The story of a beloved Hungarian cake – with creative recipes

Zserbo Hungarian Christmas cookie recipes

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Zserbó is an easy-to-make Hungarian delicacy. The legendary origin story says that famous confectioner Émile Gerbeaud himself invented it.

The French confectioner followed in his father’s footsteps in creating the tastiest cakes. He was born in 1854 in Switzerland. His hometown, Carouge, later became part of Geneva. In 1871, he started working at his father’s pastry shop. Then, he moved to England, Germany, France and opened his own place in Saint-Étienne. He moved to Hungary in 1884.

As for how he invented the famous Hungarian product, that is an interesting story. He simply took all the ingredients that can be found in every household and created the tasty zserbó. The facts, however, do not confirm that this story is true. There was no recipe found that was written by Gerbeaud, nor was the recipe ever found among his documents.

But even if the origin story was never confirmed, we have some amazing zserbó-inspired recipes. If someone likes baking, this is the moment to choose a recipe, run to the kitchen, check if all the ingredients are there, and start baking.

Zserbó recipe

Ingredients

15 g yeast
100 ml milk
500 g flour
300 g butter
150 g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
5 g baking powder
2 g salt

Filling

730 g apricot jam
18 g Bacardi white rum
190 g ground walnuts
40 g icing sugar

Coating

120 g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Mix the yeast with a little bit of sugar in warm milk. Make sure the mixture is smooth. If this step is done, all the other ingredients have to be mixed together, then you have to knead. Divide the dough into four parts and let them rest covered with a kitchen towel for a good half hour. Then, stretch the dough to the size of a baking sheet and place it in a baking tray.

The jam and the rum should be mixed together. A third of it should be spread on the pastry. The icing sugar and the walnuts then need to be spread on the jam. Then, the next layer of pastry comes on top of the first, followed by the filling. After you place the fourth layer on top, prick holes in it with a fork. After another half hour of resting, it should be baked at 160 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes.

After it is baked, and you let it cool, take the zserbó out of the baking tray and turn it upside down. Put jam on the top. Melt the chocolate over some steam, and use a little bit of butter as well. The chocolate then needs to be poured on the cake.

Photo: www.facebook.com/Gerbeaud Café

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Zserbó muffin recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs
80 g melted butter
80 g icing sugar
100 g flour
120 g ground walnuts
100 ml milk
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

For the top

10 tsp apricot jam

For the cream

250 g cold mascarpone
100 ml whipping cream
100 g melted dark chocolate
1 tsp cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground walnuts

Instructions

Beat the eggs, butter, and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Let them cool, then put jam on top. Make a foamy cream from the mascarpone and the whipping cream in 3-4 minutes. Mix it with the melted chocolate once the chocolate has cooled, and add cocoa powder to it. Mix it well. Put the cream on top of the muffins, then sprinkle some walnuts on top.

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Zserbó lollipops

Ingredients

150 g ground walnuts
150 g sweet biscuits (grind them before baking)
50 g candied orange peel (and a little bit of syrup)
4 tbsp apricot jam
200 g dark chocolate
100 g white chocolate

Ground and mix the walnuts, biscuits, orange peel, and apricots. Add enough of the orange syrup and apricot jam so that it is easy to form balls. These are then put on a silicone baking sheet. Dip the lollipop stick in melted white chocolate and put it in the baked zserbó balls. The white chocolate can be used to make decorations on the lollipops, but that is optional. A sample is required, and the chocolate should be melted to get the forms.

Zserbó slice
Photo: facebook.com/GerbeaudCafe

Zserbó ice cream

Ingredients

3 egg yolks
80 g light cane sugar
300 ml milk
90 g walnut cream (or 90 g walnuts, ground until creamy)
500 ml whipping cream
2-3 tablespoons of peach Pálinka
a pinch of fleur de sel
50 g dark chocolate
4-5 tablespoons of peach jam

Instructions

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar, add milk, and stir it until it thickens. Heat it to 80 degrees Celsius, so it should be under boiling point. Using a mixer, add the walnut cream, the whipping cream, the Pálinka, and the salt. Let it cool.

On the next day, an ice cream machine will be a great help in making the dessert. While the machine is working, melt the chocolate and add it to the ice cream mix. Put one-third of the ice cream into a box, put 1-2 tablespoons of jam on top, then add another layer of ice cream. Continue with the layering until all the ice cream is used.

If you do not have an ice cream machine, you can still make the ice cream. Mix the ice cream mix every half hour until it freezes. When you stir it for the last time, add the chocolate, and layer it with apricot jam. In this case, you simply wait until the ice cream gets cold to add the rest of the ingredients. There is no need to stir it with a mixer overnight and wait until the next day to finish the dessert.