recipe

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.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/the-history-of-hungarian-palinka/” type=”big” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Read about the history of the Hungarian pálinka[/button]

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.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/reaction-of-the-american-youth-to-hungarian-palinka-video/” type=”big” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] This is how the American youth reacts to pálinka[/button]

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!

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/hungarian-palinka-is-being-produced-in-uganda/” type=”big” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Did you know that they also produce Hungarian pálinka in Uganda?[/button]

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

November 20, 2016

The real Dobos Cake that conquered the world

Some say that the Dobos Cake is the best Hungarian cake. It’s the perfect harmony of sponge, cocoa and caramelised sugar, without any fuss. The simple but irresistible dessert started its way towards conquering the world in the 1880s: from a pavilion in the City Park to the Austrian royal court. The Őseink Hagyatéka, Örökségük (The legacy of our ancestors, our inheritance) Facebook page presents the story of the rightly famous Dobos Cake.

The Dobos Cake is not a Hungaricum yet; however, it answers all criteria to be listed among the best performances of our nation. The chocolatey dessert is one of our gastronomic values that first come to foreigner’s minds when thinking about Hungary. You might not know that it wasn’t named after the drum-like (dob=drum) caramel topping, but after its creator, József Dobos. No one can doubt the Hungarian origin of the cake.

Who was József Dobos?

József Dobos was the most outstanding master confectioner of the 19^th century, and not only in Hungary. Everyone knew his name in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Theirs was a several generations old confectioner dynasty. Just like his antecedents, József Dobos wasn’t afraid to try out new things. While sticking to simple, unique Hungarian flavours, he frequently combined them with the delicacies of the French cuisine.

The master confectioner was much more than a confectioner. He was an outstanding gastronome of his time. József Dobos was taught by his father first and the Andrássy family later: how to set new flavours and fashion while following traditions. He had his own deli in the noble district of Budapest, in Kecskeméti Street, he had his own pavilions at the Hungarian General Exhibitions, and he also wrote books. His desserts have cost quite a lot but since it was chic to shop from Dobos his problem was more so the completion of all orders rather than struggling with the selling.

The story of the Dobos Cake

Although several delicacies, unique recipes and cook books can be connected to József Dobos, even he himself said that the peak of his life-work was the Dobos Cake. He was very proud of his dessert that he made for the 1885 National Exhibition, so he named it after himself. There’s no evidence whether or not the legend is true about the butter cream, which is the soul of the cake, being an accident. However, the legend joined with József Dobos’ story.

According to chronicles, in 1884, one year before the exhibiting of the cake Dobos’ apprentice accidentally mixed up salt and sugar in the Kecskeméti Street shop. In that time butter was conserved with salt. But the apprentice accidentally poured powdered loaf-sugar into the churn bowl. Instead of throwing it out, the master tasted the butter and found it to be very good. And this is how he created the butter cream, which he later flavoured with cocoa, coffee and fruits.

The page writes that he wanted to create a special cake for the 1885 National Exhibition which wasn’t only delicious and neat, but also longer-lasting than the whipped cream desserts that were fashionable back then. He experimented on a cream that could stay consumable and enjoyable for several days with the refrigerating techniques of the time.

The pavilions in the City Park were full of colourful, fancy delicacies. At the time, confectioners mostly competed in building the biggest and most decorated cakes. They filled the sponge layers with cooked cream and decorated it with whipped cream. The storied cakes looked like lace-wonders. On the other hand, Dobos’ pavilion welcomed visitors with an elegantly simple cake, and as the Hungarian saying goes: “less is sometimes more”. Legend has it that Emperor Franz Joseph and his charming wife, Queen Elizabeth were the firsts to try Dobos Cake.

The secret recipe

According to the confectioner’s memoir, the secret of the cake lies in the cocoa, chocolate and butter mixture, but in the end, the key is the whole of the cream made so fluffy by the eggs beaten over steam and the thin sponge layers. Many people tried to replicate it after taste, unsuccessfully. József Reidl was the only one who managed to come near the original flavours. The recipe was a secret. People bombarded the apprentices of the master confectioner with questions, but they never gave out the secret.

