The influence of Austria under the Austro-Hungarian Empire can be found in many Hungarian pastries that delight visitors to the cafés of Budapest and Vienna.
We have selected our favorite Hungarian pastries:
Rétes
Rétes is the equivalent of the Austrian strudel cake: a slipper stuffed with apples or sour cherries, poppies, and fromage frais, often accompanied by dried fruit (raisins, almonds, etc.) and served hot.
Somlói Galuska
Somlói galuska is made of several layers of sponge cake, topped with walnuts, rum syrup, sometimes raisins, with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
Dobos torta
Dobos cake is a chocolate confection made of alternating layers of tart and chocolate butter cream topped with a caramel frosting.
Gundel palacsinta
Gundel palacsinta is a pancake stuffed with hazelnuts, topped with a chocolate sauce. The pancake is perfumed with a garnish flavored with rum and orange peel. It was invented by the famous Hungarian chef, Károly Gundel, who revolutionized the Hungarian gastronomy of the twentieth century.
Túróspalacsinta
The túróspalacsinta is a pancake with cottage cheese and grapes.
Eszterházy Torta
The Eszterházy cake consists of several layers of dacquoise stuffed with hazelnut cream. This recipe, born in 1899, was in the heyday of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Túrógombóc
The túrógomboc is a dumpling of cooked and sweet white cheese.
Kurtoskalacs
The kürtőskalács is a caramelized cylindrical brioche cooked on a spit on fire. The dough is scented with spices, usually cinnamon, and topped with nuts or almonds and sprinkled with sugar. In the city center you can find it in kiosks that sell only kürtőskalács.
