Rab cake was considered so sacred and special that its recipe has been kept secret, almost like a relic, behind the thick walls of the local abbey for centuries

I traveled to Kvarner Gulf, where Rab has been known as the Happy Island since Roman times. This was the birthplace of Saint Marinus, the founder of San Marino, but also the place that pioneered naturism, with the audacious King Edward VIII making headlines by embracing skinny-dipping.

However, a delectable treat of rapska torta, born in the medieval city-state thanks to an unexpected pope visit, is the most illustrious product of Rab that should convince you to include the island in your Dalmatian itinerary.

Not every cake can boast of receiving the honor of approval by the pope himself. Rab’s unique pastry, crafted by skilled hands in the local nunnery, holds that distinction.

The cake was considered so sacred and special, almost as the skull of St Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, housed in the local Church of Saint Justine, that its secret was equally shielded with devotion and protected as a treasure for centuries.

Well, the mystical veil gets lifted today, as we explore Rab cake’s origins, reveal the ingredients and recipe of this heavenly treat, and expose the secrets behind the mouthwatering flavors that delighted generations of Croatians. Indulge in rapska torta, the cake that puts a smile in the Happy Island!

Kuća rabske torte – the home of the melted ‘b’

The most eager ambassador in promoting Rab cake is called Kuća rabske torte. For a decade now, nestled in the heart of Rab’s Old Town, this charming museum-meets-temple is dedicated to the island’s most famous dessert. Their employees tirelessly knead the cake dough and sculpt the scrumptious filling into traditional spiral forms. The culinary sanctuary could have the fastest bakers handcrafting the snail-shaped sweet, but those eager tourists’ mouths are even quicker.

But wait a minute. Why is this establishment called Kuća rabske torte when the cake it produces goes by the name rapska torta? I can see the confusion in your eyes. The Croatian language is not the easiest to master, and even when scholars defend the principles of natural speech, the realities of everyday life don’t always conform to those neat linguistic rules.

So if the island is called Rab, should the cake from Rab be referred to as rabska torta or rapska torta? According to the rule of equalization of consonants by sonority, the correct name is rapska torta. But at the same time, we can see that the main institution promoting the island’s tastiest souvenir calls it rabska torta. Even the local and national tourist offices disregard the rule that changes ‘b’ into ‘p’ in front of ‘s’, ignoring the difficulty of pronunciation. For the sake of this article, we will stick with the linguistically sound version – rapska torta, even if this report was made at Kuća rabske torte.

With a full mouth, nobody cares about strict lingual laws. When the scrumptious combination of velvety almonds, zesty citrus, and cherry liqueur crosses our lips and makes our taste buds dance, the bilabial consonant ‘b’ melts in the sound of munching. It’s summer, rules take a vacation too, and everything is forgiven.

Vilma Brna – the woman behind rapska torta revival

Rapska torta is not the easiest to make and it’s even harder to perfect. It demands precision, skill, determination, and a pinch of culinary magic. Just like many other complex cakes, rapska torta is a labor of love.

It was exactly love that brought confectioner Vilma Brna to the island in the groovy 1970s. The man who stole her heart was a local waiter who would later become her husband.

Vilma began creating desserts for the esteemed Hotel Imperial, but her sweet ambitions were bigger than that.

In 1996, she decided to take a leap of faith and open her very own bakery. In a time when only nuns were known for making the Rab cake, Vilma managed to learn its secrets and brought the heavenly treat to the non-religious masses.

Ten years later, Vilma would officially retire, but her Vilma Slastice company would continue on with a new leader. The confectioner passed the whisk to her son, the ambitious chef Josip Brna.

In 2015, a new chapter of the dream unfolded as Josip introduced the House of Rab cake – Kuća rabske torte. He expanded the empire, offering an array of cookies, treats, and eventually even their very own gin.

What started as a one-woman-show, blossomed into a sweet factory employing around 30 people, and raking in a yearly revenue of 1.1 million euros.

Busy bees at Kuća rabske torte

Kuća rapske torte is an authentic place, somewhere between a shop and a workshop. On Ulica Stjepana Radića, right next to the city lodge, I’m greeted by an ever-attentive host, Marinko. It’s always refreshing to step into a place adorned with a genuine smile. I did my part in the service industry, so I know that friendliness is hard to fake, especially in a job that’s a magnet for both wandering passers-by and organized tourist groups all longing to witness the making of Rab cake.

Amidst the constant stream of visitors, Marinko casually tells me his son’s name is Ivan too. And as I open the topic of my upcoming birthday, and the idea of buying their product as a birthday cake, he confesses his son was actually born on the day of my visit, yet he hasn’t managed to find a spare moment to give him a call. Selling Rab cake requires dedicated attention. Even the siren call of the nearby sea, begging for a refreshing dip, must be ignored during the bustling peak season.

When Ružica Ribarić comes to work, her hands don’t stop. Rab cake doesn’t just magically appear out of thin air, after all. “My personal record was 196 cakes in one day”, Ružica tells me, with a smile that could rival Usain Bolt‘s.

“As a matter of fact, we don’t manage to make as many as the sale demands. Here, in front of guests, it’s me in production, but we also have our central pastry shop where we produce Rab cake and all our other cookies too. Yet, there never seems to be enough of us.”

Rab cake history – satisfying the pope’s palate

The cultural significance of rapska torta is based in its history. The origins of Rab cake are in the 12th-century Benedict recipe as, according to the legend, it all started with one unexpected visitor to the island.

It was 1177, and Pope Alexander III and his entourage of ten mighty galleys were returning from the episcopal synod to Italy when a heavy storm hit the Northern Adriatic.

“He actually had to travel from Zadar to Venice, but as the weather was bad, he sheltered in our town’s harbor”, Ružica retells me the story as she deftly cracks the eggs for the cake.

Coincidentally with the arrival of the pontiff and his crew in the welcoming haven, the people of Rab had just completed the renovations of their Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. It was an opportune moment for the pope to bless their church.

The Benedictine nuns from the Abbey of Saint Andrew set out to surprise the esteemed guest. To express their respect and gratitude, they crafted a divine cake carefully selecting the flavors reminiscent of the traditional sweets of Siena, the pope’s birthplace in Italy. While there is a theory that Arab sweets inspired the creation of the famous ricciarelli di Siena in the 14th century, the similarity in ingredients between the macaroon biscuits and Rab cake might suggest that inspiration arrived even earlier, with the pope.

Rab cake continued to be perceived as precious, becoming the darling of noble palates during Venetian rule. Considered the food of the wealthy elite (the poor actually mimicked the cake with humble pine nuts instead of almonds), rapska torta ascended to the throne of ultimate cake for holidays and special occasions. Even today, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, and weddings on Rab are religious sacraments that would be deemed blasphemy without the presence of rapska torta.

Rab cake ingredients

Originally made on communion wafers, the key ingredients of Rab cake were almonds and eggs. According to Ružica, whose name itself translates to ‘little rose’ in Croatian, the original Rab cake recipe from the 12th to 16th century featured a splash of rose liqueur. “Later, Franciscans brought maraschino cherry liqueur from Zadar, and since the 16th century, maraschino was used.”

In the old days, when the world was a little less connected, gastronomies celebrated all things local. So even Rab cake was made with ingredients that were readily available on the island back then.

“Before, Rab Island had really a lot of almonds. As Punta Luna on the island of Pag was also under Rab’s jurisdiction, our ancestors were planting almonds there too. That’s why our cake’s crucial ingredient is almond”, Ružica explains.

“As the climate changed, sadly we don’t have almonds on the island anymore. We manage to bring it in from the other parts of Dalmatia, near Benkovac and Zadar, but the rest comes from anywhere where we can get it, depending on the demand. Luckily, citrus fruits successfully grow on Rab, so we do have our own oranges, tangerines, and so on.”

And that’s the backbone of the flavor profile of Rab cake: the alchemical blend of almonds, lemon/orange zest, and cherry liqueur.

Unlike other available online recipes, Ružica reveals that she puts butter into the filling. It’s a little twist that elevates the indulgence factor and makes each slice even more irresistible.

Rab cake recipe – decoding the delicious

“Until a hundred years ago, it was unthinkable to get your hands on the recipe for Rab cake. The cake was made primarily by Benedictine nuns, and a few women here in the Old Town, but they also kept the recipe, they didn’t like to give it away”, Ružica says.

If you dare to crack the rapska torta’s secret code by consulting the “all-knowing” AI models of today, despite their enormous data pool, they will typically just spew out some blathering that won’t get you far. That’s how well the secret was hidden.