In 1906, József Dobos probably got fed up with the weak copies and gave the Hungarian Confectioner and Gingerbread Bakers Craftsmen Corporation his original recipe. He only had one condition: no one should buy the recipe, a single confectioner should never be the inclusive owner of the recipe, meaning that it had to be accessible for everyone.

Did you know that the Dobos Cakes sold in confectioneries are not made by the original recipe? The secret, the magical recipe was reinterpreted by many people. Today we can only find the original recipe in the Dobos Memoir. Even though the making of the cake is not easy and people tend to think that making it at home is impossible, this is a false belief. József Dobos thought that the homemade Dobos Cakes were the best. If you follow the master’s directions, stay away from margarine, and use quality cocoa, you can evoke the past and recreate the original masterpiece.

The original recipe

“You need 6 sponge layers for a 22 cm cake. For the sponge layers: you mix 6 egg yolks well with 3 lat (lat=half an ounce, 50 g) powdered sugar, whip up 6 egg whites to a hard mousse with 3 lat (50 g) powdered sugar, then mix the egg yolks with 6 lat (100 g) flour and 2 lat (35 g) melted butter. For the cream you need: 4 eggs, 12 lat (200 g) powdered sugar, 14 lat (235 g) butter, 2 lat (35 g) cocoa powder, 1 lat (17 g) vanilla sugar, 2 lat (35 g) cocoa butter and 1 bar (200 g) of chocolate. You beat the eggs with the sugar over gas until it heats up, you take it off the stove and mix it until it cools down. You cream the butter, add the vanilla sugar, the melted cocoa butter and the slightly heated, soft chocolate. Then you mix it with the cooled eggy mousse, fill in five sponge layers, pour caramelised sugar over the sixth layer and cut it into 20 pieces.”

Photos: www.facebook.com/oseinkhagyatekaioroksegunk, www.eletunk.com

Copy editor: bm

September 18, 2016

Lángos recipe – Video!

It seems like the world-conquering tour of lángos in unstoppable. More and more people hear about it, give it try and also hopefully send its word all around the world. It is not too complicated to make lángos and it is definitely worth to give it a try.

Daily News Hungary has already reported how the people of New York City love the Lángos Truck and that this summer joy is now extremely popular in Australia as well.

Lángos is a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt and water (a kind of bread dough). Lángos can be made with yoghurt, sour cream or milk instead of water, a dash of sugar along with salt and sometimes with flour and boiled mashed potatoes, which is called potato lángos. It is eaten fresh and warm, topped with sour cream and grated cheese, garlic or garlic butter, or doused with garlic water. A new way of making lángos is a stuffed version which basically means stuffing the dough with the goodness of the desired toppings.

Traditionally, lángos was baked in the front of a brick oven, close to the flames. It was made from bread dough and was served as breakfast on days when new bread was baked. Nowadays, lángos is deep fried in oil.

The name comes from ‘láng’, the Hungarian word for flame. You can find lángos vendors on the streets or try making it at home. Both versions have their own feel to it. If you want to know how to make this popular Hungarian food, watch the video!

January 25, 2016

Recipe of the week: Chicken stew

The chicken stew is one of the most famous Hungarian dishes. It is a staple in most Hungarian households though the ingredients vary in different regions. The secret to this indulging meal is the base, the gravy and the meat which is up to your liking; you can use chicken, beef, veal or even wild-boar.

It is believed that people cooked stew-like dishes even before the time of the Hungarian conquest. But that was the rudimentary stage of the Hungarian cuisine. What we call chicken stew today, was first written about in the 18th century. Since then, it has been connected with ground paprika but it has much more to it!

