This marcinek hails from the Polish region of Podlasie and is so delicious that you’ll want to prepare it for every occasion! Layers of crumbly pastry, creamy filling, and cranberry jam create a cake that’s impossible to resist.
Ingredients
Pastry
- Butter, 200g
- Powdered sugar, 100g
- Egg, 1
- Eggs, 2
- 18% cream, 120g
- Baking soda, 0.5 teaspoon
- All-purpose flour, 500g
- Salt, a pinch
- Vanilla, 3g
- Lemon zest, 1 tablespoon
Cream
- 36% cream, 800ml
- 18% cream, 400ml
- Powdered sugar, 100g
- Lemon juice, 50ml
- Lemon zest, 1 tablespoon
Cranberry jam
- Cranberries, 500g
- Sugar, 2 tablespoons
For decoration
- Cocoa powder, 4 teaspoons
Preparation
Take all ingredients (except for heavy cream and sour cream) out of the refrigerator about 30-40 minutes before starting to prepare the cake so they reach room temperature. Preheat the oven to 185°C.
Combine sour cream with baking soda in a bowl. Mix well until combined. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together very soft butter with powdered sugar and vanilla seeds. Beat until fluffy.
Once the butter is aerated (becomes fluffy), switch to a dough hook. Add egg yolks, sour cream mixed with baking soda, salt, and grated lemon zest. Knead on low speed, gradually adding flour until the ingredients combine, forming a smooth, uniform dough.
Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface, form it into a ball, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. In a saucepan, toast the cranberries with sugar until they release their juice and slightly break down, forming a thick jam-like consistency.
From the chilled dough, cut smaller pieces successively. You should end up with about 15 pieces of dough, from which 15 marcinek layers will be made. Roll out each piece on a floured parchment paper. Place the bottom of a cake tin on the rolled dough and cut out a round layer, removing any excess dough.
Transfer the dough circles onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Prick the dough with a fork. Bake each layer until golden in a preheated oven at 185°C. Combine chilled heavy cream with sour cream and powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix and transfer to a stand mixer. Beat on low speed until the cream thickens. Towards the end of beating, add lemon juice and grated lemon zest.
Place the first baked layer on a board and generously spread it with the cream. Cover the layer with another one, pressing gently. Repeat the process until you use up 14 layers. Keep one layer aside for later use – it will be used for cake decoration.
Cover the cake sides with the remaining cream. Reserve some cream for decoration. Place a board on top of the cake, apply weight, and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight. Crush the reserved cake layer into a bowl. Cover the chilled cake sides with the cake crumbs. Spread cranberry jam on top of the cake, leaving about 1 cm of free space around the edges.
Transfer the reserved cream to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe decorative patterns on the cake edges. Dust the cream with sifted cocoa powder. Decorate with fresh mint leaves.
