Mézes krémes is a delectable dessert, which is an excellent representative of those typical Hungarian cakes that are made from kneaded dough and cooked filling. Mézes krémes is a honey flavoured pastry filled with semolina cream and apricot jam.
This dessert requires very slim cake layers, so in order to be able to roll out the dough balls easily, you have to heat the ingredients and after kneading dough has to be kept warm (if dough cools, due to its honey content it will be firm and inelastic). As the layers tend to shrink during baking, they need to rolled out a bit larger than the baking sheet.
After assembling the cake, it should spend a night in the fridge to become soft and mellow. Making this dessert can be a bit tricky, but tiding over it will increase your self-confidence.
photo: zserbo.com
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 150 g (~1 cup) powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 60 g (~1/4 cup) butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 7 tbsp milk
- 600 g (~4 3/4 cups) flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 1 l (~4 cups) milk
- 10 tbsp semolina
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g (~1/2 cup) butter
- 120 g (~1 cup) powdered sugar
- zest and juice of a half lemon
- 400 g (~1 1/2 cups) apricot jam
For the glaze:
- 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp powdered sugar
- 50 g (~3 1/2 tbsp) butter
- 3 tbsp water
Size of the baking sheet: 34×34 cm
First make the filling. Pour milk in a saucepan, add vanilla extract and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat and gradually add semolina while stirring continuously. Put back on the stove and cook until it thickens. Let it cool, but stir occasionally to prevent forming of the skin. In the meantime put butter in a separate bowl, add powdered sugar and beat with a mixer until fluffy.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F.
Place sugar, salt, honey, milk and butter in another saucepan and heat them up (but don’t boil) until butter and sugar melt. Pour the mixture in a bowl, add flour, baking soda and eggs. Knead into a smooth dough and then divide into four equal parts. Cover the dough balls until you roll them out in order to prevent them from cooling.
On a floured surface roll out the first ball into a paper thin (1-2 mm thin) square. Place it on a greased baking sheet, poke with a fork and put in the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes. Repeat the procedure with the three remaining balls.
With a mixer combine creamy butter with the semolina pudding adding lemon zest and juice.
Assemble the cake by putting the layers in this order: first layer – half of the semolina cream – second layer – apricot jam – third layer – rest of the filling – fourth layer.
In a small pot bring powdered sugar, cocoa powder and water to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in butter. When butter melts completely, pour the cocoa glaze over the cake and spread evenly. Let the cake stay in the fridge overnight before cutting.
