Zserbó (Gerbeaud szelet)

The story

Zserbó, a layered walnut-apricot cake glazed with chocolate, is named for Emil Gerbeaud, a Swiss confectioner who took over a famous Budapest pastry shop in the late 19th century and developed recipes there that became part of the national culinary identity; the Hungarian pronunciation of his surname gradually became “zserbó.” The cake consists of several thin layers of dough filled with ground walnuts and apricot jam, the whole thing covered in a dark chocolate glaze, so that each slice reveals neat horizontal stripes. Although it was born in an elegant city pastry shop rather than a village kitchen, zserbó in time became a standard part of the holiday table in homes across the country, part of a wider phenomenon in which many of Central Europe's 19th-century “coffeehouse” desserts turned into family holiday heirlooms. For Hungarian Americans, zserbó is often the first cake they learn to make when they want to impress a guest who is unfamiliar with Hungarian cooking.