Although in the middle of a heat wave, today's post is dedicated to Gerbeaud slices -a Hungarian dessert offered at Christmas, weddings and similar occasions. The official version is sold at Café Gerbeaud, Budapest pastry shop that was established by Henrik Kugler in 1858.
The history: Kugler's enterprise began with serving coffee and fine liqueurs, Russian & Chinese tea, and ice cream to the good society of Budapest. It was even frequented by Liszt and visited by the Empress 'Sissi'. During a trip to Paris in 1882, Kugler met Emile Gerbeaud, a talented Swiss confectioner that he invited to be his partner. After Kugler's death, Gerbeaud took over the business and made it very successful. He employed over a hundred and fifty people from all over the country, trained and working hard in order to meet Gerbeaud's professional standards. Gerbeaud also purchased the latest baking equipment, resulting in goods of the highest quality. The
interior decoration of the pastry shop was exquisite, supervised by the owner himself, and
left intact by his successors -namely his wife Eszter, who ran the place until 1940, and the State, who did so until
1984. Gerbaud offered his customers a wide variety of French-style desserts, adopting buttercream, shortcrust and kirsch candy. He also promoted famous Hungarian cakes (Esterházy, Dobos, Rigó Jancsi) as well as his and Kugler's original creations, including Gerbeaud slices.
GERBEAUD SLICES
Gerbeaud slices is a kind of layered jam tart, using winter ingredients: preserves, walnuts & apples. Yeast-leavened pastaflora dough is rarely, if ever, used in baking and that's what makes this cake unique. The version shared here is based on a recipe by former pastry chef at Gerbeaud's (see here). The original frosting is made with cocoa, water, sugar and gelatine.
I n g r e d i e n t s
for the dough:
125ml milk, at 35C
3 yolks500g all-purpose flour
2tsp dry yeast
a pinch of salt
200g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar
for the filling:
250g apricot preserves
200g walnuts
125g caster sugar
for the glaze:
100g dark chocolate
75g caster sugar
45ml water
15g butter
M e t h o d
1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub in the butter until crumbs are formed. Add the milk and yolks and knead lightly for 2-3 minutes. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours. 2. Lighty warm, then sieve the apricot preserves. Grind the walnuts in a food processor, along with the sugar. 3. Roll out 1/3 of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Transfer to a greased 30x20cm oblong baking dish. Brush with half of the apricot preserves, then sprinkle with half of the walnut and sugar mixture. 4. Repeat with two more layers of dough and filling, then cover with the remaining 1/3 of the dough. 5. Prick the dough all over with a fork and bake at 175-180C for 35 minutes or until golden brown. 6. Let stand in the baking dish for 5 minutes, then upturn onto a wire rack and leave for several hours. 7. When cool, prepare the frosting: Place the chocolate, sugar and water in a double boiler and heat until combined. Add the butter and mix well, then pour on the upturned cake. Let stand until it's firm, then refrigerate. 8. Divide into slices after trimming the edges, with a sharp knife dipped in hot water. Keep at room temperature in winter, preferably under a dome, or refrigerated in summer.
T i p
If you prepare Gerbeaud slices on a warm day, keep the dough very cold until needed. Roll out each piece to fit exactly the size of your pan because it's difficult to handle while assembling the dessert. Reducing the number of yolks is another option but it won't be Gerbeaud slices.
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