Keeping the Rab cake recipe out of the sight of even neighboring villages was considered a matter of prestige. But the most tightly sealed lips eventually did part ways, and the longest-guarded town secret spilled into secular kitchens, where the divinity of the dessert could be achieved by anyone who approached it with hallowed commitment.

“That’s right, the elderly ladies who were regularly going to church, made friends with the nuns, and eventually they got their hands on Rab cake recipe”, Ružica tells me. “But while the nuns preserved the recipe from oblivion, written on a piece of paper with calligraphy, it only reveals the ingredients, without measures. So the secret still exists. We have to achieve the result we want on our own. You have to make rapska torta at least 100 times to get it right. Because the ingredients must be felt under fingers.”

Basically, making this treat is a dance between intuition and experience. The Rab cake recipe can even hardly be put into words. Still, to cut your journey of trial and error, we’ll give it a go here!

How to make rapska torta: A step-by-step guide, from preparation to serving

For the crust:

– ½ kilo flour
– 8 eggs
– water
– salt
– sugar
– maraschino liqueur

For the filling:

– 2 kilos almonds
– 2 kilos sugar
– 12 eggs
– ½ kilo butter
– 2 dcl marachino liqueur
– peel from 6 lemons and 2 oranges

Steps for making Rab cake

1. The first step has to be made a couple of days before you want to bake the cake. Blanch the almonds in boiling water for 10 minutes, peel off their skins, and let them dry at room temperature for 2-3 days.
2. The second step – the making of the dough – should be done a day before you want to bake the cake. It’s similar to pasta dough, but with a twist of sugar and maraschino liqueur, for that aromatic touch. After you knead the dough by hand (just like everything is done by hand in this recipe), let it rest overnight in the fridge. That will make it easier for tomorrow’s work.
3. On the big day of baking, half of the work is already done. Roll out the dough, and let it dry a bit, as that will enable easier lacing (creating the decorative mold for our filling). The dough should be really thin. Remember, long ago, the cake base was sacramental bread, the one Christians consume during the Eucharist. So your dough has to be as thin as a wafer.
4. Grind the dried almonds.
5. Combine the ground almonds, sugar, melted butter, citrus peel, eggs, and a good cup of liqueur. If you cannot get your hands on maraschino cherry distillate, you can experiment with something similar. Mix by hand until compact. The mixture should not be too hard, nor too soft, just right.
6. Place the rolled-out dough on flour-dusted parchment paper, on an oven tray. Cut the dough base into your desired shape (you can use a paper form to guide you). The traditional shape is the one of the snail’s shell, but it could be just a regular bar (baštun), a heart, a horseshoe, letters, numbers, or anything you imagine.
7. The filling mixture should be compact and sticky enough to be shaped in any desired form. Place the filling on your dough base, and shape it nicely.
8. Use a fork to gently rake the top of the placed filling, for aesthetics.
9. If you want to additionally decorate your cake, you can place whole almonds on top of the mixture, marking the beginning and the end of the cake.
10. Cut out the dough ribbons, some 1,5 cm in width, and use them to lace the sides of the cake. The process consists of gently pressing the dough strips towards the almond mixture, creating little ruffles, as well as towards the bottom base, so it all connects and holds together during the baking.
11. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius, and let the cake bake for 20 minutes.
12. When the cake cools down, you can dust it with powdered sugar, decorate it with Bianca Neve flowers, or even serve it on a lace napkin. Pair it with a cup of coffee or tea, but a shot of maraschino will also do.

As they would say in Croatian, dobar tek! Bon appétit!

Cake whisperer’s tips and tricks

• The amounts of ingredients in this recipe may seem like a cake army but fear not, and adjust them to fit your needs. For instance, a snail-shaped cake requires half a kilo of filling. So go ahead and play with the proportions!
• Using high-quality ingredients is key. Always blanch the almonds by yourself, as pre-peeled almonds from the supermarket may not produce the desired result.
• While Rab cake can be eaten warm, it is actually a cold cookie. Its shelf life is two months, as its abundant sugar content acts as a preservative. Remember, this is a millennium-old recipe, from the times when there were no refrigerators or electricity.
• Do everything by hand. Temperatures and moisture vary in summer and winter, and you may need to adjust your ingredients, either by adding more eggs (in cold months) or more almonds (in warm months). One gets the feeling for it by doing it, that’s why it’s important to use your fingers, as well as make a hundred Rab cakes before you master the craft.

If you still need support in making your cake, check out how Ružica does it in our rapska torta video recipe!

The experience of Rab cake

If you followed my sugar rush from Korean desserts in Seoul to Hungarian desserts in Budapest, you may already know I’m a vulnerable sweet tooth.

On paper, rapska torta reads like a sugar avalanche, but it’s surprising how its balanced flavors hit your tongue, and it doesn’t feel overtly sweet at all. I am actually somewhat disturbed, as when you enter Kuća rapske torte, controlling yourself while tasting free samples is an incredibly hard task.

During my visit, I see tourists dropping in, equally captivated, with eyes wide open, and mouths salivating at sight. Sometimes, it’s not convenient for them to buy the cake, as they are heading to the beach, but that doesn’t stop them from entering and tasting samples, with a promise they will purchase the cake before leaving Rab.

Delightfully light and airy, this subtle bite from the Happy Island provides a harmonious mouthfeel. As comfort food, it embodies the warmth of Croatian cuisine. While it springs off from Benedictine nuns and gets celebrated as the centerpiece of Christian festivities on Rab, rapska torta is so devilishly good that most non-religious souls could equally surrender to this temptation. Resistance is futile.

Rab cake is not only a symbol of the island of Rab. Its cultural significance and contribution to local identity were also recognized and protected as national cultural heritage. The art of preparation of rapska torta, that’s orally passed down through generations and can be tracked to at least the 18th century, has been included in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia, under the label Z-7348. It’s not just a cake; it’s a slice of history.

Rapska torta price – sweetness in every size

At Kuća rabske torte, one can find Rab cakes of various sizes and shapes. Rapska torta price depends on your cravings, and any desire will get an offer.

If you’re seeking a bite-sized souvenir, the round 40-gram cake costs 5 euros, and 100-gram – 7.10 euros. These are perfect for a quick indulgence.

The most popular among the buyers, however, is the 200-gram Rab cake, shaped like a petite bar. Wrapped in cellophane, it costs 10.80 euros, and if you want it in a cardboard box, the price will be 11.60.

For the adventurous souls who crave a grand experience, there are XXL Rab cakes in the traditional spiral form. The half-kilo cake is priced at 26.94 euros, and the kilo cake – 47.70 euros.

If you want the most special Rab cake, the generous 400-gram heart can be yours for the irresistible price of 19.80 euros.

From abbey to airport: Where to buy rapska torta?

The very best Rab cake is produced at Kuća rapske torte, which is open to visitors from 10 am till midnight every day.

If you want the most authentic cake, you should head to the creators themselves – the Benedictine Abbey of St. Andrew. The nuns’ shop is open Monday through Saturday in the morning hours (9 am – 2 pm), and Monday through Thursday in the evening hours (6 – 8 pm). Besides the cake, here you’ll find a cornucopia of wonders: healing tinctures and ointments, jams, liqueurs, and even massage oils. The Rab cake made by Benedictine nuns costs 7.30 euros (200 g).

Rapska torta can also be bought at many local pastry shops, souvenir havens, restaurants, and hotels.

If by some twist of fate, you miss them all, you could score your Rab cake at duty-free shops in Croatian airports, as your last resort before leaving the country.

Where to stay in Rab?

Now, the crucial question of where to rest your weary head after indulging in the delightful world of Rab cake. Here are some accommodation options that will perfectly complement your sweet adventures.

For those with a taste for refined elegance and a penchant for historic grandeur, look no further than Arbiana Heritage Hotel. Nestled along the seafront, this beauty from the opulent era of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire offers 4-star rooms starting at 123 euros per night in the off-season, and 300 euros at its peak.

Slightly more affordable, but not compromising on comfort, is the 3-star Hotel International, where Vilma Brna started her sweet Rab journey. A room here can cost between 120 and 189 euros per night, depending on the season.

I stayed at private accommodation in nearby Palit. Guest House Violeta is operated by a genuinely warm and supportive family, and you can get a room there for 50 to 100 euros per night. That price will allow you to save some dough for extra slices of Rab cake.

Rapska torta, a cake fit for a pope – Conclusion

Rab cake or rapska torta (or even rabska torta, if you insist) is a culinary superstar of Rab that showcases the rich cultural heritage of Croatia, and the country’s dedication to preserving traditional recipes.

