Here’s Tvarohový Mazanec, a faster version of Mazanec, the traditional Czech Easter pastry.
Easter is yet another baking season, at least in the Czech Republic. Perníčky are gingerbread cookies as popular at Christmas as they are at Easter and Mazanec is the Easter version of the Christmas pastry Vánočka.
Mazanec is typically made from raised dough. It’s worth taking your time to let it ferment properly and to really make it with lots of love. This recipe is in Mazanec – Sweet Easter Bread where you can also see a video tutorial on how to braid Mazanec if you don’t want to make a traditional loaf.
If you don’t have so much time or just don’t want to make yeast dough, I have a version of Mazanec that is much faster and very very tasty as well. It’s called Tvarohový Mazanec because tvaroh is quark cheese, sometimes also referred to as fresh cheese or cottage cheese, which is mostly (but not exclusively) used for sweet pastries such as Koláče.
In this recipe, the cheese is part of the dough and it gives this delicate sweet taste. As there is baking powder used instead of yeast, there’s no waiting for the dough to rise. The dough is on the stickier side so I usually don’t get that smooth finish but it looks quite rustic. Also, you can incorporate raisins and nuts but since we don’t like that in Mazanec, I just put almond slices on top.
At Easter, try also Jidáše.
Tvarohový Mazanec – Recipe
Supplies
Dough
- 500 g/17.6 oz of plain flour (hladká mouka, see Czech Flour Guide)
- 250 g/8.8 oz of soft quark cheese
- 150 g/5.3 oz of softened unsalted butter
- 150 g/5.3 oz of powder sugar (cukr moučka, see Czech Sugar Guide)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- zest from 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
- optional: raisins (soaked in rum), nuts
Glaze and topping
- 1 egg
- 2 handfuls of almond slices
How to make Tvarohový Mazanec
In a larger bowl, whisk the butter and powder sugar until fluffy, then whisk in the quark cheese and eggs.
In a smaller bowl, combine flour, salt and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients little by little and knead until the dough is smooth. You can also incorporate raisins and nuts.
Form a loaf or two smaller ones, place it on a baking tray, glaze with whisked egg and sprinkle with almond slices.
Preheat your oven to 180°C and bake for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 160°C and bake another 20 – 25 minutes. If you’re not sure whether your tvarohový mazanec is done, insert a chopstick all the way to the center. If it comes out clean, mazanec is done and if there’s dough on the chopstick, it needs more baking.
