Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hungarian chocolate cream sponge cake a.k.a Lúdláb


For my husband's name day I made him this classic Hungarian chocolate sponge with chocolate cream and sour cherry filling a.k.a Lúdláb ; which translates to "Goose foot". Not sure how the name came about , perhaps the shape?

Thank you Elfrieda for posting an English version of the recipe. I found your version only after translating a Hungarian version...

I'm re-posting her recipe below with my own notes and alteration in brackets { } for my future reference.

Lúdláb

Sponge cake batter:
3 eggs,
3 tbsp caster or superfine sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp cake flour {substitute with 3 tbsp plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder}

Filling:
400 g sour cherry preserves or compote {with some drops of essence of rum}

Chocolate buttercream:
300 ml cream {used only 200ml}
4 tbsp icing sugar
150 g bittersweet chocolate {used about 80g bittersweet (70°%) + cooking choco}
1 tbsp cocoa powder
200 g butter

Fondant:
200 g bittersweet chocolate {omitted - as I decided leaving it out should be fine}

Prepare sponge cake:
Grease 9" cake pan with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a bit of cocoa in the pan to prevent sticking.
Separate eggs, cream yolks with sugar until pale.
Mix flour and cocoa in a separate bowl.
Beat egg whites separately until stiff.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients.
Bake in 180 C/350 F oven in round cakeform for 25 minutes or until cooked.

For the chocolate buttercream:
Heat cream with sugar, add chopped chocolate and mix until chocolate is melted. Add cocoa. {Beat butter until light and fluffy}
When completely cool, mix with butter(room temperature).

Preparing the Ludlab:
{With cake} still in the cake pan, {spread half the choco. butter cream on sponge}, pour the sour cherry preserves onto the sponge cake, then spread the {remaining} chocolate buttercream on top. Cover with chocolate fondant (simply melted chocolate).

While in the pliable stage, cut the cake into pieces with a heated knife. I waited until the chocolate fondant had hardened and I had a heck of a time slicing the cake.

Allow cake to cool to room temperature or refrigerate for cold Ludlab. It is an extremely rich cake so a small piece for each person is all that you will need. In a regular sized cake pan, count on 14-16 slim slices.

Variation:
Heat sour cherry preserves in small pan and add a tablespoon of brandy or kirsch. Cook for a few minutes to allow alcohol to evaporate, remove from heat and let cool. Smooth over sponge cake as directed above.

Notes
1) With increase sugar by a little
2) will add vanilla extract to buttercream instead of rum.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! An English translation for ludlab! I come from Montreal, where there is a thriving Hungarian community, and for my birthday a few years ago my American wife (who had heard me rhapsodizing over Hungarian pastries in general and ludab in particular, managed to reverse-engineer a ludlab for my birthday. (She's SO talented!)

Her recipe was prety much the same, except for two changes: for the filling between the layers she used Bavarian creme, and the fruit was sour cherries preserved in brandy. For the rest, she managed to work out the Hungarian recipe herself.

Just as Belgians are the world's best chocolatiers, I believe that Hungarians are the best dessert chefs. Your husband is a very lucky man!

krisz said...

Anonymous,
Am so glad you shared this story and your wife's version of the cake.

I shall look into using Bavarian creme the next time I bake this cake.Christmas time would be an excuse ;)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hungarian chocolate cream sponge cake a.k.a Lúdláb


For my husband's name day I made him this classic Hungarian chocolate sponge with chocolate cream and sour cherry filling a.k.a Lúdláb ; which translates to "Goose foot". Not sure how the name came about , perhaps the shape?

Thank you Elfrieda for posting an English version of the recipe. I found your version only after translating a Hungarian version...

I'm re-posting her recipe below with my own notes and alteration in brackets { } for my future reference.

Lúdláb

Sponge cake batter:
3 eggs,
3 tbsp caster or superfine sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp cake flour {substitute with 3 tbsp plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder}

Filling:
400 g sour cherry preserves or compote {with some drops of essence of rum}

Chocolate buttercream:
300 ml cream {used only 200ml}
4 tbsp icing sugar
150 g bittersweet chocolate {used about 80g bittersweet (70°%) + cooking choco}
1 tbsp cocoa powder
200 g butter

Fondant:
200 g bittersweet chocolate {omitted - as I decided leaving it out should be fine}

Prepare sponge cake:
Grease 9" cake pan with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a bit of cocoa in the pan to prevent sticking.
Separate eggs, cream yolks with sugar until pale.
Mix flour and cocoa in a separate bowl.
Beat egg whites separately until stiff.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients.
Bake in 180 C/350 F oven in round cakeform for 25 minutes or until cooked.

For the chocolate buttercream:
Heat cream with sugar, add chopped chocolate and mix until chocolate is melted. Add cocoa. {Beat butter until light and fluffy}
When completely cool, mix with butter(room temperature).

Preparing the Ludlab:
{With cake} still in the cake pan, {spread half the choco. butter cream on sponge}, pour the sour cherry preserves onto the sponge cake, then spread the {remaining} chocolate buttercream on top. Cover with chocolate fondant (simply melted chocolate).

While in the pliable stage, cut the cake into pieces with a heated knife. I waited until the chocolate fondant had hardened and I had a heck of a time slicing the cake.

Allow cake to cool to room temperature or refrigerate for cold Ludlab. It is an extremely rich cake so a small piece for each person is all that you will need. In a regular sized cake pan, count on 14-16 slim slices.

Variation:
Heat sour cherry preserves in small pan and add a tablespoon of brandy or kirsch. Cook for a few minutes to allow alcohol to evaporate, remove from heat and let cool. Smooth over sponge cake as directed above.

Notes
1) With increase sugar by a little
2) will add vanilla extract to buttercream instead of rum.


AddThis Social Bookmark Button

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! An English translation for ludlab! I come from Montreal, where there is a thriving Hungarian community, and for my birthday a few years ago my American wife (who had heard me rhapsodizing over Hungarian pastries in general and ludab in particular, managed to reverse-engineer a ludlab for my birthday. (She's SO talented!)

Her recipe was prety much the same, except for two changes: for the filling between the layers she used Bavarian creme, and the fruit was sour cherries preserved in brandy. For the rest, she managed to work out the Hungarian recipe herself.

Just as Belgians are the world's best chocolatiers, I believe that Hungarians are the best dessert chefs. Your husband is a very lucky man!

krisz said...

Anonymous,
Am so glad you shared this story and your wife's version of the cake.

I shall look into using Bavarian creme the next time I bake this cake.Christmas time would be an excuse ;)