Its unique blend of local fragrant flavors (from citrus fruits and almonds to renowned liqueur from the Zadar region), with its delicate execution, make it a truly unforgettable dessert.

Rapska torta is a reason enough to travel to Rab and loosen that belt buckle

Even if described as a “dry cake” with a long shelf life, Rab cake’s mouthwatering taste and texture regularly surprises everyone who tries it. It’s a struggle to take just one bite of this unique cake tart.

From its humble beginnings on the island of Rab, where its absence from any celebration could provoke a curse, to its revered status as a protected cultural treasure, this traditional cake has endured the test of time and continues to entice food lovers worldwide.

Rapska torta is a reason enough to travel to Rab, loosen that belt buckle, and discover Croatia’s legacy compressed into a single dessert perfected through centuries.

If Rab cake’s recipe was worth all the trouble of guarding it as a top-secret, and passing it down by word of mouth through Croatian family trees (because what’s whispered and not written down can hardly be stolen), it has to stand for something.

Guarded by the sisters of the church, behind the thick walls of Rab town, with practically the status of a holy relic, the culinary masterpiece exposed something deemed impossible. Even decadence can find its place in Pope-approved reverence.

Have we awaken your appetite for Rab cake?
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It’s hard to say ‘no’ to the siren call of Hungarian cakes and pastry

Hungary would surely never leave you hungry. Best known for its goulash beef stew and chicken paprikash, Hungarian cuisine can also satisfy those with a sweet tooth. Even lángos, the emblematic street food snack made of deep-fried flatbread with sour cream, cheese, and garlic, can also be prepared in a sweet version, with toppings such as jam, cinnamon-sugar, or chocolate.

But the real fun begins at the dessert places of Budapest, where the sweet side of Hungary’s culinary tradition is both celebrated and challenged. The result of the numerous historic influences that clashed in the city are treats for both eyes and taste buds, desserts so good that they could make your grandma retire from baking.

From the classic Dobos torte and rich somlói galuska, to the crispy chimney cakes, strudels, and sweet cottage cheese noodles, the list of mouthwatering things to eat in Budapest requires dedicated explorers. It was hard to say ‘no’ to the siren call of Hungarian cakes and pastry!

Grab a fork, and join me as I dive into the best Hungarian desserts you must try in Budapest, and where to eat them!

If you want to discover Croatian cake traditions, head to the island of Rab. There, you'll find rapska torta, a cake created for the pope by 12th-century nuns! The cake had a secret recipe until recently, but now you can learn how to make Rab cake yourself!

Budapest dessert school: the anatomy of Hungarian desserts

A Hungarian dessert is mostly a rich-flavored sweet dish typically made with traditional Hungarian ingredients and techniques.

Hungarians love to use seasonal ingredients, for instance, fresh berries for summer desserts, or dried fruits in winter. Nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts) and jams (especially plum and apricot) are very popular in traditional Hungarian desserts, both for topping and filling.

Other traditional flavors include poppy seed, vanilla, and chocolate. For warmth and depth, Hungarian pastry shops often add spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. For the creamy texture and tangy flavor of Hungarian desserts, dairy products such as cream or yogurt are commonly used.

Typical Hungarian dessert techniques are similar to those used in other European countries, with some variations of their own. They love rolling their desserts (from chimney cake to strudel pastry), layering their cakes (from zserbó to Esterházy torte), as well as frying their dough (dumplings, for instance).

There are some very interactive ways to explore the Budapest gastro scene. Want to learn how to stretch the elastic dough for strudel yourself? Check out what Eatwith can teach you!

Budapest dessert places

Budapest has a wide variety of dessert places. From bakeries offering fresh pastries and street vendors selling traditional treats from their stalls or food trucks, all the way to high-end fine dining restaurants elevating the execution and presentation of Hungarian desserts, there are options to suit all tastes and budgets.

Some of the best dessert places in Budapest are however patisserie-cafes. They are not only providing high-quality desserts but also try their best to enrich your experience with a cozy atmosphere. Whether you prefer elegant interiors or the freshness of outdoor seating, you will find a great spot to enjoy your Budapest dessert, choosing from a wide selection of Hungarian cakes, tarts, and other sweet treats.

The quest for the best dessert in Budapest

According to various sources, some of the most popular Hungarian desserts are krémes, Dobos torte, somlói galuska, and chimney cake. While all of them deserved their spot on my list of the best desserts to try in Budapest, I tasted creations that I loved even more.

That’s only to say that you should always look further than what mainstream media is telling you about the world. By following the most popular lists, you might miss some of the greatest contenders for the best Hungarian desserts in the Budapest area!

For orientation, please note that 1.000 Hungarian forints equal about 2,6 euros or 2,8 US dollars. However, keep in mind that inflation or other market disturbances can significantly affect ever-changing prices, so always double-check the actual price of a product before ordering it!

Here are my top 12 of the most delicious Budapest desserts!

Hungarian desserts in Budapest – Top 12

1. Túrógombóc

Túrógombóc are Hungarian cheese dumplings. Their basic ingredients are túró cheese, semolina, and eggs. Balls made of this mixture are simmered in water and afterward coated in toasted breadcrumbs. Traditionally, Hungarians serve them with sugar and sour cream thinned with milk.

While túró is often described as cottage cheese, farmer cheese, or quark, it’s not as wet as those are. This fresh, soft curd cheese ends up in many traditional Hungarian meals, from palacsintas (crepes) and strudels, via noodles, porridges, and paprika spreads (Liptauer), all the way to Túró Rudi, a chocolate-covered snack you will find later on this list of the best desserts in Budapest.

Túró cheese has been omnipresent in Hungarian gastronomy since the first cookbook in the 1580s at least, and today supposedly half of all cheese eaten in Hungary is – túró.

I cannot blame them. At least with túrógombóc, I can understand the appeal of these tender dumplings dressed in a crunchy coat. They are simple yet decadent, rightfully deserving the top spot as the best dessert in Budapest!

Where to eat the best túrógombóc in Budapest?

For the delicious túrógombóc I fell in love with, head to Gettó Gulyás (Wesselényi utca 18), in Budapest’s historic Jewish Quarter (ghetto, thus the name).

The name of the restaurant also suggests that meat stews are the backbone of their menu. But definitely leave some room for this sweet “soup” with two cheese dumplings!

Soft inside, with a crispy outside texture, the champions of Hungarian desserts bathe in a pink cinnamon-flavored sour cream which goes nicely with the mildness of the cheese.

Maybe not as much as pörkölt, túrógombóc is still a dish that will fill you, proudly defending its place in the comfort food selection.

Gettó Gulyás gets crowded around 2 and 8 pm, but I had no problem arriving in a less busy time pocket and getting a table without a reservation. Ordering just a dessert (with my planned sugar rush expedition, there is a limit of calories I can take in a day), which might have sounded strange for the waiter of such a place, was not an issue.

I also enjoyed the homey interior speaking to the middle classes. The design combines wooden furniture with metal accents (from decorative buckets and wavy walls to functional ceiling fans and drink straws). Details such as old cookbooks or Rubik’s cubes add to the authenticity the restaurant wants to project.

For túrógombóc, the best Budapest dessert, I had to pay 1.590 Hungarian forints, plus a 12 % service charge.

2. Somlói galuska

Somlói galuska is a Hungarian trifle cake, which means its essential components are layers of sponge cake (plain, chocolate, and walnut), custard cream, and fruit (raisins), all topped with whipped cream.

Well, at least it starts as a trifle cake. While the English love to present their trifle dessert in glass cups, to reveal the layers, the Hungarian trifle gets intentionally destroyed, traditionally scooped out to resemble dumplings in a bowl (hence the name galuska, which means ‘dumplings’, even if they are not).

In a modern interpretation, pastry chefs are abandoning the dumpling format, cutting the cake into neat pieces, so the layering of this traditional Budapest dessert can be appreciated.

Following the basic principle of English “tipsy cakes”, the three layers of somlói galuska and raisins are soaked in rum, which can also be added to chocolate sauce. In some versions, raisins get macerated in Tokaji Aszú, the world’s oldest sweet wine.

Where to eat the best somlói galuska in Budapest?

The best place to eat somlói galuska is where the dessert was invented – at Gundel (Gundel Károly utca 14), the restaurant so famous that even the street got the name after the owner.

While there were restaurateurs operating in Budapest City Park throughout the 19^th century, the building as we know it today exists since 1894. The first neighbor of Budapest Zoo even has elephants in its logo!

It is here, in the 1950s, where the original somlói galuska came to be, first in the mind of the waiter Károly Gollerits, and then under the hands of the pastry chef József Béla Szőcs.

