WOW! Three Hungarian desserts in CNN’s world top 50

CNN Travel listed the top 50 desserts of the world, three of which are Hungarian ones. They did not rank the pastries but wrote a short introduction about them.

In the list, there are some well-known products like the brownie or the doughnut; both are linked to the USA. According to 19th-century-sources,

doughnuts became popular in the 19th century first in Hungary,

but Germans and French also claim that they are the dessert’s homeland. The Middle-East is represented in the list by the famous baklava while the French and the Germans with their chocolate mousse and black forest cake.

Regarding the Hungarian desserts, CNN writes that the Eszterhazy cake is one of the most delicious remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. “A century after the empire fell its creamy legacy can still be found in pastry shop windows from Vienna to Sarajevo” – they write.

For this elegant cake, thin rounds of almond meringue are piled high between stripes of chocolate buttercream, then topped with a marbled spiderweb of chocolate and vanilla fondant. A melting texture and rich sweetness make this old-fashioned cake a perennial

favourite in sweets-loving Budapest,

but it’s just as easy to find in Vienna, the grand city that once led the empire. It remains deeply influenced by a shared culinary tradition – they conclude.

About the kifli, they write that while the rest of the world eats jam, central Europe enjoys the rich flavour of lekvár, a chunky preserve that retains all the tartness of the region’s ripe apricots and plums.