Polish Chocolate Mazurek
{Mazurek Czekoladowo-Kajmakowy}
“Dulce-de-leche” in polish is “kajmak” (pronounced: kay-mahck). Its a product of heating sweetened condensed milk over a few hours, which turns it into sticky and sweet, caramel-like spreadable substance. It is so delicious and it will satisfy sweet cravings of any sweet tooth out there.
Kajmak tastes like Polish candy called little cow “krรณwka“, and it reminds me of when I was little. There weren’t very many varieties of candy, but I didn’t feel I’m missing out because of the satisfying taste of “krรณwki” (plural). Sometimes, if you were lucky, the inside of this tootsy roll-shaped little candy, was all gooey… my favorite!! It would then be called “krรณwka ciฤ
gutka“, meaning stretchy cow ๐ We’d get a few coins from grandma and grandpa while visiting them for the weekend, run to the local grocery store, and buy a few pieces. They were often sold by weight. We’d walk home and savor every bite enjoying the little pleasure.
But back to mazurek. If you’re reading this, you most likely have heard of this dessert before. It is a thin shortbread-like crust topped with a favorite topping, usually made for Easter. Make this a few days ahead of Easter, I hear it tastes better after sitting out uncovered and “resting” for a few day. I can never wait that long. Try this, or the fig and lemon mazurek and wow your guests.
Polish Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Mazurek {Mazurek Czekoladowo-Kajmakowy}
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 1/2 c / 310 g of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1 egg
- 2 yolks
- 7 oz / 200g of cold butter
- Zest of half of a lemon
- Topping:
- One 14 oz / 400 g can of sweet- ened condensed milk
- 1 bar of 70% or more cacao chocolate (or about 3 oz / 85g of chocolate chips)*
- 1 tsp of butter
- About 1/2 cup of sliced almonds or hazelnuts
Instructions
Take label off condensed milk can, place in a pot, fill with enough cold water to cover the can and boil on very low (just enough for bubbles to roll) for 3 hours. Remove and set aside to cool.
In the meantime, make the crust: combine all dry in- gredients, add egg (and yolks), cold butter, and lemon zest. Cut through with a knife and knead to form dough. Don't overwork it. Finished dough should have lumps of butter in it. It will just make the dough flaky.
Preheat oven to 350ยฐ F / 180ยฐ C.
Roll out by placing in between two pieces of parch- ment paper. Line a baking dish (just the bottom) with parchment paper, transfer rolled out dough and form into the desired shape. Press edges with a fork to create a decorative edge.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Take out and cool. Careful when handling the crust. Itโs very fragile.
Once condensed milk in can cools, top crust with a hefty layer of condensed milk spread (open can when still a bit warm and contents are easily removed).
Place chocolate in a ceramic bowl and heat in the microwave in 15 second increments until melted. Add butter and mix. A spoonful of chocolate at a time, make swirls on top of the milk spread. Top with almonds. Let rest for a day or so before serving.
To serve cut into bite size pieces.
Notes
* I used 70% cacao chocolate bar. I feel that has a perfect balance of sweet and bitter.
Traditional mazurek is made a few days ahead of time. It rests until its time to eat it on Easter Sunday and Monday. I can never wait that long. I wonder if you can.
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Is there a step missing here? The crust isn’t baked at all?
Mandy! Thanks! It sure does. I missed a step. Happy Easter!! ๐
I’m in the middle of making this recipe. (The dough is fabulous!) The temperature and baking time were omitted from your instructions. I jumped over to your fig/lemon version to find the information.
Nicely done!! ๐
How much butter goes into the topping?
Cans should never be boiled! Cans are lined with plastic and the higher temp makes the plastic leach out into the contents of the can- into the condensed milk.
It is better to pour the condensed milk into a pot (without water) and carefully heat on low, stirring frequently until it gets a golden color (about an hour). Please change this step in your recipe and warn others (I see this “shortcut” a lot in mazurek recipes.
How much butter should be added in step 7? There is no butter in list of ingredients ๐ค. Please add ๐. I’m doing this right now, so probably I’ll go with no butter and let’s see how it goes.
And the other question I have is about can opening: when exactly I should open it up? Once its cooled down or earlier?
Please tell me how you are doing this ๐๐ค๐๐๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ผ๐ป
A teaspoon of butter will do.
Open can once cools off a bit but still warm.
This great recipe has to wait until the family can get together again.
Do you let it rest at room temperature or do you need to refrigerate it? I want to make it tonight for Easter Sunday. Thanks!
Room temp is ok for me, but if you feel uneasy about it just stick it in the fridge.