Shortcrust pastry layers are smothered with almond jam-walnut filling and covered with rich dark chocolate. This Hungarian Gerbeaud Cake is moist and so delicious! It makes a big batch and just like my Chocolate Eclairs, Gerbeaud Cake is perfect for potlucks, picnics or other special occasions. 
Gerbeaud Cake
I’m pretty sure that the first time I visited Hungary I haven’t tried Gerbeaud Cake. Honestly speaking, I don’t even remember the food that I had back then.
Hungary was one of the first European countries that I was lucky to travel to and I was so impressed by its beauty that I didn’t pay much attention to the local cuisine.
Now, that my blog is all about European recipes, I’m slowly starting to explore more and more recipes of my favorite places that I’ve been to.
Gerbeaud Cake is named after a Swiss confectioner Emil Gerbeaud in 18th century. He used to live in Budapest and took charge of a famous Confectionery Kugler, which he later renamed to Café Gerbeaud.
He was the one to invent several famous Hungarian desserts and delicious Gerbeaud Cake was one of it.
Just like my Russian Sour Cream Layer Cake, this traditional Hungarian dessert consists of several layers of shortcrust pastry which are slathered with a thick layer of apricot jam and walnut mixture and followed by an impressive layer of melted chocolate.
Dessert comes moist and crispy at the same time with an incredibly delicious filling! It’s definitely a crowd-pleasing dessert that is not difficult to make.
Original Gerbeaud Cake recipe uses apricot preserves, however you can make your own twist to the recipe and use any other jam you like.
Start off with making the dough. In a medium bowl combine flour, yeast and baking powder.
In a large bowl whisk together egg, warm milk, sugar and melted butter. Gradually stir in flour and yeast mixture and knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and place it in a warm place to rise for 30-40 minutes.
I’ve actually started the process the night before. So I put my dough in the fridge and the next morning when I was ready to continue, I took it out the fridge and let it come to a room temperature.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together walnuts and apricot preserves.
Line 13×9-inch baking pan with a parchment paper. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. I found the best way to ensure this is by weighting the dough. Here are my favorite kitchen weights that I use all the time.
Next, lightly dust a working surface with a flour and roll out the first piece of dough to be the size of your baking pan. I used a ruler for convenience. 
Transfer first layer of dough into the baking pan. It’s okay if you have little gaps here and there, you won’t feel them in the final result.
Generously spread half of almond preserve-walnut mixture on a first layer of dough. 
Repeat with the remaining 2 layers of dough. Pierce the top layer with a fork 10-15 times. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes at 355 F until top is golden brown.
Now, is the my favorite part – spreading of hot chocolate. I used good quality bittersweet chocolate, melted it in the microwave along with some butter and generously spread it on top of the cake. You can lick the spatula after:) Yummy!
And we’re pretty much done. Not too difficult at all and the best part – the cake comes out incredibly delicious and rich.
Also try these amazing Eastern European desserts recipes
- Trdelnik recipe
- Russian Apple Sponge Cake
- Ukrainian Paska
- Syrniki
- 1 (7 grams) packet instant yeast
- 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 7 ounces (200 grams) butter, melted
- ½ cup milk
- 7 ounces (200 grams) apricot preserves
- 7 ounces (200 grams) walnuts, chopped
- 5 ounces (140 grams) dark chocolate
- 2 ounces (56.7 grams) butter
- In a medium bowl combine flour, yeast and baking powder.
- In a large bowl whisk together egg, warm milk, sugar and melted butter. Gradually stir in flour and yeast mixture and knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and place it in a warm place to rise for 30-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together walnuts and apricot preserves.
- Preheat the oven to 355 F.
- Line 13x9-inch baking pan with a parchment paper. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
- Lightly dust a working surface with a flour and roll out the first piece of dough to be the size of your baking pan. I used a ruler for convenience.
- Transfer first layer of dough into the baking pan and spread half of the apricot-walnut mixture on top. Repeat with the remaining 2 layers of dough.
- Pierce the top layer with a fork 10-15 times.
- Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes until top is golden brown.
- Remove cake from the oven and let it cool.
- In a small bowl combine butter and chocolate and microwave in 10-15 seconds intervals until melted. Give it a stir and evenly spread the chocolate on top of the cake.
- Chill for an hour or until chocolate is set.
- Enjoy!
Try this traditional Gerbeaud Cake and let me know what you think.
If you make my Gerbeaud Cake recipe, don’t forget to snap a picture and post it on Instagram with a hashtag #lavenderandmacarons. I’d love to see your creations.
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