Litauszki Rigó Jancsi Recipe
Rigó Jancsi Litauszki style!
For the guests of the 2020 Budapest Varieté, the dessert was a truly special Rigó Jancsi. This is a revamped version of the famous Hungarian dessert by Zsolt Litauszki, chef at Gundel Restaurant. It uses chocolate sponge cake as its base, with most of the flour replaced by ground walnuts. Instead of another layer of sponge cake on top, it features a chocolate cream made from white chocolate. The filling’s lightness is taken all the way towards a mousse consistency.
This dessert was a huge success at the Budapest Varieté dinner, not only with the guests but it was also a big favorite of the performers. 🙂
Now is your chance to prepare it at home during these difficult times, and with it, we can take you back to the world of the 2020 variety show for a little while.
#: Stay home and make a special dessert!
A RECIPE
Dough ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 150 g sugar
- 150 high-quality dark chocolates
- 200 g butter
- 200 g roasted ground almonds
- 100 g flour
Whip the egg yolks with the sugar until foamy. Melt the butter and chocolate over a bain-marie. (Be careful not to let the mixture's temperature exceed 50°C.)
Mix the two masses together, then gently stir in the flour and almonds. Pour into a 30x30 cm baking pan and bake in an oven at 160°C for 20-25 minutes. (You will get a moist cake.)
Ingredients for chocolate mousse
- 300 ml heavy cream
- 320 g dark chocolate (65%), chopped
- 4 egg yolks
- 5 egg whites
- 60 g fine granulated sugar
We boil the cream, pour it over the chocolate, the ganache We make an emulsion as described. We add the egg yolks one by one.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites, adding the sugar halfway through.
When the chocolate has cooled to 40°C, we mix in a quarter of the egg whites, and then gently fold in the rest with a spatula.
Pour the mass onto the cooled chocolate batter, let it set in the mold, then place it in the refrigerator.
Note: The same chocolate mousse can be served as a dessert in a glass on its own.
White chocolate ganache
- 300 ml heavy cream
- 300 g white chocolate, chopped
- 2 cl cherry pálinka
Bring the cream to a boil, add the chocolate and brandy. Mix with an immersion blender for 4 minutes.
Spread the white ganache over the cooled and set chocolate mousse, smoothing the top with a spatula. Let it chill in the refrigerator for one day.
When serving, we cut it into shape and sprinkle thinly shaved chocolate shavings on top.
Rigó Jancsi was a real person, a famous Gypsy violinist around the turn of the last century, but we don't know why the cake was named after him. The basic recipe is a simple sponge cake coated with a little apricot jam (apricoted), a layer of chocolate cream, and glaze. All of this served more as an inspiration for the version above, which chef Zsolt Litauszki often prepares in his restaurant and at home.
The recipe is by Chef Magician. https://www.buvosszakacs.com/2013/04/25/rigo-jancsi/