Hungarian Gerbeaud Cake (Zserbó szelet)

This is a common cake eaten during Christmas in Hungary. Traditionally there are three layers of pastry with walnuts and apricot jam in between. I made it a little differently, by combining the filling's ingredients into cream with beaten egg whites. This dessert is a little bit time-consuming, but it's well worth the effort because it's delicious. If you spend the time to make it it will definitely impress everyone at a party.

Ingredients (for 6-8)
For the dough:
1,5 cup (350 gr) Flour
5,2 oz (150 gr) Butter
0,5 oz (15 gr) Fresh Yeast
1/4 cup (60 ml) Milk
3,5 oz (100 gr) Sugar
3 egg yolks
Pinch of Salt
For the filling:
7 oz (200 gr) Ground Walnuts
7 oz (200 gr) Apricot Jam
5,2 oz (150 gr) Sugar
3 egg whites
For the chocolate glaze:
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
5,2 oz(150 gr) Confectioners Sugar
1 oz (30 gr) Butter
3-4 tbsp Water

1. Dissolve 1 tbsp sugar in the lukewarm milk then crumble the fresh yeast into it. Let it rise.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt then the cold, diced butter.
3. Mix with your hands until you've got a crumble-like texture.
4. Add the sugar, egg yolks and the milk with the risen yeast.
5. Start kneading until the dough is nice, soft and comes out cleanly from the bowl. (if you feel that the dough is too soft, you can add some more flour, but don't use too much)
6. Sprinkle some flour over the dough, cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
7. Meanwhile mix the ground walnut with the sugar.
8. Add the apricot jam and stir well (I used a thinner type of home-made jam. If you have a harder one, loosen it with some water before mixing it with the walnut)
9. Beat the 3 egg whites until you have soft peaks.
10. Gently fold the beaten whites into the walnut mixture until you've got a fluffy, creamy texture.
11. Preheat your oven to 356F (180C)
12. Take the dough out from the fridge, put it on a floured surface and divide it into three equal parts.
13. Roll the first ball out into a rectangle, about 3-5 mm thick, and the size of your baking pan. (I've use a 7,5x12” /19x31cm/ pan) Flour the dough and the rolling pin, and gently roll the pastry around the pin. Roll it out into the baking pan (which is lined with baking parchment)
14. Arrange it with your hands nicely.
15. Pour in half of the walnut mixture and spread it out evenly with a spatula.
16. Now, get the second dough, and do the same procedure as with the first one.
17. Pour the rest of the walnut mixture over, and cover with the third, rolled-out pastry.
18. It is OK, if the top of the cake doesn't look pretty – that will be the bottom later.
19. Pierce the top of the cake with a toothpick all over then put it into the preheated oven.
20. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
21. When it's nice and golden, take it out from the oven. Let it cool.
22. When it's cold enough to handle, place another baking sheet on top, then turn it over quickly.
23. Remove the baking pan and the parchment too.
24. Now, make the chocolate glaze. In a saucepan mix together the confectioners sugar, cocoa powder and the water. Stir well until you have a smooth paste.
25. Bring it to boil, stirring continuously until it melts (3-4 minutes)
26. Remove from the heat and add the cold butter. Stir well until the butter melts completely.
27. Pour the chocolate glaze over the cake and spread it with a spatula in an even layer. (don't bother with the sides – we will cut them off later)
28. Leave the cake uncovered at room temperature for 1 hour until the chocolate is set.
29. Cut off the all four sides.
30. Slice the cake into rectangles then squares.
31. ENJOY!

/The music is based on a Hungarian folk song, played and made by my husband, MrStick© 2016 - (all rights reserved)/

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