Rigó Jancsi (ˈrigoː ˈjɒnt͡ʃi) is a traditional Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and Viennese

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 cube

Cube

In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. The cube can also be called a regular hexahedron and is one of the five Platonic solids. It is a special kind of square prism, of rectangular parallelepiped and...

 shaped chocolate sponge cake and chocolate cream pastry

Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...

. It gained popularity in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and is named after Rigó Jancsi (1858–1927), a famous Hungarian Gypsy (Romani people) violinist who seduced and married Clara Ward, Princess de Caraman-Chimay

Clara Ward, Princesse de Caraman-Chimay

Clara Ward was a wealthy American socialite who married a prince from Belgium.-Biography:The story of Clara Ward, who commonly used one or another version of the title "Princesse de Caraman-Chimay", is poorly known today, but for some years in the early 1890s she was the toast of the United States...

, the only daughter of E. B. Ward, American millionaire and the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 Prince de Caraman-Chimays wife.

In Flavors of Hungary, a cookbook written by Charlotte Slovak Biro, this cake is called "Gypsy John."

The story

Clara and Jancsi met in 1896, while Rigo Jancsi played violin at a Paris restaurant, where Clara dined out with her husband, Prince Joseph. Between 1896 and 1898, newspapers wrote extensively about the marriage of the primás (first violinist) Jancsi Rigó to the Belgian countess. The cake is a celebration cake wearing Rigó Jancsi's name and in honor of the romantic love story.

Sources do not agree about the origin of the pastry. Some claim that Rigo created the pastry together with an unknown pastry chef to surprise Clara; others claim that Rigo Jancsi bought this pastry to Clara and the confectioner named it afterwards Rigo Jancsi.

The cake

The cake has two layers of chocolate-sponge cake. These chocolate sponge cake layers are made with beaten egg whites, melted chocolate, butter, sugar and flour. Sugar creamed egg yolks are beaten into the mixture.

Between the two chocolate sponge cake layers is a thick layer of very rich, chocolate and cream filling, and a very thin apricot jam layer. The filling may include a touch of dark rum and/or vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

. The cake is covered with a dark chocolate fondant

Fondant

Fondant is one of several kinds of icing-like substance used to decorate or sculpt pastries. The word, in French, means "melting", coming from the same root as "foundry" in English....

glaze

External links

• Rigo Jancsi recipe
• Rigo Jancsi Chocolate cake