Recipe of the week: Zserbó cake

One of the most popular Hungarian desserts is zserbó, a crispy pastry with walnut, apricot jam and a shining chocolate glaze. It is traditionally made at Christmas and Easter time, but you can taste it in confectioneries all year around. Why not try it in Gerbeaud Café, founded by Emil Gerbeaud, the creator of zserbó? This is the story of how a proper name became common name known by everyone.

According to the official website of the café, Emil Gerbeaud worked in German, French and English confectioneries before moving to Hungary in 1884 at the invitation of Henrik Kugler. The owner of the café at Gizella Square (Vörösmarty Square today) was looking for someone widely travelled, open to novelties, a true confectioner who would be able to take over the lead of the confectionery, which was the meeting point of the elegant world.

The timing was perfect because Emil Gerbeaud was instantly blown away by the shop, so he bought is from Henrik Kugler. The confectionery flourished under his direction. He won a gold medal with his products at the World Exhibition of 1898 and 1900 thus getting acknowledged on behalf of the Hungarian confectionery industry.

Mindemegette.hu writes that the confectioner introduced many novelties. He broadened the confectionery’s selection with unique, new products: bonbons, candies, buttercream desserts, tea-biscuits etc. He even set up a small chocolate factory, which produced the famous “konyakos meggy”, made from sour cherry, matured in cognac and covered with dark chocolate. But the most famous dessert connected to the confectioner is definitely the zserbó cake (Gerbeaud is pronounced zserbó in Hungarian).

The success of the dessert was so huge that the proper name became a common name: zserbó instead of Gerbeaud. The secret of the classic zserbó lies in the perfect triumvirate of chocolate, walnut and apricot. What’s great is that is lasts for a long time (unless your guests destroy it at once), in fact, it only gets better and softer with time.

Just like most desserts, this one also has many variations thanks to the creativity of kitchen fairies. Some people make it in the form of bonbons, dumplings, noodles, pancakes and even ice cream. We definitely recommend making zserbó at home, because you will feel quite accomplished for creating such a divine dessert. Below, you’ll find a classic recipe 🙂