"Taste it: Dark like my skin and sweet as thy heart," said Rigo Jancsi handing a cake named after him to his love.
Rigojancsi is one of the finest Hungarian desserts, result of the careful and precise work of pastry masters -each bite from the cake takes us straight to heaven.
A popular misbelief is that Rigo Janos made the cake, hence it was named after him - however this is only partly true. Unlike many famous and popular Hungarian dessert creations –such as the Dobos cake or the Gundel pancake - which wears its creator’s name, Rigo Janos was not involved in the production of the recipe or in the preparation of the cake.
Rigo Janos, a gypsy musician favoured a patisserie in Budapest, where the pastry chef custom made a special cake for a lady Rigo Janos loved and admired. The cake and the gesture was appreciated by the lady – however, no one really knows the end of the love story. What we do know, is that the owner saw the opportunity in the cake and its unique selling story and started producing and selling the creamy-chocolaty creation in his patisserie for his customers with great success. The cake and its recipe spread like an epidemic around Hungarian patisseries and it is still one of the most popular dessert delicacies.
Gentlemen, now that Valentine’s day is around the corner, you might want to keep this dessert in mind – you can’t go wrong with a heavenly chocolaty treat. Plus the icing on the cake: the sweet love story. Try it and see if it works!
Love & cake,
