‘Curiositas’ and ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ – Hungary’s 2020 Cakes of the Year Revealed!

Fanni Kaszás 2020.08.04.

This year, the Hungarian Confectioner Craftsmen Corporation invited entries for the 14th annual Hungarian Cake of the Year contest. The results were presented at the Parliament: of six finalists, this year’s winner, the “Cake of Hungary,” is the ‘Curiositas,’ an almond/quince/chocolate cake created by Krisztián Füredi; while the other winner, the sugar-free cake of the country is the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, made by Andrea Dienes.

‘Curiositas’ and ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, cakes of the year. (photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI)

This year’s “Cake of Hungary” beat out five other delicious competitors to win the top prize. The winning cake, created by Krisztián Füredi of Hisztéria Confectionery in Tápiószecső, is called ‘Curiositas’, an almond cake layered with milk-hazelnut crisp, quince jelly, orange-almond mousse, and coated with dark chocolate mirror glaze.

Krisztián Füredi with the ‘Curiositas'(photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI)

Füredi spent his training years in the Gundel restaurant, and the main ingredients (almonds, hazelnuts, chocolate) of the cake were inspired by the famous Gundel cake. He completed the cake with one of his favorite ingredients, quince. According to the Confectioner Guild, this fruit has been undeservedly neglected in recent years, although it has been present in Hungarian gastronomic culture for centuries. Füredi supplemented the quince jelly with quince compote and completed it with quince brandy, so he managed to bring out the best flavors of the fruit.

Fact

Each year, on the occasion of the national holiday on August 20th, the day when Saint Stephen founded the Hungarian State, a competition for the ‘Cake of the Year’ is announced by the Hungarian Confectioner Craftsmen Corporation at the invitation of the Government of Hungary. Held since 2007, the competition ends with a decision by the professional jury and the recipe of the winning cake specialty is shared with the general public. The guild expects participants to come up with innovative and creative ideas while respecting Hungarian confectionery traditions.

The winner of this year’s ‘Sugar-free Cake of Hungary’ competition is the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream, created by Andrea Dienes from the JÓkenyér pékség és cukrászat in Pilisszentiván.

Fact

Egy Csepp Figyelem Alapítvány (One Drop of Attention Foundation, a charity organization that fights diabetes) and the Hungarian Confectioner Craftsmen Corporation have been inviting applications for the ‘Sugar-free Cake of Hungary’ title since 2012. The aim of the competition is not only the introduction of sugar-free recipes and methods, but it also wants to attract attention to the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

The cake contains no added sugar, so its taste is mainly determined by the cinnamon-sour cherry jam, the light sour cherry whipped cream, which is completed by the cream-oatmeal English custard (Crème anglaise). The cake is covered with sugar-free white chocolate, and decorated in a wreath-like layer with lyophilized (freeze-dried) cherries. ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ contains only 13.3 g of carbohydrates and 252.5 kcal per slice, so it can be a great choice for diabetics and anyone who follows a healthy lifestyle.

‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’. (photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI)

The cakes will be available for public tasting for the first time on August 19th in hundreds of confectioneries nationwide. In order to protect the quality of the cakes, the recipes will only be made public at the end of the year; until then, only the members of the association can make them.

featured photo: Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI