How is the dish prepared according to the Gundel recipe?

The base of the cake is a soft, buttery, crumbly pastry. It is topped with a peach jam made with our own recipe, with carefully selected peaches. The filling is a mousse made from an artisan farmer's clotted curd, with lots of vanilla. Egg mousse domes are baked on top, and the peach jam is poured between them. The sour cream ice cream spooned on top of the crumb topping brings out the sweetness with its deep, lactic flavours.

How did the recipe become part of the tradition, part of the Gundel heritage?

Even today, many people believe that the dessert is named after Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II. But it is a Gundel recipe. János Rákóczi, pastry chef and master chef, worked at the Gellért Hotel at the time when it was run by Károly Gundel. The two of them worked together to create the combination of cottage cheese, apricot jam and vanilla that resulted in the ‘Rákóczi’ cottage cheese cake. The dessert was presented to the world at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, where János Rákóczi was the head chef of the Hungarian pavilion. The dessert was awarded a gold medal.

Why was it selected for the National 11, considered the essence of Hungarian flavours?

Its inventor named it "the most Hungarian of Hungarian desserts", as all its ingredients can be found in Hungary. Cottage cheese is a traditional material of Hungarian cuisine, but interestingly it is only widespread in the Carpathian Basin. Now it has gained recognition across Europe by being protected by the EU. Apricot jam is a Hungaricum, the queen of jams, made by Hungarians for centuries.