Mazarin Cake

Stumble upon this wonderful, wonderful mazarin cake recipe from http://sweetsoursavory.com/blog/2014/9/10/mazarin-cake. I have never encounter mazarin cake before until I come to Denmark and having traveling around the world, it is still a rarity outside of Scandinavian countries. If you stop exploring into the mazarin cake/tart simply because you don't like marzipan, then you couldn't be more wrong. Baked marzipan has a much subtler taste and this particular recipe beats even the best Danish bakery's mazarin tart/cake. 

The crust is crisp & full of almond fragrant, the filing buttery & rich in taste, top with chocolate ganache, absolutely delicious. I made 2 of these and brought them to work, my Danish colleagues couldn't stop eating and I've been interrogated until I give up the recipe. So do give it a try if you're looking for something outside of your normal repertoire to try, I promise you won't regret it.

Makes an 8 inch cakes.
INGREDIENTS:

Crust:
50 g almond meal
100 g all-purpose flour
75 g butter, cold and cut into small cubes
50 g confectionery sugar
½ egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla paste

Filling:
150 g marzipan (almond paste)
100 g sugar
75 g butter (soften)
2 eggs

Topping:
50 g dark chocolate
20 g soft nougat, optional (you can use 1 tablespoon non-flavored vegetable oil instead)
fresh berries

DIRECTIONS:
Crust:
1. Sift almond meal, flour and sugar together. 

2. Add butter, egg and vanilla paste, and pulse it in food processor until it almost come together as a dough. I don't have food processor, so I use the traditional method (with 2 knifes) to cut the cold butter into the flour mixture, and then mix in egg & vanilla paste.

3. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in cling film and keep it in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. The dough is more sticky than a normal pie crust.

4. Roll out the dough disk between 2 sheets of parchment paper to about 10 inch in diameter. Put the rolled dough into the freezer for at least 30 minutes, this will prevent the crust from shrinking while baking. The dough can be made a day ahead by storing in freezer overnight.

5. Preheat the oven to 360℉ (180℃). 

6. Take the dough out when you are ready with the filling. Let the dough rest for a few minutes on the counter before putting it in the pan. Carefully place the dough into the pan, make sure to get it into the corners. Cut off any excess dough. Do not stretch the dough to prevent shrinking.

Filling:
1. Mix the marzipan with sugar and butter until fully incorporated in a food processor. Mix in one egg at a time. Fill the crusts half up with the marzipan filling. Smooth the filling out for an even baking.

2. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

3. Let the cake cool in the pans on a wire rack.

Topping:
1. Melt the chocolate and nougat over water bath, and pour a thin layer on top of the cooled cake. Garnish with fresh berries, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve it with a nice cup or tea or coffee.