Three Hungarian cakes listed among CNN Travel’s best desserts

Back in 2018, CNN Travel released a list of what they think were the most delicious cakes. This was updated and slightly expanded at the end of January by the author of the article, Jen Rose Smith. She said she travelled around the world, tasting new flavours for 9 years before she could put together this 50-item list.

The latest list includes top sweets that could be made by the hands of grandmothers as well as by a Moroccan or a French bakery. Another interesting feature of the article is that it tries to show the origin of each sweet, for example, that Hong Kong’s most popular cakes have Portuguese roots, and the chocolate, coffee, and sugar used for the Italian tiramisu came from Africa and Asia, where “desserts are a foreign import”.

Although the sweets on the list did not compete with each other, if we add up the participants, France and the United State are the winners of the selection, with 6-6 sweets. They are followed by Italy with the cannoli, boiled ice cream, and tiramisu, and

Hungary with the Eszterházy cake, Rigó Jancsi, and the Hókifli with plum jam.

In the case of the Eszterházy cake, the author highlights the Austrian-Hungarian origin, which was dominant in Central Europe, so the cake was also widespread. CNN describes it as an elegant round cake with almond meringue and chocolate buttercream. On the top, there is a spiderweb of chocolate and vanilla fondant. The cake still holds its reputation today.