This is how you can make this traditional meal:

Ingredients:

For the stew:

1 kg chicken (use chicken thighs and breast or you could even use a whole chicken)
2-3 onions
1-2 tomatoes
1 green pepper
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of ground paprika
2 tablespoons of fat or oil (traditionally it is made with mangalica fat)
salt, pepper

For the noodles:

0,5 kg flour
3 eggs
2 dl-s of water (or as much as it takes up)
salt

Directions:

First, you need to chop up the onions, the garlic, the tomatoes and the green pepper. Then, add your fat or oil to the pan you’re using and start braising the onion and the garlic. It’s important to roast it well so that it starts to develop a light brown colour. (The world stew – ‘pörkölt’ – also means roasted in Hungarian.) Take it off the heat and add stir in the ground paprika. Add some water to it so that it won’t burn. Put it back on the heat and add in the diced tomatoes and green pepper. Cook for a few minutes, and then add the chicken which you have cut up into smaller cubes (except the drumrolls; munching on them is the best and kids love them). Season with salt and pepper and cook until the meat softens. It will take about 45-60 minutes. Stir it sometimes and check on it. If the water cooks away, add some more so that your meal doesn’t burn. What you are looking for is semi-thick gravy and crispy meat. If you reach that point, you are ready with your stew!

For the noodles, fill up a big saucepan with water and put in on high heat. In the meantime, mix your eggs with a pinch of salt. To reach the perfect consistency of the noodles, start adding the flour and water slowly by turns. You want a thick but smooth batter. When your water has come to a boil, start tearing in the noodles (we use a handy-dandy tool with wholes, which we call ‘noodle tearer’). They cook quickly and come up to the surface when ready. A piece of advice: add some oil to the noodles in a bowl so that they don’t stick together.

Serve the chicken stew with the noodles. This is the most common way of eating the stew but we also fancy eating it with bread. Dunking the bread into the gravy is very satisfying.

Enjoy your meal!

Written by Alexandra Béni

Photo: Tamas Balogh

October 18, 2015

Recipe of the Week: Sponge Cake/Somlói Galuska

Indisputably the sponge cake is one of the most famous Hungarian desserts. It was first made for the World Exhibition of 1958 in Brussels by József Béla Szőcs. It won the professional price and became an instant favourite. The confectioner gave the name to the cake, which comes from the name of the hill, Somlyó, where he lived and worked. The original recipe is still a secret, but many people tried to recreate it which is why many recipes exist. However, you can tell if you eat a real Hungarian sponge cake.

This dessert is the encounter of several tasty layers which would work in themselves too. Now, don’t let the list of ingredients scare you away. It takes some time to make it but bear with us! It is definitely worth it!

Ingredients:

For the simple sponge:

4 eggs
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of flour
0,5 a teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of water

For the cocoa sponge:

4 eggs
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of flour
0,5 a teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

For the walnut sponge:

4 eggs
4 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of flour
0,5 a teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of ground walnut

For the vanilla cream:

4 egg yolks
5 dl-s of milk (2 cups)
75 grams of flour
120 grams of sugar
0,5 vanilla stick
2 teaspoons of gelatine

For the syrup:

200 grams of sugar
3 dl water
1 dl rum
0,25 of a vanilla stick
the zest of 1 lemon
the zest of 1 orange

For the chocolate cream:

150 grams of dark chocolate
0,5 a dl of rum
50 grams of sugar
50 grams of cocoa powder
1 dl water

For the filling:

120 grams of walnut
50 grams of apricot jam
80 grams of raisin
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (to sprinkle)

For the whipped cream:

4 dl of whipping cream

Directions:

Firstly, you need to bake the three sponges. Separate the eggs and whip up the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, flour, baking powder, water and mix them well. When making the cocoa and walnut sponge, add in the cocoa powder and ground walnut along with the other ingredients. Slowly start adding the egg whites and gently mix them in. Spread the batters into pans lined with baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 180 Celsius degrees. They won’t rise too much and they have to be soft.

To make the vanilla cream, bring the milk to a boil with the seeds of the vanilla stick. In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, the sugar and the flour until combined well. Then, start adding in the milk (which you have allowed to cool down) while constantly stirring. Cook the combined mixture slowly until it becomes creamy. Mix the gelatine with half a dl of hot water and add it to the cream.

