The history of a classic Hungarian cake, the zserbó

Zserbó is a real Hungarian classic that most people love. A must-have for festive tables that is always praised. Its popularity is not accidental, which is also due to its creator, whose legacy is still present in the life of Hungarians.

You can read various zserbó recipes, for example, there was already a mug cake recipe, as well as the classic one. However, the origin of its name and its creator has not been presented so far.

The success of the zserbó is due to its sophisticated elegance, which can be achieved in many ways. There are few but

rich characteristic flavours

that stand out in their own right: nuts, apricots, and chocolate. The dough lessens its density, but only enough to make it a cake and not a solid bon-bon, writes unilife.hu.

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Its simplicity can be embodied in its original form, as a sophisticated coffee house cake or, as many of us know, a homemade cookie made with dedication, with homemade jam, freshly ground nuts, and an uneven layer of chocolate. No matter which one comes your way, consuming it is an unmissable opportunity, and it is the

charming result of carefully chosen ingredients.

Émile Gerbeaud, born in 1854, belongs to a Swiss confectionery family. He practised his craft from a young age. He worked in several confectioneries in Germany, England, and France. He arrived in Hungary in 1884 at the invitation of Henrik Kugler, who, in the absence of an heir, was looking for a partner and a successor to continue his confectionery business. He found it all in Gerbeaud, who impressed the Hungarian confectionery society and soon operated the most popular place in Budapest.

His personality was like his famous cake: a sophisticated gentleman who was always elegant but did not give in to unnecessary frills.

He was trained in dancing and swordsmanship. Instead of scandals, he supervised and helped his employees so that his name was used so many times that he is now well-known.

He was not just a confectioner but also a chocolate producer, industrialist, and entrepreneur. He was the first to introduced the famous ‘macskanyelv’ (cat tongue), the ‘csokoládé drazsé’ (chocolate dragees), and the ‘konyakos meggy’ (cognac sour cherry).

In 1896, at the Millennium Exhibition, he demonstrated his modern chocolate-making method, which gained him a reputation.

After his death on 9 November 1919, his wife led the company. In 1948, the Communist regime deprived the heirs of their heritage. Since 1984, the company has  once again been under the name ‘Café Gerbeaud’. The owner is a German billionaire, Erwin Franz Müller, the owner of the Müller drugstores. The graves of Emil Gerbeaud and his family are in the Kerepesi Cemetery, in Budapest.

Source: unilife