A Hungarian favourite: poppy seed bread pudding (mákos guba) cake for Christmas! – recipe

I’m sure I’m not the only one who can’t wait for Christmas: who could resist all those delicious foods and drinks on the table? Especially if you’re Hungarian or spend the winter holiday in Hungary, you’re most likely in for a treat in the dining room. Among many traditional Hungarian Christmas dishes, mákos guba (poppy seed bread pudding) is one of my favourites. Even more so if it’s made as a cake! Find the recipe of the mákos guba cake below.

Ingredients of the mákos guba cake

• 8 dried (or just old) bread rolls (kifli)
• 1 l milk for the base, 2,5 dl milk for the cream
• 3 egg yolks for the base, 2 egg yolks for the cream
• 15 dkg icing sugar for the base, 15 dkg icing sugar for the cream
• 2 packets vanilla sugar for the base, 2 packets vanilla sugar for the cream
• 10 dkg butter for the base, 20 dkg butter for the cream
• 15 dkg ground poppy seeds for the base
• 10 dkg raisins for the base
• grated zest of 1 lemon for the base
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon for the base
• 3-4 tablespoons apricot jam for the base
• 1 packet vanilla pudding powder for the cream
• 2-3 dl whipped cream on top

How to prepared the mákos guba cake

According to magyarorszagom.hu, this is how you make the perfect mákos guba cake:

1. It’s worth buying the bread rolls the day before, so that they’re a bit dry rather than fresh. These rolls should be evenly sliced first, as this is the basis for the mákos guba.
2. Then, after cutting up the rolls, we start preparing the milk sauce as follows: add 10 dkg of butter to a litre of milk and heat it. Mix the 3 egg yolks with the 15 dkg of icing sugar and the 2 packets of vanilla sugar until smooth. Then, add to the milk, stirring slowly, and cook over a steam until thick.
3. Return to the bread rolls, sprinkle with the ground poppy seeds, cinnamon, raisins and grated lemon zest and mix. Once this is done, pour the boiled milk over the top, mix, making sure that the bread roll slices stay intact, and leave to stand for a while. The buns need a few minutes to absorb the liquid.
4. Sprinkle a buttered cake pan with breadcrumbs. Then, pour the poppy seedy and milky rolls into it. Spoon the jam over the top, spread it evenly and place in the preheated 100°C oven for 15-20 minutes.
5. When it is nicely browned, let it cool in the pan and then place it on a tray.
6. Time to make the cream. Mix 20 dkg butter with half the amount of icing sugar (7.5 dkg) until smooth and set aside.Mix the other half of the icing sugar with the 2 egg yolks, 2 packets of vanilla sugar and the pudding powder, then add the milk and cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously, until thick and then cool completely.
7. Add the sugared butter to the cooled pudding. When you have a smooth cream, you can spread it on top of the cooled poppy seedy rolls and put the whole thing in the fridge to cool and set.
8. Finally, whip the cream until stiff and decorate the cake with it.

Enjoy! Do let us know if you decide to try this delicacy.

Last year, we shared the recipe of the simple mákos guba – find it HERE.