Close Menu
Global News HQ
    What's Hot

    CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool

    June 30, 2025

    AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim

    June 30, 2025

    Tokenized stock trading live on Kraken, Bybit and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem

    June 30, 2025
    Recent Posts
    • CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool
    • AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim
    • Tokenized stock trading live on Kraken, Bybit and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem
    • How Co-Citations Drive AI SEO
    • Why So Many Beauty Founders Are Morphing Into Gurus
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube TikTok
    Trending
    • CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool
    • AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim
    • Tokenized stock trading live on Kraken, Bybit and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem
    • How Co-Citations Drive AI SEO
    • Why So Many Beauty Founders Are Morphing Into Gurus
    • How to Navigate JFK When It’s Under Construction
    • Hundreds of Brother printer models have an unpatchable security flaw
    • Labour rebels await details of welfare concessions ahead of key vote
    Global News HQ
    • Technology & Gadgets
    • Travel & Tourism (Luxury)
    • Health & Wellness (Specialized)
    • Home Improvement & Remodeling
    • Luxury Goods & Services
    • Home
    • Finance & Investment
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Real Estate
    • More
      • Cryptocurrency & Blockchain
      • E-commerce & Retail
      • Business & Entrepreneurship
      • Automotive (Car Deals & Maintenance)
    Global News HQ
    Home - Travel & Tourism (Luxury) - This European Country Hosts a ‘Cake of the Year’ Competition—and I Traveled 5,000 Miles for a Slice
    Travel & Tourism (Luxury)

    This European Country Hosts a ‘Cake of the Year’ Competition—and I Traveled 5,000 Miles for a Slice

    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp VKontakte Email
    This European Country Hosts a ‘Cake of the Year’ Competition—and I Traveled 5,000 Miles for a Slice
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email



    As a soft evening rain began to coat the cobblestone streets of Budapest’s Buda Castle District, my husband and I ducked excitedly into Korona Kávéház, a family-run confectionery and cafe, with dessert on the mind. The sweet we were after had been carefully considered and selected for me long before we set foot in the Pearl of the Danube. We came for a slice of Hungary’s 2024 Cake of the Year.

    Sable and her slice of Hungary’s 2024 Cake of the Year.

    Sable Massingill Martinez/Travel + Leisure


    Beaming with pride, our server brought to the table a towering piece of Mákvirág (Poppy Flower) cake. Created by Alfréd Kovács, owner and pastry chef of the Édes Vonal confectionery in Vác, the cake is sweet yet delicately tart and fruit-forward. It consists of alternating layers of spongy almond-flour poppy seed, crunchy black sesame, and black currant, and it’s topped with dense white chocolate icing. We would have voted for it twice.

    The Mákvirág (Poppy Flower) cake created by Alfréd Kovács, owner and pastry chef of the Édes Vonal Confectionery.

    Courtesy of The Hungarian Confectioners Association


    Kovács shared what an honor this achievement was, especially considering his pastry shop had opened only five months prior to winning the competition. “The immediate surge in demand after winning was overwhelming. We worked day and night to serve all of our customers, but it was worth it,” the chef told Travel + Leisure. “This competition was a great opportunity to revive and refresh old, traditional flavors. My cake is not too sweet or overly heavy, as poppy seed cakes in Hungarian cuisine can be.”

    The nation’s reverence for cake is deeply ingrained in its history and culture, with classics like Esterházy torte, characterized by its intricate spider-web icing, and the six-layer, chocolate cream-filled Stefánia cake, named after a princess, dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

    Established in 2007, Hungary’s Cake of the Year competition is overseen by the Hungarian Confectioners’ Association, with the winner announced every year on St. Stephen’s Day. On Aug. 20, the national holiday, also known as Foundation Day, commemorates the foundation of the Hungarian state, and the Cake of the Year is considered a birthday cake for the country.

    Exterior of Korona Kavehaz, the family-run confectionery and cafe in Budapest’s Grand Buda Castle District.

