Dessert recipes from parts of Hungary separated by the Treaty of Trianon

In her latest Facebook post, Katalin Novák, the Hungarian politician, Minister of State for Family, Youth and International Affairs and Vice President of Fidesz, baked a traditional dessert together with Mária Borbás, a Hungarian television host of the popular programme called Gasztroangyal (Gastroangel).

According to 24, the Vice President is reminding Hungarians that 2020 is the year of national unity, as it is the centenary of the infamous Treaty of Trianon. They tore our country apart a hundred years ago, and we could not unite our nation ever since.

Katalin Novák invites people to a challenge; to commemorate the centenary of the Treaty of Trianon, she asks people to post their recipes or images of desserts from parts of the country that have been taken away by the treaty.

She then, with the help of Mária Borbás, proceeds to make a ‘tehéntúrós erdélyi csörögefánk’ (a type of doughnut with curd, Transylvania-style) and shares the video on her Facebook page.

Here is the recipe of the previously mentioned doughnut, as well as two other recipes we collected for you.

‘Tehéntúrós erdélyi csörögefánk’ (Doughnut with curd, Transylvania-style)

Ingredients:
25 dkg curd
20-25 dkg flour
3 tablespoons of sugar – not necessary and can be substituted with sweeteners as well
lemon (you only need a few drops of juice and a little zest)
12.5 dkg butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
few teaspoons of rum
oil for frying (medium hot, if too hot, the dough will not rise)

Directions:
Mix the curd and the egg in a bowl and grate some lemon zest into the mixture. Now you can add the butter to the bowl, mix it a little, and pour a few teaspoons of rum into the mixture. The rum will prevent the dough from absorbing the oil while frying. You can now add the flour gradually to the mix until the dough is formable and can be flattened with a rolling pin. While kneading the dough, squeeze or add some drops of lemon juice to the baking soda so that it starts foaming, then add it to the dough you are mixing. If you are ready with the dough, use some flour on your work surface so that it will not stick and flatten the dough with a rolling pin so that it is about 4-5 mm thick. Cut the dough into small squares (5-7cm) and make a cut in the middle of each square diagonally. You can try and twist one corner through the hole if you want to make it prettier or form it so that it is a little bit more rhombus-shaped, but you can also fry it as squares. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top or serve it with jam or marmalade. Enjoy.

‘Kossuth kifli’ (Kossuth crescent roll)

Ingredients:
20 dkg flour
20 dkg butter
20 dkg granulated sugar
8 dkg ground walnuts
4 eggs
1 packet of vanilla sugar
half a packet of baking powder
a pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix the baking powder into the flour. Separate the yolk of the egg from its white. In a deep bowl, mix the butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla sugar into a cream, then add the yolk of the egg to it and mix it in. In a separate bowl, add a pinch of salt to the egg white and whip it into a foam. Now add the flour and baking powder mix into the butter mixture and work it in, then carefully add the foam you made earlier to it as well. Butter and flour a pan of about 20cm by 30cm, pour the dough into it, and level the dough, then sprinkle it with the ground walnuts. In a pre-heated oven, bake it at 180 °C for 30 minutes. You can move the pan around the oven at half-time if it does not bake evenly. Take it out of the oven and let it cool. Use a crescent-shaped cookie cutter or cut by hand with a knife. It is best with some powdered sugar sprinkled on top and with some jam or marmalade. Enjoy.