The creation was named after Somlyó, the small hill on the outskirts of Budapest, where the chef was from. In 1958, at Brussels World Fair, the cake got an award but was misspelled. So even today, some believe it’s named after the town of Somló near Lake Balaton, known for wine production.

Fast forward six decades later, and I was sitting in an elegant space beaming with history, in the same chairs where Sylvester Stallone, Madonna, and even Pope John Paul II enjoyed Hungarian desserts and other specialties. Well, technically, my table was named after Vaclav Havel, the first president of Czechoslovakia. But it could have easily been Queen Elizabeth who was supposedly delighted by somlói galuska.

I was impressed by the interior and the restaurant’s effort in having live music. That certainly silenced the slurping sounds while I tried to lick every last bit of a deliciously rich chocolate sauce. The cake flavors were balanced and walnuts made the texture dimension more interesting. Thank heavens for the pastry chef Mártonné Dudok who supposedly tried to dig out the original recipe!

Service issues at Gundel

The service was certainly not on par with the kitchen. It took ages to place an order, and in one long hour, for just one course, I was handled by five or six different people.

The chaos in which waiters interrupt each other, leave guests in the middle of a conversation without apology, or are just generally confused about their working areas and duties, couldn’t be hidden by the bar pianist or the entire string orchestra.

I know waiting tables is not an easy job, but it comes with responsibilities. There is no space for uninformed contradictions. For instance, the sommelier was convincing me that there was no alcohol in the dessert, while an experienced waiter claimed raisins were soaked in Tokai.

Even if I expressed my interest in knowing for the purpose of this text (for the purpose of my pleasure, I was already impressed that I could love any raisins), they never came back with the final answer. After a long wait, all I got was a check for 2.800 forints, plus 420 for the service charge.

3. Flódni

Flódni is a traditional Hungarian-Jewish cake made of four distinctive layers: apple, poppy seed, plum jam, and walnut. The indulgent Budapest dessert was first created by the Jewish communities of the Carpathian Basin.

Originally, instead of the last two fillings, there was cheese (well, Hungary!). But since the 19^th century, the flakey dough made of flour, butter (goose fat in the early days which were stricter on kosher rules), sugar, egg yolks, and dry white wine, has four-flavored interlayers.

The dense fillings are additionally enriched with spices such as cinnamon, clove, orange zest, honey, and white wine. Flódni pastry is a perfect dessert for grown-ups.

As a staple dish of Hungarian Jewish food, flódni is especially popular for Hanukkah or Purim, but there’s certainly no reason not to enjoy it year-round, regardless of religion.

In 2012, for instance, it was a star dish of the Sziget Festival, where the Hungarian pastry queen Ráchel Raj created the largest flódni in the world. Her team used 500 kilograms of ingredients to produce a 20-meter-long dessert! It took them eight hours to prepare it, but for a standard flódni recipe, no more than two hours of your time is required.

Where to eat the best flódni in Budapest?

The layers of flódni supposedly represent the multicultural background and harmony of different people living together. It made sense for me to look for the best flódni in Budapest among those who were further exposed to influences.

And I found it at Arán bakery (Wesselényi utca 23), in the eclectic 7^th district. As the name suggests (arán is the Irish word for ‘bread’), the place started by Kinga and Attila, the Hungarian returnees from Ireland, is best known for their artisanal sourdough bread. But it also has a solid selection of breakfasts and confections to indulge in.

Unlike Ráchel Raj’s flódni recipe that, from bottom to top, lays poppy seed, apple, walnut, and plum jam, or online recipes that insist the correct order is walnut, poppy seed, apple, and then plum jam, Arán has their own construction style: poppy seed, apple, plum jam, and walnut on top.

While there are obviously different ways of making one of the best Hungarian desserts, I certainly had no problems with the formalistic. Arán’s flódni satisfied me as a rich and decadent dessert, celebrating the best of every layer, from not-too-sweet walnut/raisin filling to Szatmár homemade jam made of 100% plums.

My flódni was priced at 950 forints. The service is as quick as it gets for a bakery, and no service charge is expected.

4. Mákos guba

Mákos guba is a Hungarian bread pudding where white bread is soaked in a creamy mixture of milk, poppy seeds, and sugar. When baked in the oven, the toothsome Budapest dessert is usually combined with vanilla custard.

The fame of this simple Hungarian recipe also started as part of the festivities, typically as a must-have dessert on Christmas Eve, believed to bring luck and fortune in the upcoming year. But today, mákos guba is consumed whenever one feels like it, available even in plenty of restaurants.

Hungarians love poppy seeds, as much as the rest of Central and Eastern Europe does, putting it in anything from pasta to strudels and pies. The ingredient is much more than just a random add-on to a dish, becoming its focal point.

These tiny black seeds that easily get stuck between teeth provide a proud display of their symbolic values: wealth, prosperity, and fertility. The Hungarian word mák doubles for ‘luck’, after all.

The classic Hungarian poppy seed bread pudding is a fluffy rhapsody in one’s mouth, with a generous amount of poppy seeds and warmth.

Where to eat the best mákos guba in Budapest?

While there is value in trying the traditional mákos guba served in old-school restaurants, I propose you visit Kiosk Budapest (Március 15. tér 4), in an 18^th-century Piarist building at the foot of Erzsébet Bridge.

Once used as a gym for local children, the venue that dominates the square now houses the Michelin-starred restaurant Babel, and in the greater hall – Kiosk, both projects of ambitious gastro entrepreneur Hubert Hlatky-Schlichter.

Named after a Turkish word for a booth where you can get a range of goods and services, the Kiosk that still stands above an out-of-use Turkish bath, would like to project an image of an iconic place that gives you everything you need, plus a smile. Waiters wear shirts that say “Happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of life”.

Their mákos guba is also called iconic in the menu, and besides vanilla custard, it comes accompanied with almond crumbs and poppy seed ice cream, as a modern twist.

Even if I was seated next to the kitchen entrance during a not-so-busy period, my dessert arrived with ice cream that already started melting. This of course affected the visual, temperature, and textural appeal of the dish, but I still appreciated pastry chef Dóri Varga’s idea of combining the warm bread pudding from a mold with refreshing ice cream on top.

Kiosk’s space is gigantic and airy, with an urban and dog-friendly vibe, promoted by the owner himself who comes to his corner with two four-legged friends.

With its metropolitan and charity-supporting image, Kiosk also insists on homemade products of premium quality and sustainable and organic background. I was therefore saddened to find a plastic straw in my lemonade, but I guess there is always room to grow.

Hungarian poppy seed dessert at Kiosk Budapest cost me 2.850 forints, plus 427,50 for the service charge. That officially makes this mákos guba the priciest on this list of the best Hungarian desserts in Budapest City.

5. Krémes

Cremeschnitte is a popular dessert in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In Hungary, it goes by the name of krémes (meaning ‘creamy’). This sizeable rectangular vanilla slice is basically a smooth and airy custard cream sandwiched between the two thin layers of puff pastry.

The origin of krémes dates back to the 16^th century, connecting it to France (millefeuille or ‘thousand leaves’, referring to the cake’s flakiness) or Italy (napoleon, referring to Naples).

But according to the Oxford Companion to Food (Alan Davidson’s bestseller), the invention of the krémes form can be traced to Szeged, a town in southeastern Hungary, and their caramel-coated Szegediner torte.

Whoever came up with the first combo of flaky pastry and creamy filling, certainly should be proud of the results. According to Taste Atlas, the online encyclopedia of traditional food, Hungarian krémes has several notable titles. It is the most popular type of cremeschnitte, the most popular among Hungarian desserts, and the 12^th most popular cake in the world!

Where to eat the best krémes in Budapest?

Krémes is a great reason to head over to the Buda Castle district. Climbing the stairs to the top of the hill will be rewarded at Ruszwurm Cukrászda (Szentháromság utca 7), just 100 meters from the famous Matthias Church. This is the home of the best krémes in Budapest.

Ferenc Schwabl opened the cozy and unpretentious confectionery back in 1827, which makes it the oldest cake shop in Budapest. Over two centuries, Ruszwurm Cukrászda attracted many VIP visitors, from Empress Sissi to Viktor Orbán.

The walls of the pastry shop document the rich history of this Budapest dessert legend with photographs. But the real witnesses of the past are pieces of furniture that survived all the wars and sieges: the cherrywood cabinet/counter in Biedermeier style, still-working clock with gilded sunrays under the figure of an eagle and above the wooden-column framed door to the pastry workshop, antique chandelier, and a large sofa.

You can actually vividly imagine the confectioners of yesteryears displaying their creations (for instance, this is where the famous Linzer cookies were invented) behind the glass, in front of the eyes of sweets-hungry Hungarians.

Ruszwurm Cukrászda is not just a museum exhibit. This protected cultural monument is one of the best dessert shops in Budapest, still producing its own cakes. Since the 1990s, the pastry shop is managed by the Szamos family.

I don’t know if it was due to the century-old Hungarian krémes recipe, but the slice I ate was probably the best cremeschnitte that ever crossed over these lips. Perfectly balanced sweetness, without that overgenerous sugar dust you typically get in other places, no chocolate, or any other overthought novelty. Just a classic Hungarian dessert at its best.

I especially enjoyed their puff pastry my fork had no trouble dissecting, a struggle I often experience with kremšnite in Croatian cake shops. Here, the cream was not only delicious (little black spots were revealing the use of real vanilla beans), but it also had a nice texture, not too firm, not too wobbly. Supposedly, the secret is in incorporating the whipped cream inside the custard instead of the egg whites.

Krémes at Ruszwurm confectionery was very fairly priced at 810 forints, plus 122 for the service charge. I think I will be returning to this place again for Hungarian cream pastry repeats.

6. Zserbó cake

Zserbó szelet or Gerbeaud cake is a Hungarian dessert with alternating four layers of crumbling yeast dough (traditionally made with lard instead of butter), and three filling layers made of apricot jam and ground walnuts, all topped with bittersweet chocolate glaze.

The father of the cake is Émile Gerbeaud, a Swiss-born confectioner/chocolatier who arrived in Budapest in 1883 to work with Henrik Kugler. A year later, he took over Kugler’s café/patisserie and created the iconic Budapest dessert that will stay remembered after his hungarianized surname.

By the end of the 19^th century, it was obvious that zserbó history won’t be shortlived; the business went so well that Gerbeaud had to employ 150 people.

As a new brand of traditional Hungarian foods, zserbó quickly became a beloved add-on on Christmas or Easter tables in generations of Hungarian homes.

But if you adore the combination of chocolate, walnuts, and apricot, every day can be Christmas with one of the most authentic Hungarian desserts in Budapest!

Where to eat the best zserbó in Budapest?

It would be a sin to come to Budapest and not try zserbó at the place where it was born – at Café Gerbeaud (Vörösmarty tér 7), in the 5^th district.

The grand four-story building impresses with an ornate interior that comes with rococo-style ceilings, crystal chandeliers, marble tables, and elegant wooden furniture.

Today, Gerbeaud is a much more grandiose project than in the times of its founder, serving everything from breakfasts and goulashes to salads and handmade bonbons.

The offer of Hungarian classics on one plate (featured image of this article) caught my eye. For 4150 forints (I see that the basic price was now lifted to 5350!), one gets three emblematic cakes of Hungary, zserbó, Esterházy, and Dobos cake, served with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Ambitiously, I thought I would propose this combo to all of you. But after I found a non-chewable piece of paper in Dobos slice (wrapping of chocolate or butter?), and received no real explanation or words of apology for the half-eaten paper-cake, I decided to recommend only Gerbaud’s namesake dessert.

Back in Kugler’s times, the store was progressive by allowing customers to wrap mignons in paper trays and bring them home. But I don’t think that it works the other way around; cakes should not be used as wrapping for paper.

While it might sound like hairsplitting, I believe that the casual attitude of the café towards non-edible ingredients of their desserts finely illustrates what industrial mass production can bring. That’s not the most likable part of otherwise obvious Gerbaud’s old-world charm.

For a slice of zserbó at Gerbeaud, you will have to pay 3.390 forints, plus a 15-percent service charge (which I was eventually forgiven).

7. Dobos torte

Dobos torte is another iconic layered cake from the end of the 19^th century, the golden age of Budapest confectionery. Made of six thin layers of soft sponge cake and five layers of fine chocolate buttercream, Dobos or dobosh has a hard caramel top. The pieces of caramel garnish can be either laid flat or arranged to stand at an angle, for an elevated presentation.

While some explain the name of Dobos (dob means ‘drum’ in Hungarian) with the shape of the cake (aren’t all round cakes dobos then?), the origin of Dobos is the one that secured its name. The zebra-like Budapest dessert was invented by József Carl Dobos, at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885.

In the era before refrigerators, this Hungarian baker aimed at creating a cake with a longer shelf life. Besides the smooth chocolate buttercream novelty (with cocoa butter as a key ingredient), the idea was to create an additional protective wrap that would prevent the cake from drying – caramel on the top, and ground nuts on the sides.

The minimalistic-looking product (in those times) was so durable that it could have been easily shipped to other countries in special wooden boxes. Dobos torte became a star of Hungarian desserts at social events of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, and remained popular in this region and beyond.

Dobos torte went through a dynamic history of variations. For instance, in Mary Berry’s version of Dobos torte, there is no chocolate. She uses caramel buttercream instead.

Where to eat the best Dobos cake in Budapest?

József Dobos, who publically revealed his recipe only to stop the subpar copycats, must be turning in his grave with gazillions of non-standard variants of his cake around today. While there are many places to try a version of Dobos torte, I’d recommend you to go to Szamos Café (Kossuth Lajos tér 10).

They have many stores throughout Budapest, but you should go to the one next to the Parliament building, as there is a bonus waiting for you above the cake shop. On the upper floor, there’s a Chocolate Museum, where you can learn about the history of this beloved ingredient, the process from cocoa bean to the final product, and you can even make your very own chocolate bar!

As one of the oldest chocolate manufacturers in Hungary, Szamos was founded by Mátyás Szamos, formerly known as Mladen Savić. In the 1930s, this descendant of Serbian refugees worked as a confectionery apprentice at the famous Auguszt Cukrászda, where he fell in love with making roses out of marzipan, the craft even his master showed little interest in. But Szamos built an empire on these roses.

While you can definitely try Szamos’ signature marzipan cakes, tasting Dobos torte at this enterprise will be far from a mistake too. If you find the cake too sweet (I personally approached the caramel mostly as a decoration), their shop also sells products without added sugar. I’d mostly object to the crowding of the place, but I guess that comes hand-in-hand with fame and location.

I paid 1.000 forints for my Dobos (self-service, so no extra charge), and the Chocolate Museum entrance ticket costs 900.

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8. Esterházy torte

Esterházy torte is the third member of the holy trinity of Hungarian layered cakes. Its traditional version alternates up to five layers of almond meringue with layers of brandy-flavored vanilla buttercream. The topping of this Budapest dessert is fondant, decorated with chocolate in a characteristic marble or cobweb pattern.

Even the best dessert places in Budapest replaced almonds in the original Esterházy recipe with walnuts, keeping almond flakes mainly for decoration of the cake’s sides.

Esterházy torte is another innovation among Hungarian desserts in the 19^th century. An unnamed confectioner in Budapest dedicated his creation to Prince Paul III Anton Esterházy de Galántha, a noble diplomat who loved good food even when he went broke.

Habsburg Monarchy adored the cake, and it ended up as a popular dessert not only in Hungary, or just among the aristocrats. Esterházy torte became a central point of many birthdays, weddings, and other special occasions.

Where to eat the best Esterházy torte (or schnitten) in Budapest?

I’ve tried Esterházy torte at several places, and still cannot say I’ve found the one that impressed me completely.

But for the sake of the diversity of your Budapest dessert hunt, I thought you should visit Auguszt Cukrászda. There are several branches of the family running different locations, and even if the original confectionery started in 1870 on the Buda side, I visited the one in Belváros (Kossuth Lajos utca 14-16), on the Pest side, operated by Olga Auguszt since 1994.

It has an inviting, pleasant, and bright interior (floor-to-ceiling windows and a gigantic chandelier do help) to enjoy a cake of your choice. The good part is that, whenever I visited this elegant pastry shop, it was never too crowded, so it seemed like a perfect downtown place to sweeten up your day, minus the tourist hordes.

Even if the waiter told me that they are most proud of their krémes and Dobos, I chose Esterházy as my dessert. Now, I know there are no right or wrong recipes for this traditional Hungarian cake, as no one ever claimed authorship. But August’s version is made of walnut sponge cake with almond extract, and they sprinkle almond flakes only on the side. Also, the cover is not the usual fondant, but white chocolate (not that I have a preference towards any of those!).

I’m not entirely sure that these choices make for the best possible Esterházy torte, so I might need to plan a return visit to Budapest if I want to find the perfect one. If you have a suggestion on where to look, please let me know in the comments!

Esterházy torte, one of the most famous Budapest desserts, costs 1050 forints at Auguszt Cukrászda, plus 126 for the service charge.

9. Fánk

Especially in February, during the Carnival season, Budapest dessert scene cannot go without donuts. They are must-have pastries in many Central European households. In the Balkans, they are called krafne, Germans know it as krapfen, Slovaks as šišky, and Hungarian fried dough responds to the name of fánk.

This traditional dessert is made by deep-frying balls of dough made of flour, yeast, butter, egg yolks, milk, and some sugar and salt. Lemon zest and rum are optional add-ons to the dough.

The result is an extremely light, soft, and airy pastry. During the frying, typically a white stripe forms on the sides of the balls, so sometimes they are referred to as ribboned donuts.

Traditionally, Hungarian fánk is served with apricot jam and dusted with powdered sugar.

Where to eat the best fánk in Budapest?

Fánk might not sound like the most exciting dessert from Hungary. But since I fell in love with The Box Donut at one edition of the Sziget Festival, I haven’t returned to Budapest without stuffing myself with their delicious products.

There are five donut shops under this brand in the Hungarian capital, and this time I visited the one next to the Keleti train station (Thököly út 10).

Unlike traditional fánk, donuts here are square-shaped, still with the hole in the middle (but even the hole is rectangular). The shape allows for a higher filling-to-dough ratio (that’s certainly a major flavor win), but also it saves some precious space in the vitrine, or if you order your six-pack to go.

Square donuts can be packed in a box of your chosen design, for any special occasion, be it Halloween, New Year, Valentine’s Day, birthday, or just a regular gay day (yes, they have rainbow “Love is Love” boxes too).

I became addicted to these square donuts as every bite is packed with flavor, always natural, never with additives or colorants.

The toppings are the first part of the donut that will seduce you, be it flower petals, nuts, lyophilized fruits, or candied fruit peels.

But then you discover homemade creamy fillings and marmalades without preservatives, ingredients of premium quality, Callebaut chocolate with 100 % cocoa butter, frying in 100 % peanut oil…

If you are health-conscious and environment-aware like I try to be, but you still want to reward yourself with a donut now and then, The Box Donut does seem like an ideal address.

The creativity of combinations seems neverending, and incredibly inviting: maple-bacon, poppy-lemon curd, cranberry-chia, truffle-pomegranate, cardamom-fig, duck liver brulée…

They even paraphrase some of the greatest Hungarian desserts on this list, giving you donuts with curd cheese dumpling, their version of zserbó, or True Rudy (see dessert number 12).

Trust me, you’ll have trouble choosing in front of their display. Each donut costs between 790 and 1.190 forints.

10. Gelato

Okay, this might seem like an intruder on the list of the best Hungarian desserts you can eat in Budapest. But I believe a yummy gelato, the Italian-style ice cream, is always a good excuse to bend the rules.

By definition, gelato is a milk-based product with a lower percentage of fat and air (due to a slower mixing), which gives this frozen treat a denser structure, and much richer flavor than your typical ice cream has.

Tradition requires that gelato should be served with a flat spatula, not a scoop.

While gelato is not a Hungarian invention, Budapest has some really good artisan ice cream parlors that Italy would certainly not be ashamed of.

If you want to make your own street hunting for cold refreshments, look for places selling fagyi, which is the local word for ‘ice cream’.

Where to eat the best gelato in Budapest?

If you pass by St. Istvan Basilica at any time of day, you’ll notice many people walking around with roses (well, unless they are standing and taking selfies with them). But these are not ordinary roses.

They are edible, and they come from Gelarto Rosa (Szent István tér 3), a small ice cream store with disproportionally grander queues of customers in front, eager to get their piece of gelato art in a cone. Well, at least it’s really easy to spot the place.

Ice cream shaped like a rose was the business idea of Niki Szökrön, a fashion model who ended up in chef waters after training at Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna and learning the craft of ice cream roses during the internship at a small Italian family-run parlor.

In 2005, she opened her first gelato boutique in Budapest. The business got up pretty quickly, so there are actually two stores in close proximity to the basilica now.

Shaping a gelato into a rose is not only an aesthetical choice. The form supposedly preserves the creamy texture, giving premium organic ingredients a space to shine. You can expect vanilla from Réunion Island, 100% clean lavender oil from Papkert, Hungary, or pistachios grown on the volcanic soil of Bronte, Italy.

Besides regular chocolate and fruit flavors, seasonal flavors can take you all the way to Ireland (such as brown bread whiskey flavor) or Japan (salty wasabi hazelnut). You can also have your rose made of rose, coffee, nuts, and (we are in Hungary, after all) cottage cheese or poppy seed.

If you are vegan, lactose-intolerant, or diabetic, you don’t need to worry, as Gelarto Rosa has special sorbets just for you.

I had no objections to this lovely sweet ice flower that can brighten any walk through Budapest. Depending on the size you choose, the gelato will cost you 950 forints (two flavors), 1200 forints (three flavors), or 1500 forints (four flavors)

11. Kürtőskalács

Budapest dessert overview wouldn’t be complete without this sweet scroll. Kürtőskalács or the Hungarian chimney cake, however, may be another stumbling block in discussions about the dessert’s origins. And I respect the arguments.

Personally, I also tried my first chimney cone in Bran, Romania, when I was looking for vampires in Transylvania. And while there are indeed written records about the Romanian colac secuiesc from the 17^th century, we cannot deny that Székely Land was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In any case, before Czechs and Slovaks start throwing stones, defending their trdelník, let’s define what the chimney cake or spit cake is.

A strip of sweet yeast dough (made of flour, sugar, yeast, butter, eggs, and milk) is wrapped around the cylindrical kürtőskalács wooden rolls, covered in granulated sugar, and brushed with melted butter.

After roasting over an open flame, the chimney cake can be coated in a variety of sweet toppings, such as ground nuts, cinnamon, chocolate, coconut, or poppy seed.

The resulting dessert is crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside, filling you with flavorful warmth as you unstrip it into your mouth.

In modern and sometimes almost blasphemous versions, kürtőskalács can be filled with anything from Nutella, ice cream, whipped cream, or even chocolate bars of famous brands.

Where to eat the best kürtőskalács in Budapest?

If you visit Budapest during some festivities (for instance, during Budapest Christmas Market), kürtőskalács will be everywhere, with street vendors fighting for a quick profit. The golden rule is that the further away you go from the crowds, the price will be getting cheaper.

I recommend you head to Fitzkey bakeries. You’ll find the kiosks of this chain at several locations (for instance, above the Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út metro station). Just like with gelato roses, you’ll easily spot them by lines of customers who nosed the newly baked batch. And as I experienced personally, the sugar rush makes some people aggressively cut the line, only to make sure they got the hot-out-of-oven chimney cake as quickly as possible.

Fitzkey chimney cake contains no egg or dairy products, which means it’s suitable for vegans. It comes only with simple, dry toppings, but that’s all you need for sweetening up your exploration of Budapest on foot.

Also, unlike other more branded Budapest places that function mostly as tourist traps, Fitzkey chimney cake is significantly cheaper. You can get one of the best Hungarian desserts with the topping of your choice for 600 forints!

12. Túró Rudi

Last but not the least, yet also technically the least product on this list of the best Hungarian desserts in Budapest is Túró Rudi.

You might’ve guessed from its name, as it has the same root as our dessert number one: Túró Rudi is a sweet marriage of cottage cheese and chocolate.

In literal translation ‘cottage cheese rod’ (this ‘rod’ was quite controversial when the snack first appeared, as people associated it with pornographic connotations), this is a chocolate bar filled with dairy cream and a myriad of flavors. Chestnut, strawberry, raspberry, apricot, caramel, vanilla… You name it, and probably there’s a curd snack with the filling of your liking.

Candy bar covered in brittle chocolate was invented in 1954, by dairy expert Rudolf Mandeville, the manager of the milk factory in Erzsébetváros. The idea was to create a Hungarian version of a Soviet product syrok, which is a rectangular bar of curd, butter, and fat, in dark chocolate coating.

As a less sweet variant of a cottage cheese bar and marketed as a healthy dessert, Túró Rudi entered mass production in 1968 in Budapest, then continued in Mátészalka.

Flavored versions of the sweet treat first appeared in the 1980s. In the beginning, the curd cheese bar was combined only with hazelnut and peanut, but later creativity prospered.

Today, every Hungarian eats 33 Túró Rudi bars per year. Together, they spend 22 billion forints on these popular Hungarian sweets.

Where to buy Túró Rudi?

You can buy Túró Rudi in most grocery stores in Hungary. Just head to the refrigerated dairy section, and you will recognize the favorite Hungarian nibbles by the iconic packaging with red polka dots.

The original manufacturer’s name is Pöttyös, but surely you’ll enjoy others as well. As a matter of fact, some of those others promise real chocolate coating, while Pöttyös uses a mixture of cocoa powder, hydrogenated vegetable fat, butter, and sugar.

You’ll be spoiled with choices, as you can get a piece for 200 forints. Buy packages with multiple bars for a discount.

If you’re looking for a late-night dessert in Budapest, it’s good to know that you can often find Túró Rudi at gas stations too.

I made a similar sugar rush report from South Korea too. If you're heading there, make sure to indulge in these Seoul desserts!

Best Hungarian desserts in Budapest – conclusion

Our whirlwind tour of the 12 best Hungarian desserts in Budapest has come to a bittersweet end. We’ve indulged in everything from classic Dobos torte to modernized mákos guba, from creamy krémes to the crunchy kürtőskalács. And it still feels as if we barely peeked under the surface!

Budapest confectioners provide an insight into the sweet side of the Hungarian culinary tradition that was boiling for centuries just like the country’s goulashes

Hungarian cuisine has always been known for its delicious and hearty dishes, but the country’s desserts deserve equal attention. Budapest offers loads of options for anyone looking to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Some of these desserts are made for eating on the go, others are part of a wider experience concept in thoughtfully arranged ambiances of patisserie-cafes or fine-dining outlets.

But the best dessert places in Budapest are influential advocates for tourism that goes beyond just admiring the architecture, be it preserved, turned into a ruin bar, or decorated by some impressive street art.

Budapest confectioners provide an insight into the sweet side of the Hungarian culinary tradition that was boiling for centuries just like the country’s goulashes. But the sweet chefs went further, managing to upgrade the experiences even when innovating the forms, answering to the needs of modern urban travelers and locals.

Hopefully, this guide through the best Hungarian desserts in Budapest has given you plenty of reasons to book your next flight to this amazing town. As for me, I think I need to hit the gym.

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Whether you are just into cute desserts or crave something more sophisticated, the sweet capital of South Korea will deliver!

Finding the perfect dijeoteu or husig (dessert in Korean) is still a demanding challenge, both for the quantity and the quality of Korean dessert cafés popping up around Seoul. Korean dessert trends are constantly evolving in this highly competitive sweet market.

Brave researchers such as myself sacrifice themselves for these sugar-overdosing journeys, aiming to find the best dessert in Seoul. But who can put a price on a blog post anyway? Your guide through the Korean treats in Seoul starts here!

If you're planning a sugar rush visit to Central Europe, check out my guide to the best Hungarian desserts in Budapest!

Best desserts in Seoul – top 7

From traditional Korean desserts to artful sweet plate displays, Seoul will spoil you with choices. These are the top Korean dessert cafés you should visit, and the desserts you should look for!

1. Sona – Champagne Sugar Ball

This Korean dessert café got famous for its signature Champagne Sugar Ball. The handcrafted sugar ball is filled with champagne foam and edible flower petals. It is resting on the cheesecake snow, strawberry pannacotta, and fresh strawberry slices. After cracking the Champagne Sugar Ball open, one needs to pour warm strawberry consommé over the sphere.

However, I may be making all of this up! The truth is that I never tried this popular Korean dessert! They were out of it at the time of the day I arrived! So if you want to taste this limited-edition star of Korean cafe desserts, possibly the best cake in Seoul, you better come there early.

Sona’s second-best

I still put Sona on the top of the list of places where one can eat the best Korean desserts in Seoul! There are two reasons for that!

What I did try was the Chocolate Fair (Pear). This artistically presented milk chocolate ganache (the featured image of this article) in the form of a letter ‘S’ was paired (and peared, I guess) with pear-lemon mousse, Chartreuse cream, pear gel, fresh mint slice, fresh pear dice and slice, honey-lemon coulis, fruit chips, and sugar tuile. I enjoyed every component of this sophisticated dessert!

Additionally, Sona treated me to another creation from their menu – Oh! Chocolate. Served in a glass, the dessert included NY breakfast tea infused brûlée, 70 % Guanaja flourless chocolate cake, milk chocolate mousse, topped with Madagascar vanilla ice cream, and Valrhona crunchy pearls impressively spiraling around the mousse in a small glass. When one poured the hot chocolate sauce over the thin chocolate top cover, it melted into the glass and opened the door into this choco haven.

If this made you crave some chocolate, check out our AI chocoverse, where your favorite treat is the cornerstone!

The owner of Sona is Chef Hyun ah Seong. Before launching her sweet manufacture, she studied the trade in the USA and worked at Michelin-starred Joël Robuchon and Aquavit. In her dessert business, the motto “Make desserts better” is the driving force. And I must say I believe her!

Besides à la carte creations priced at 13.000 Won (10 Euros), Sona offers tasting menus that will let you dive into a variety of its dessert world.

In the Gangnam neighborhood, which became world-known for the peculiar dancing style, this ‘better desserts’ niche might be its sweet signature.

Address: 40 Gangnam-daero 162-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu
Closest metro station: Sinsa Station, Exit 3
Working hours: 12:30-22:00

If you don't plan to travel to Seoul soon, South Korean desserts can come to you! Order this cookbook and make your favorite Korean treats at home!

2. Zapangi – Mermaid Cake

From the street side, it seems to be just a pink vending machine. But open the door, and you’ll enter the sweet Narnia world called Zapangi! Which is a Korean word for a vending machine.

A pink Eero Aarnio-style puppy stool guards this hidden Korean dessert café in the Mangwon district of Seoul.

The playful and photogenic concept made it famous among Instagrammers. This means you should expect to share the space with some seemingly endless amateur selfie photoshoots. But if we put its cuteness aside, Zapangi’s potential certainly doesn’t exhaust there.

The “Tin and bottle” neon sign on the wall explains its main serving idea. They display cakes in tin cans, while drinks get served in milk-style glass bottles.

The Mermaid Cake is the star of the menu. It’s a strawberry cake topped with strawberry frosting and chocolate add-ons such as a mermaid tail.

Do you want to top your own cake with a mermaid tail? Here's the silicone mold you will need!

Well, technically it could be the tail of any fish, as they do not reveal the human part of the mermaid (nor you will find it inside). But I guess details should not rob us of a fantasy. It’s pink. It’s a mermaid!

This tasty cake will set you off 9500 Won (7 Euros). If you are ok with having no Instagrammable tails sticking out of your can, sweet potato cake or chocolate cake will cost you 7000 Won (5 Euros).

Additionally, at Zapangi you can buy donuts, as well as tea, milk tea, and latte. Specialty lattes include cream one with toffee nut or strawberry, sakura latte with cherry mocha or cherry choco, and mermaid one with mocha or choco. For vegans, the menu also offers soy coffee or soy milk tea (with white or black beans).

Address: 400-2 Mangwon-dong, Mapo-gu
Closest metro station: Mangwon Station, Exit 2
Working hours: 11:00-23:00

3. Remicone – Dolphin Bomb

Remicone is a Korean dessert café that resembles an ice cream truck that crashed into a building. The crash exposed the laboratory specialized in soft ice cream, with some rather bizarre experiment results under the label “Mix something new”. They keep the toppings in lab-inspired containers, and include honey caviar, popping candy, mango macaroons, hazelnut praline…

I tried the most expensive dessert on the menu – Dolphin Bomb costs 6.300 Won (5 Euros). The content will probably not blow you away; it’s simple but decent vanilla soft, topped with cotton candy. However, its presentation may provide a perfectly sharable social media story. The fairy floss on the top is a vivid blue, and two dolphins are jumping as if through some ocean waves.

There is a slightly cheaper but less bright version of the same dessert called Thunder Bomb. Here, a grey candy floss decorated with lightning bolt candy tops the ice cream, giving the impression of a storm in your dessert glass. As long as you can ignore animal fur connotations.

Besides the ice cream desserts, Remicone offers some crazily reinterpreted croissants and madeleines, as well as cupcakes staged as small tropical islands or the dolphin’s playground.

Remicone is home to photogenic and cute Korean desserts at two Seoul addresses, one in Gangnam, and one in Jung. I visited the latter. It is located on the second floor of the Dongdaemun Market mall, just across from Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which is a neo-futuristic landmark worth visiting as well.

Address: 275 Jangchungdan-ro, Gwanghui-dong, Jung-gu
Closest metro station: Dongdaemun Station, Exit 8
Working hours: 10:30-23:00

4. Sulbing Insadong – Injeolmi Bingsu

Bingsu (shaved ice) or Patbingsu (shaved ice with azuki beans) is among the most popular South Korean desserts.

