Bosnian mazurek with hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate

A delicious, delicate mazurek combining many wonderful flavours, made entirely with egg whites. If you have some frozen egg whites, this is a great way to use them :). Bosnian mazurek is a nutty meringue mixture with hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate, baked until lightly golden, then topped with coffee icing and flaked almonds. Moist, slightly airy and full of flavour; it may look unassuming, but it certainly doesn’t lack character! You can bake this mazurek on a wafer if you like, but it isn’t necessary – it bakes and slices very well on baking paper.

Makes 1 mazurek.

Ingredients for the Bosnian mazurek:

• 11 large egg whites (440 g)
• generous pinch of salt
• 220 g caster sugar
• 125 g ground hazelnuts
• 125 g ground almonds
• 50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped or grated

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking. Once they become slightly frothy, add the salt and continue whisking. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, while continuing to whisk, until you have a stiff, glossy meringue. Add the hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate and gently fold in with a spatula until combined. The meringue will lose some of its volume, which is completely normal here.

Grease a 25 × 38 cm baking tin with butter and line with baking paper. Transfer the mixture to the tin and smooth the surface.

Bake the Bosnian mazurek at 150°C for 45–60 minutes. The top may become lightly browned. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the coffee icing:

• 100 g icing sugar
• 15 ml milk
• 40 g butter
• 1 heaped tsp instant coffee

Place the milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat until the butter has melted. Add the coffee and stir until dissolved. Add the icing sugar and mix thoroughly with the back of a spoon until smooth and lump-free. Adjust the consistency with more icing sugar if the icing is too runny, or a little more milk if it is too thick.

To finish:

• flaked almonds, for sprinkling
• candied orange peel, optional

Spread the coffee icing over the cooled mazurek and sprinkle with flaked almonds and, if desired, candied orange peel.

Enjoy!

Recipe from Robert Makłowicz’s collection.