This is how the famous Hungarian Szamos szaloncukor is made – VIDEO

If you happen to be already in a Christmas mood, and you have bought the tree, the presents and the inevitable Christmas bonbons, called szaloncukor in Hungarian, you might wonder how these sweets are actually made. Funzine.hu provides an insight into the preparation of these beloved Christmas sweets with the help of László Szamos and Andor Haraszti, master bakers.

The Szamos Gourmet House has opened six years ago in Budapest on the corner of Vörösmarty Square. The café house operating in the prestigious building, also known as the once Stock Exchange Palace, is popular among Hungarians and foreigners alike throughout the year. December is not different either as it is the busiest period of the year when it is good to pop into the café from the crowdy Christmas market.

Thanks to the interior design of the café, customers can witness how confectioners work while drinking a cup of coffee.

In the following video, László Szamos, master baker, and Andor Haraszti, chocolate master, reveal us the secrets of szaloncukor making in the Szamos Gourmet House.

Watch the video about the making process! (English transcription is provided below.)

Video transcription

The preparation of the small bonbons starts with the marzipan making process. Marzipan is the mixture of almond and sugar in a different proportion that can make three different versions of the thick paste. For instance, if it contains 1kg almond and 2kg sugar, it is called a double marzipan which name reflects the double proportion of sugar added to the paste.

The making process is very complex and includes several phases.

The 1st step is to make hollow corpuses. This is how they call the main part of the dessert being under the chocolate cover. If it is ready, then the pastry goes through a roller around 5-6 times to create the perfect pastry that is easy to shape. It is only after this that comes the filling poured into the holes in the middle of the dessert. Fruit, chocolate, orange or plum flavoured fillings fill up the gap that gives the real aroma of the bonbon.

The process is still not finished but is close to the end. The bonbons get immersed in chocolate, and then they go through an 8-10-meter long heat tunnel by the end of which the chocolate solidifies, and the employees can get them down from the conveyor belt.

László Szamos also reveals in the video how the szaloncukor is a Hungaricum that only exists in Hungary. Its uniqueness can be explained with not only the filling but also with the unique wrapping. This dessert has become the inevitable part of the typical Hungarian Christmas, so it cannot be missing from the Christmas dish repertoire either.

The Szamos Gourmet House still sticks to its original, 50-year-old principles represented by Mátyás Szamos.

In fact, their secret lies in the usage of quality ingredients, the employment of professional Hungarians and the practice of constant revival.

The unique quality and the variable and divine fillings of the bonbons deserve particular attention, and the Szamos Gourmet House attempts to make them be considered not only as festivity sweets but as rare presents as well.

Feature image: www.facebook.com/SzamosCsokoládéIskola

Source: funzine.hu