    Sable Massingill Martinez/Travel + Leisure


    “Over the years, Hungary’s cake has become an integral part of the Aug. 20th celebrations,” said László Selmeczi, the managing director of the association. “The winning cake is unveiled each year at a press conference held in the Hunter’s Hall of the Hungarian Parliament as part of the official state celebrations.”

    One of these celebrations includes the Street of Hungarian Flavors, which honors Hungary’s proud cultural history of gastronomy. During the event, 30,000 to 40,000 slices of the newly crowned Cake of the Year are sold over the course of two days. Leading up to the national holiday, many pastry shops also prepare cakes from previous year’s competitions.

    When asked about some of his favorite and most memorable cakes over the years, Selmeczi shared the 2016 Cake of the Year—Őrség Zöld Aranya (Green Gold of Őrség)—has remained popular, and is still widely available in most pastry shops. “It’s also my personal favorite because of its use of pumpkin seed oil in the sponge cake and the glazing, which pairs beautifully with raspberries and white chocolate.”

    The competition offers pastry chefs the opportunity to further the heritage of Hungarian desserts, while contributing their own creations to that illustrious history. A new school of chefs like Kovács is committed to reinventing the classics of Hungarian pastry past, taking a more health-conscious, experimental approach. There’s even a sugar-free division from which a separate winner is selected. In 2024, that winner was Zöld Málna (Green Raspberry), a fruity, floral beauty made with pistachio, raspberry jelly, and rosewater, and decorated with dried rose petals.

    Regardless of your taste preferences, Hungary’s storied pastry- and cake-making tradition has a bright future. Chefs entering the 2025 competition will celebrate the 140th anniversary of Hungary’s famed Dobos—a layered, sponge cake with chocolate buttercream and a caramel topping—that has been a staple of Hungarian desserts since József C. Dobos introduced it at the Budapest National General Exhibition in 1885. This year’s competition requires chefs to use the key ingredients characteristic of the cake, along with other suggested ingredients such as spices, native fruits, pálinka (a traditional Hungarian fruit brandy), or wines made from grape varieties indigenous to the Carpathian Basin.

    Bookmark Aug. 20, 2025 on your calendar and prepare to celebrate one of the world’s sweetest traditions.



    Source link

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
    Previous ArticleOkta CEO: AI Will Lead to More Software Engineers, Not Less | Entrepreneur
    Next Article Small Business Optimism Drops Below Historical Average Amid Policy Uncertainty

    Related Posts

    35 Best Hotels in Thailand, From Wellness Resorts to City Gems

    June 30, 2025

    Editor’s Letter: Inside Robb Report’s 2025 Best of the Best Issue

    June 30, 2025

    I’ve Lived in Tokyo for 20 Years and This Is My No. 1 Travel Tip for Anyone Visiting Japan

    June 29, 2025

    The 16 Best Hotels in Kyoto

    June 29, 2025
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    ads
    Don't Miss
    Finance & Investment
    5 Mins Read

    CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool

    The Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV 0.34%) is one of the largest exchange-traded funds…

    AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim

    June 30, 2025

    Tokenized stock trading live on Kraken, Bybit and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem

    June 30, 2025

    How Co-Citations Drive AI SEO

    June 30, 2025
    Top
    Finance & Investment
    5 Mins Read

    CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool

    The Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV 0.34%) is one of the largest exchange-traded funds…

    AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim

    June 30, 2025

    Tokenized stock trading live on Kraken, Bybit and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem

    June 30, 2025
    Our Picks
    Finance & Investment
    5 Mins Read

    CGDV Is a Popular Dividend ETF for Passive Income. But Is It the Best? | The Motley Fool

    The Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV 0.34%) is one of the largest exchange-traded funds…

    Technology & Gadgets
    4 Mins Read

    AT&T Will Pay $177M to Settle 2 Massive Data Breaches. Here's Who Can File a Claim

    More the 100 million people received a victim notice after the 2024 hack of AT&T…

    Pages
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimer
    • Homepage
    • Privacy Policy
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube TikTok
    • Home
    © 2025 Global News HQ .

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Go to mobile version