Recipe: Royal Mazurek

Royal Mazurek
From the Step by Step Cookbook by Judith Ferguson

180g (6 oz) butter or margarine
60g (4 tbsp) sugar
90g (6 tbsp) blanched almonds, finely chopped
2.5m (l/1/2) tsp grated lemon rind
300g (10 oz) plain flour
yolks of 2 hard boiled eggs, sieved
1 raw egg yolk
pinch salt
pinch cinnamon
Apricot and raspberry or cherry preserve
icing sugar for dusting

1. Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the almonds, lemon rind, flour and egg yolks by hand. Add the raw egg yolk and a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and mix all the ingredients into a smooth dough. This may be done in a food processor. Wrap well and leave in the fridge for about 1 hour.

2. Roll out 2/3 of the dough and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. If dough cracks, press back into place. Keep the remaining 1/3 of the dough in the fridge.

3. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips about 5mm/1/4 inch thick. Arrange these strips on top of the dough in a lattice pattern and press the edges to seal.

4. Brush the pastry with a mixture of beaten egg and a pinch of salt. Bake in a pre-heated 190C gas mark 5 (375F) oven for about 20 - 30 minutes or until light golden brown and crisp. Loosen the pastry from the baking sheet but do not remove until completely cool. Place the pastry on a serving plate and spoon some of the preserve into each of the spaces in the lattice work. Alternate the 2 flavours of preserve. Sprinkle lightly with the icing sugar before serving.

NOTE - if your preserve is not soft set it would warm it a little in a pan to make it easier to put into the spaces in the lattice.