Sulbing, the Busan-based franchise, delivers Korean snow ice to many branch stores in Seoul, including Sangsoo Station, Myeongdong, Jonggak, and Hongik University. The last one is open 24 hours a day!

I visited their popular store in Insadong. This place is famous for its Injeolmi Bingsu, an ice-flake bowl topped with Injeolmi, a rice cake with soybean powder, and sliced almonds. One of the most authentic Korean desserts cost me 8.900 Won (7 Euros), but it is true that it could easily satisfy two people.

Other snowflake combinations on the Sulbing menu come with green tea, chocolate, chocolate brownie, Oreo cookies, tiramisu, or blueberry cheese. The best bingsu in Seoul can cost up to 11.900 Won (9 Euros).

Besides the ice flakes, the most popular dessert in Korea, Sulbing Insadong offers Injeolmi toasts which can also be combined with mozzarella or chocolate. Overstuff yourself with Injeolmi and order Injeolmi ice cream, or a box of Injeolmi Cream Omelet! Afterward, water everything with some coffee, tea, latte, smoothie, or sparkling ade!

Address: 39 Insa-dong (2F), Jongno-gu
Closest metro station: Jongno 3-ga Station, Exit 5
Working hours: 10:30-23:00

If you love almonds, you will adore Rab cake, a Croatian dessert invented for the pope in the 12th century! After centuries of recipe secrecy, now you can make rapska torta at home!

5. Insadong street stalls – Ttongppang or Poop Bread

Insadonggil is the main street of the Insadong neighborhood, famous for its street food. This is also the place where Ttongppang or Ddongbbang (literally poop bread) originated from. I found this turd-shaped Korean dessert at a street stall on the ground floor of the Insadong Ssamziegil shopping center.

Ttongppang is basically the same as Bungeoppang, which is a fish-shaped pastry stuffed with sweetened red bean paste. The main difference is that Ttongppang comes in the shape of stylized feces and, besides red bean paste, the filling includes walnut bits, to give it that crunchiness of a poo.

Did I just say that? I never tried eating poo, so I have no idea. However, if you like waffles, and have no problem with making fun with your food, you might wanna try this sweet shit!

If you like bizarre food, take a break from popular Korean desserts, and check out the insect-based menus in Cambodia!

At this stall, the red bean paste version costs 1.000 Won. The one with the chocolate filling had the price of 1.500 Won (80 cents to 1,20 Euros).

If you want to make it a thematic day, on the top of the same shopping center there is a Ddo-Ong Café (or Ttongkape), a cafeteria obsessed with pooping. This is a feces-celebrating place where you can try spaghetti with tomato and beef, or a rose latte served in a miniature version of a toilet. I tried the pasta which was not impressive, but I assume if you are there just for a laugh, it will fulfill your “hunger”.

Address: Insadong Ssamziegil, Insadonggil, Jongno-gu
Closest metro station: Jongno 3-ga Station, Exit 5
Working hours: 10:30-20:30

6. Unas – Avocado Cake

Unas is another Seoul dessert café in the Gangnam district that attracts with its Instagram-worthy creations.

The headliner of this Korean dessert café is undoubtedly Avocado Cake. As its name suggests, it looks like an avocado. Well, almost. The seed was out of proportion; it seemed too small for the size of the fruit.

Another disappointment arrived when I discovered that it was not a mango and yuzu jelly ball wrapped in chocolate. It was a half-ball (!), just placed on the top of the dessert, instead of being integrated, like avocado seeds usually are.

Seductive and disappointing at the same time

My expectations were also let down after I realized that they serve the cake in a real avocado shell. This instantly knocked it down from the category of ambition and technical mastery to the class of “we serve our rice in a pineapple”.

I’m not a fan of serving things to guests that are not edible. But even if we could argue that the avocado shell here actually had only a function of a plate, I see no excuse for sticking a golden leaf with Unas logo into the cake, which turned out not to be a piece of chocolate for instance, but an inedible piece of cardboard! Not tasty!

Another disappointment came with the service at this dessert café. Before I ordered my cake, I wanted to use the bathroom. A member of the staff welcomed my toilet visit with – I kid you not – rolling eyes!

After I returned to the counter, I ordered my cake and they instructed me to sit down. I found the place to sit down, but then the waiter came to me and said that I need to pay first! Hahaha! So I returned to the counter, where just some moments earlier I was told to find the seat. I paid for my cake and then was asked to sit again. They delivered the plate with a cake – on a trolley! I may have missed the point of going retro, but I hope the choice was aesthetical, even if I didn’t understand it, as it clearly was not pragmatic.

Why is this on the list of the best Korean desserts in Seoul then?

So many complaints and I still include this cakeshop in the list of the best Korean dessert cafés in Seoul? Well, yes. If we excuse the staff that should receive additional training in handling customers, and the fact that some of the dessert execution could upgrade the ambition level, the vitrine with the cakes still looked inviting.

Avocado Cake, which was actually an avocado mousse with lemon cheesecake, turned out to be just a fine Korean café dessert. Priced at 9.000 Won (7 Euros), it did have a margin for improvements, but I leave this to the owner, Mme patissier Eun ah Lee. These desserts proudly display her name. Supposedly, she is known for her attention to detail, so I hope she will find my observation of these details constructive.

Besides being a dessert café, Unas is also a tea salon (serving milk tea for 6.500 Won, or 5 Euros), as well as a baking classroom that proudly displays cooking books such as “Unas Baking Class”.

This multifunctional and elegantly decorated place is located on the second floor of the SB Tower, near Dosan Park. They do not open on Mondays.

Address: 318 Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu
Closest metro station: Apgujeong Station, Exit 3
Working hours: 12:00-20:30 (until 21:30 on Saturday and Sunday)

7. Passion5 – Dessert Emporium

If you haven’t found what you were looking for in the first six items of the seven best Korean desserts to try in Seoul, you might want to head to Passion5 (or Fashion5, as Google Maps like to call this place).

The fine dessert emporium in Itaewon features more than 300 modern Korean desserts! If you have a hard time choosing a cake in some regular cake shop, prepare to be torn by choices in this sweet mastodon!

The entrance to the building adorned with a gigantic black chandelier is already impressive. But when you see the display of colors, shapes, and textures in the dessert area, you will not want to leave!

There are four elements in Passion5 composition – café, bakery, patisserie, and chocolaterie. The fifth element bonding them all together like Milla Jovovich is – the passion of the workers.

Whether you opt for some refreshing gelato, eye-catching macaroons, dozen types of éclair (from chocolate and black tea to salty milk caramel), delicious-looking tarts (from blueberry-cheese to fresh fig-cherry combo), Venezia boats filled with mango or strawberries, or other cute desserts in this sweet-tooth oasis, they will be screaming attractive!

Your tray will be filled out with artisanal desserts and mouthwatering Korean pastries quickly, in a compulsive hoarding of calories!

The seating space on the ground floor is rather limited. While they tell you that you can also eat your cake on the first floor, in their restaurant area, the restaurant personnel decided to kick me out if I didn’t order anything from their menu too. So – big minus for that!

SPC group is the owner of Passion5, and this is just one of their brands. The list includes well-known names such as Paris Baguette, Baskin Robbins 31, and Dunkin Donuts!

Address: 272 Itaewon-ro, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu
Closest metro station: Hangangjin Station, Exit 3
Working hours: 7:30-22:00

After letting yourself loose at Korean dessert places in Seoul, don't forget to check out the wonderful world of the Korean spa too! These are the best jjimjilbangs in Seoul!

Best desserts in Seoul – Conclusion

The Korean food scene, as well as the dining options in the Seoul capital, is so vibrant that it would be pretentious to reduce its best Korean desserts to a list of seven.

Whether you are chasing mermaids, sophisticated art plates or just refreshing ice flakes, the sweet Seoul will deliver

All dessert lovers have their reasons to indulge in the sweet rewards. Whether you are chasing mermaids, unicorns, and dolphins for your Instagram feed, whether you are looking for sophisticated art plate creations or you just want to refresh yourself with something local and authentic such as Bingsu or Ttongppang, there will be plenty of South Korean desserts to try in Seoul, probably for more than one visit!

The scene of restaurants, cafés, and street food options in the capital of South Korea is so dynamic that you will probably witness the closing of old places and the opening of some new ones.

Trends change, customers are becoming more demanding every day, and the definition of the best Korean desserts is ever-changing. The only constant is that desserts in Korea are national pride!

Give them a chance, and if you have discovered some fantastic new Korean dessert cafés in Seoul, please recommend them in the comments below so that others can enjoy the rich world of Seoul sweets and desserts too!

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