Eastern European Recipe − Mazurek (Polish Easter Cake)

This sweet sheet cake is a must in Poland on Easter. It looks beautiful with the flower decoration made out of 2 different colored jams and flaked almonds. [Recipe originally submitted to Allrecipes.pl]

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 hard-boiled egg yolks, mashed
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest, or to taste
• 1 beaten egg
• ¼ cup water
• 3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
• ½ cup cherry preserves
• ½ cup apricot preserves
• ¼ cup candied cherries, halved, or more as needed
• ¼ cup sliced almonds

Cooking Directions

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons butter, sugar, and egg in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in mashed egg yolks. Add flour, ground almonds, and lemon zest. Knead into a dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Roll out 2/3 of the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle the size of the baking sheet. Lay onto the prepared baking sheet. Roll remaining dough into finger-thick rolls. Press dough rolls onto the cake in a diamond-shaped pattern. Brush rolls with beaten egg.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Pour 1/4 cup water into a saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin powder on top. Let stand until softened, about 1 minute. Place over low heat; stir constantly until granules are completely dissolved, about 3 minutes.
6. Heat cherry and apricot preserves in 2 small pots over low heat until hot. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Mix half of the dissolved gelatin into each flavor. Alternate filling the diamond shapes of the cake with the 2 different flavors. Arrange sliced almonds and candied cherries into flower shapes on top.

Nutrition Facts

• calories275.2
• carbohydrateContent30.2 g
• cholesterolContent73.3 mg
• fatContent15 g
• fiberContent0.6 g
• proteinContent6.3 g
• saturatedFatContent8.4 g
• sodiumContent16.7 mg
• sugarContent10.1 g