Baking with pálinka: 3 amazing dessert recipes

Most people visiting Hungary will face our mighty pálinka, the most ancient beverage of the Hungarians, at some point. This prestigious Hungaricum gives you an incomparable burning sensation and a taste of Hungarian history and identity. However, many people find it too rough in itself so we collected a few delicious dessert recipes, which are a great way to enjoy pálinka.

The tastiest kinds of pálinka are said to be made in the Carpathian Basin, as there the drinks are made of fruit, and therefore are uniquely luscious. For example, the climate of the Great Hungarian Plains is exceptionally suitable for fruit production, especially apricots, plums, cherries, strawberries and pears.

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Good homemade pálinka is so strong that it actually kills bacteria. This is why many parents give their kids a sip of pálinka when they are sick. But if you’re new to the phenomenon of this Hungaricum, maybe you should try out some of the following recipes, which enhance the taste of fruity pálinka and combine it with the sweet side of life.

Let’s start off with an easy recipe from nosalty.hu, which is sour cherry bonbons with pálinka. There are two ways of making homemade bonbons: the absolutely professional way and the less professional way. If you go to a bonbon-making workshop, you can learn step by step, how masters make bonbons, but if you want to try out an easier and quicker recipe at home, then this might be right for you. They can turn out just as delicious as the ones you buy in shops. And you only need a few ingredients and a bit of patience 🙂

This exact recipe features sour cherry in form of fruit and pálinka, but feel free to replace it with something else if you’re not the fan of sour cherry. This could be a perfect and delicious gift for Christmas or any occasion. Furthermore, homemade sweets are the best.

Ingredients (for 12): 150 grams of dark chocolate, 50 grams of dried sour cherry, 0.5 dl sour cherry pálinka and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Directions: Soak the sour cherries in the pálinka for around 2-3 days. The longer the better. Melt the chocolate over steaming water, then brush the melted chocolate into your bonbon forms, put it into the freezer, wait for it to chill and repeat the process. Meanwhile, combine the cherries, the pálinka and the sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook it for 1-2 minutes and let it cool down. Fill your chilled forms with the cherry mixture to 2/3 of the way. Let it freeze for 15-20 minutes and seal it with the leftover chocolate. Put your bonbons back into the fridge (or freezer if you’re in a hurry) and let them settle for a few hours. Finally, carefully push the bonbons out of the silicone form and enjoy them.

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Let’s continue with another delicious treat, which is brownie with plum pálinka and dried plum vanilla cream from palinka.com. This is a fun twist on the traditional brownie and it is definitely a crowd-pleaser. You will love the combination of plums, chocolate and vanilla!

Ingredients: for the brownie – 150 grams of dark chocolate, 150 grams of butter, 100 grams of sugar, 100 grams of flour, 3 eggs, 1 dl plum pálinka and 200 grams of dried plums, for the cream – 0.5 litre of milk, 4 tablespoons of corn-starch, 3 egg yolks, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 120 grams of sugar, 2 dl of whipping-cream and 1 packet of cream fixer (optional for a tougher cream)

Directions: Cut up the plums into smaller pieces and cook it with the pálinka. Melt the chocolate with the butter and mix in sugar. Beat up the eggs and carefully add the chocolatey mousse and half of the plums. Pour the brownie mixture into a baking tin of desired shape and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180° Celsius. For the cream, bring 4 dl milk to boil and mix the corn-starch, egg yolks, vanilla, and sugar with the remaining 1 dl milk. Then slowly add the starchy mixture to the hot milk while constantly stirring until you reach a creamy consistency. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it cool down. Whip up the whipping-cream with the fixer and pour it into the vanilla cream along with the remaining plums. Finally, cut your brownies in half and fill it with the cream. Let it cool overnight and enjoy!

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Our last recipe features a third type of fruit, apricot, which is the favourite pálinka flavour of many. This is probably the most complicated recipe, because it is a cake with several layers and ingredients. At this point, we’d like to mention 2015’s Cake of Hungary, which also features apricot pálinka, but making it at home would be a true challenge.

So for now, we’d like to stick with the apricot pálinka and mascarpone cake from mindmegette.hu; however, let us now if you’d be interested in the winner recipe of Cake of Hungary 2015 (Apricot Pálinka Caramel Cake from Pannonhalma). This last dessert could be a lovely birthday cake or an irresistible treat for any occasion.

Ingredients: for the sponge – 3 eggs, 50 grams of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, few apricots (tinned or fresh) cut into pieces, 2 tablespoons of flour, half packet of baking powder and a pinch of salt, for the cream – 2 dl whipping-cream, 1 packet of cream fixer, 1 packet of vanilla sugar, 0.5 dl apricot pálinka, 1 dl apricot juice, the zest and juice of a half lemon, 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, pinch of salt, 1 packet of gelatine, 250 grams of mascarpone and few apricots cut into pieces, for the topping – few slices of apricot, half packet of gelatine and 1 dl water

Directions: Start with the cream so that it will have time to set while you make the sponge. Whip up the whipping-cream with the powdered sugar and the cream fixer. Add the mascarpone, pálinka, zest and juice of the lemon, gelatine and the apricot juice. Mix it all together and, lastly, add the apricots cut into small pieces. Let the cream chill in the fridge while you make the sponge. Separate the eggs and beat up the egg whites with some sugar. Mix together the remaining sugar with the egg yolks, soft butter, cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and finally add in the egg whites. Pour the sponge mixture into a cake tin and drop in some more sliced up apricots. Bake it at 180° Celsius for 25-30 minutes. After the sponge has cooled down, you can spoon on the cream and decorate it with nice slices of apricot. Finally, mix the gelatine with the water and bring it to boil according to the instructions of the gelatine packet. After it has cooled down, you can pour it over the apricot slices. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and enjoy!

Photos: www.nosalty.hu, www.palinka.com, www.mindmegette.hu, www.facebook.com/Pálinka

Copy editor: bm

Source: Daily News Hungary