For the syrup, mix everything together in a bowl then put it on the heat in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. When ready, let the syrup cool down.

At this point, you start to assemble all you have made so far. You put the first layer of sponge (it is up to your liking which one you start with) into a wide and flat bowl. With the help of a brush, you soak the sponge with some of the syrup. Don’t soak it completely; you just want it to be moist. Spread half of the vanilla cream on the sponge layer and sprinkle it with some walnuts (chopped up to small pieces) and raisins (preferably soak them in rum for some time beforehand). Then comes the second layer of sponge and you repeat the same steps: syrup, vanilla cream, walnuts and raisins. For the last layer of sponge, you soak it with syrup and spread the apricot jam on the top and sprinkle with cocoa powder. This is the time when you put this into the fridge for a whole day so that the layers and flavours can really come together. Waiting is hard, but be patient, it’s going to be phenomenal!

You need to cook the chocolate cream the next day before you serve the dessert. You break the chocolate and put it into a smaller saucepan with the cocoa powder, sugar, water and rum. Cook this until it becomes thick enough for a cream. Whip up the whipping cream and you have completed all of the steps. You just have to serve your sponge cake.

You take your mixture of sponge layers out of the fridge and make little scoops with a spoon. They need to look like little balls, noodles (galuska). Put them on a plate and top it with your chocolate cream and whipped cream. You’re done! Wow, this was something, right?

Enjoy your meal!

Written by Alexandra Béni

September 27, 2015

Recipe of the Week: Goulash Soup

It’s no doubt that the goulash soup perfectly represents Hungarian gastronomy. It is famous all around the world and tourists frequently ask for it while staying in our country. It became really famous during the Age of Reform not only in Hungary, but in the neighbouring countries as well. This indulging meal originates from the Great Hungarian Plain, though has many variations.

Back in the day, the main incentive of the housewives was to make filling meals, because it had to energize the countrymen doing hard physical work. The onions, paprika, vegetables and meat make a combination of divine goodness.

Ingredients:

1 kg beef (mostly shank or crop)
2-3 big onions
0,5 kg of potatoes
3 carrots
2 turnips
1 celery
5-7 cloves of garlic
3-4 tomatoes
1 green pepper
2 tablespoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
a bunch of parsley
pork fat
salt and pepper
for the noodles: 1 large egg, 10-12 dkg-s of flour, salt

Directions:

You will need a big bowl or you can make it outside in a kettle if you fancy. Chop up the onions into small cubes and start cooking it on the fat. Cut the meet into smaller pieces (you can do this beforehand for practical reasons) while the onions cook down. Then remove the bowl from the heat, add in the paprika, the ground cumin, the lightly mashed garlic and stir it all together. Removing the bowl is important so that the paprika won’t get burnt. Now you can add in the meat and some water if needed. After the water cooked away, season the mixture with salt and pepper. Then, add in the vegetables chopped up: potatoes, carrots, turnips, tomatoes and the green pepper. Add in as much water as you need to cover everything in the bowl. From this point on you have to be patient, it takes a few hours until everything becomes soft enough. Prepare the noodles: mix together the egg, the flour and salt. When you rich the point where everything has softened, you can add in the parsley and start tearing small pieces of the noodle’s batter. Cook them for 10 more minutes and you’re ready!

Enjoy your meal!

Written by Alexandra Béni
Photo by Alexandra Béni

September 6, 2015

Delicious Túró Rudi Cake recipe

Túró Rudi is the eternal favourite for many people. Here is a multi-tested and successful recipe for it in the form of a cake.

Ingredients

Sponge:

2 eggs
6 dkg sugar
6 dkg flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 dkg cocoa powder

Syrup:

1 dl water
5 dkg sugar
Cream:
50 dkg cottage cheese
1 dl sour cream
2,5 dl whipping cream
20 dkg icing sugar
1 tbsp gelatine
1 pkg vanilla sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice

Coating:

10 dkg milk chocolate
10 dkg dark chocolate
2 tbsp oil

Baking

Preheat oven to 170°. Put parchment paper into a 26-cm springform.

