One of the most typical—and at the same time most delicious—Danish cakes is mazarin, or mazarin cake (originally called mazarinkage). The name depends mostly on the size: mazarin usually refers to individual portions, while mazarinkage is the full cake version. In this recipe, I’ll show you the cake-sized version, which gives roughly 8–10 generous slices.
It’s an incredibly delicious marzipan-almond cake with a chocolate coating. It’s surprisingly easy to make, and if you love marzipan, this is practically a must-try. Instant love is guaranteed!
This recipe is enough for an 8- to 9-inch (20–22 cm) cake pan. Below, you’ll find more tips and information about this wonderful cake.
Mazarin Cake
Ingredients
For the mazarin cake
- 180 g butter 13 tbsp, at room temperature
- 100 g sugar ½ cup
- 250 g marzipan paste 250 g 9 oz
- 3 eggs
- 50 g all-purpose flour ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp
- 2.5 g baking powder ½ teaspoon
- 1 pinch salt
- butter a little extra for greasing the pan
For the chocolate glaze
- 150 g dark chocolate 5.3 oz, preferably 55–70% cocoa content
- 25 g butter 2 tbsp
Instructions
Making the cake base
- To make the mazarin cake, first grate the marzipan on the large holes of a box grater. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), using top and bottom heat.
- Beat the room-temperature butter with a hand mixer for about 1 minute, until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat everything together for a few minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the grated marzipan in 4–5 additions, mixing it in with the hand mixer as evenly as possible. At first, it will be harder to get smooth, but by the end, once you’ve added all the marzipan, it will come together nicely.
- Now add the eggs one at a time, mixing everything completely after each addition.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then fold it into the marzipan mixture with a spatula. Do not overmix.
Baking
- Line the bottom of an 8- to 9-inch (20–22 cm) cake pan with parchment paper, and generously butter the sides, roughly halfway up.
- Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out as much as possible with a spatula.
- Bake for about 40 minutes in the oven preheated to 350°F (180°C). When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely in the pan. Baking time may vary, so it’s worth checking the cake after 35 minutes. The top will be golden brown, and it’s ready when the whole surface is lightly springy and the center no longer looks wobbly. Do not overbake it.
Chocolate coating
- Remove the cake base from the pan and place it on the large plate or cake stand you’ll serve it on.
- Chop the chocolate with a sharp knife.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, then turn off the heat. Add the chocolate and stir with a spatula until it has completely melted and is beautifully fluid and smooth. You may need to put the saucepan back on the heat a few times during this step. If you’re using gas or induction, put it back over the lowest flame or setting; if you’re using an electric cooktop, use only the residual heat. Put it back on occasionally for 5–10 seconds at a time, stirring constantly.
- Pour all of the chocolate sauce into the center of the cake. Use a spatula to smooth it outward toward the edge. Let it run down over the edge and coat the sides as well. Mazarin cake is rustic, so the coating does not need to be perfectly smooth. Coat the entire surface, including the sides, because this is what keeps it from drying out.
- Let the chocolate glaze set completely at room temperature. Store the cake covered at room temperature. It’s delicious served at room temperature, too, but the flavors come through even more if you put it in the fridge for 30–60 minutes before serving.
Notes
Danish Pastry-Making
Maybe it isn’t that well known in many parts of the world, but Danish baked goods and pastries offer truly heavenly flavors. It’s no accident that in English, the word Danish refers on its own to high-quality pastries made from buttery, yeasted laminated dough.
Mazarin Cake
Mazarin cake is one of Denmark’s favorite cakes, yet it’s undeservedly little known in the rest of the world. Its base contains plenty of marzipan; in practice, half of the batter is made up of marzipan paste, and the top has a very simple chocolate sauce. Being rustic is part of its character, so you don’t need to be a cake-decorating virtuoso. Even without practice or experience with chocolate, it’s easy to coat.
The cake itself is also very easy to make, and when you see how delicious it is in comparison, it is absolutely worth adding the recipe to your repertoire. With half an hour of work, which isn’t much more than mixing, you can achieve a fantastic result that everyone will enjoy if they like marzipan or almond flavors even a little.
On top of that, this is partly a basic recipe. On the one hand, the mazarin cake itself can be served just like this, in this form, and it’s very delicious. On the other hand, topped with different fruits and cream, it is also used to create very popular and divinely delicious desserts. One example is the very popular Danish strawberry cake (jordbærkage), where some kind of vanilla cream filling and whole or halved fresh strawberries are placed on the mazarin base.
Why Mazarin?
The name mazarin can be connected to the 17th-century French cardinal, Jules Mazarin. At the time, it was fashionable to name elegant sweets after famous statesmen and aristocrats, and that is how this almond cake got its name as well.
It became especially popular in Scandinavia, and it is still one of the best-loved cakes in Danish bakeries today. In Denmark, you can even buy ready-made versions in supermarkets.
Marzipan Paste
One of the most important, and also less common, ingredients in mazarin cake is marzipan paste. It will not work without it, and the quality of the marzipan paste basically determines the quality of the cake.
When buying marzipan paste, it’s important to choose raw, uncolored marzipan meant as a baking ingredient, not decorating marzipan used for shaping. The former—the one you need—is soft and easy to grate, and it makes a great mazarin base.
In Denmark, people often use a marzipan paste that contains almonds at a ratio of about 2/3, though that kind is unfortunately not available everywhere. Among the online options I found, the closest one was a marzipan paste that contains almonds at roughly a 1:1 ratio. You can try those that I put in here above from Amazon, they look legit.
How to Store Mazarin Cake
Storing mazarin cake is very simple. First, when making it, make sure the chocolate coats it everywhere, including the sides. You can smooth it out there with a spatula as well. This is what prevents the cake from drying out.
Store it at room temperature; there is no need to put it in the fridge. It’s best to put it in a covered cake container so it stays fresh for days. If you want the chocolate to set completely, however, put it in the fridge.
Enjoy!
Recipe source: Gourministeriet mazarinkage recipe.