For the sponge, beat the egg whites with the sugar. Carefully fold the flour, cocoa powder and the baking powder into the egg mixture. Spread it into the pan, and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

For the cream, mix the gelatine with the water, heat it, and set aside to cool. Mix the cottage cheese with the icing sugar, vanilla sugar, vanilla extract, the zest of a lemon, and the lemon juice. Carefully fold the cooled gelatine and the whipped cream into the mixture.

Remove the parchment paper from the cooled sponge and pour the sugar syrup on it. Cover it with the cream, then put it into the fridge.

For the coating, melt the chocolate with the oil over steam. When it is cooled, pour it on top of the cottage cheese and put the cake back to the fridge before serving.

based on article of szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu
translated by Vivien Pásztai

Photo: ottisfoz.szhblog.ro

January 5, 2015

Interpretive Mini-Dictionary for Hungarian Recipes

There are some good advises which make easier to interpret or substitute a few ingedients, based on the article of Divany.hu.

Crème fraîche: There is no adequate Hungarian expression for this ingredient. It is not yogurt, not sour cream not kefir and no cooking cream.

Folyadékban futtatandó szárított élesztő: Active dry yeast.

Friss élesztő: Fresh yeast

Habtejszín (30 or 35%): Double cream

Jódozatlan só: Kosher salt. It does not contain iodine, it has bigger graines, dissolves slower than table salt. It can be replaced by table salt, but only half of it needed.

Krémsajt: Cream cheese/soft cheese. It is plain, unsalted. In Hungary, it is also available from Philadelphia or its substitutes.

Süteményliszt: Cake flour. It contains less protein than plain flour. It is a highly processed white flour, very finely milled. It can be replaced by plain flour, but 10% less is enough of it.

Sütőpor: Baking powder. It contains baking soda, too. There are two types: single-phase and two-phase baking powder.

Szárított élesztő: Instant dry yeast. It is not necessary to put into water before use – theoretically, is is more active, „stronger”, so 20% less is enough, than the amount necessary from active dry yeast.

Szegfűbors: Allspice.

Szódabikarbóna: Baking soda. It works with acidic ingredients, so in pastas containing lemon juice, yogurt etc. In such a case, in emergency, we baking powder can be replaced with it, but we should bake the pasta right away, because chemical reactions arestarting immediatley after mixing.

Tejszín (48%): Heavy cream. It is a cream with high content of animal fat. Typically used as a dressing, and if it is necessary to the pasta, you can change the fat content of the pasta with extra butter.

Túró: Cottage cheese. It is creamy, contains 4% fat, soft and usually jsut crumbly dairy product.

based on the article of Divany.hu
translated and edited by BA

December 26, 2014

Hungarian Christmas Gingerbread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 kg flour
4 dl powdered sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
20 dkg butter
3 whole eggs
3 dl honey
2 tbsp. cinnamon, ground cloves
To decorate
egg white
6 tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and flour the baking sheet.

Mix the powder materials, and crumble the softened butter into the mix. Pour honey, and crack an egg into the middle, then knead it. Pour flour on the pastry board. Be careful, if the pasta is too soft, then it will flow away in the oven.
Cut a small piece from the finished dough, and stretch it to be 2-3 mm thick. Cut out the shapes, put them into the baking sheet and bake them for 10 minutes. Spread sugary milk all over the gingerbread shapes, so they will be shiny after baking.

The top of the pieces given as gifts can be decorated with icing. Beat egg white with a pinch of salt, and add 6-7 tbspn powdered sugar to the airy foam. Put the foam into a plastic bag, then cut one of its corners and decorate through this. The decoration dries in a few hours. Store the gingerbread in metal containers, and put a slice of apple into it – the pieces will soften wonderfully.

based on article of magyarvagyok.com
translated by Vivien Pasztai

December 26, 2014