Somlói Galuska

Somlói galuska is a Hungarian dessert. A cake made of three kinds of sponge is not cut into neat slices. Instead, it is scooped out with a spoon or similar utensil and served. Because it is served in broken pieces, the layers can be seen in the broken surfaces.

Vanilla, walnut and cocoa sponges are soaked with syrup and layered with cream, and rum raisins and walnuts are scattered through it. The cake rests overnight so that the flavors blend. It is then scooped into shapes that resemble small dumplings and served with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

A World’s Fair dessert created by a head waiter and a pastry chef

Gundel, a restaurant in Budapest, says that the dessert was created in the late 1950s. The idea came from head waiter Károly Gollerits, and pastry chef József Béla Szőcs worked out the proportions and method. The dessert was presented at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.

The letter missing from a hill’s name

Gundel explains that the name comes from Somlyó, a hill near Fót, where the pastry chef lived. The dessert’s present name, somlói, lacks the y of that place name. The similarly spelled Somló is a different hill and a wine region.

As for the missing letter, one story says that the name was misspelled at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and that the misspelling then spread. Accounts differ on where this happened: a misspelling by the press, an omission by the judges, or a misprint on the menu at the fair. Anecdotes about the dessert’s presentation at the World’s Fair are tied to the reason why the name, which comes from the hill of Somlyó, lost a letter.

Baking three colors of sponge separately

The three basic sponges differ in color and flavor. The vanilla sponge keeps the pale color of the eggs, the walnut sponge gains the toasty aroma of the nuts, and the cocoa sponge is dark brown. Large sheets of sponge are soaked with flavored syrup and layered with vanilla cream. It is not a dessert in which dry sponge is eaten bite by bite as it is.

The syrup and cream help the flavors of the separately baked sponges blend. Walnut pieces and rum-soaked raisins are also added, so small, chewy morsels are scattered through the soft sponge. Because all the ingredients are not mixed into one single-colored cream, the balance of color and aroma differs slightly depending on where the dessert is scooped.

Layering, chilling overnight and scooping onto plates

In the method presented by the Hungarian Tourism Agency, rum, vanilla, and orange and lemon zest are added to the syrup, which is brought to a boil to draw out their aromas. Three layers of sponge are stacked, the last one is topped with apricot jam and cocoa, and the dessert is chilled overnight. Flavor does not come only from the cream and sauce added at the end. The syrup and cream are given time to soak into the layers inside.

Before serving, the chilled dessert is divided into small lumps with a spoon or similar utensil. Galuska is a word that brings to mind dumplings or small lumps. Instead of boiled flour dumplings, the soft lumps are made of three colors of syrup-soaked sponge and cream.

Finally, chocolate sauce is poured over the dessert, and whipped cream is added. Cream and sauce of different temperatures and richness can be tasted in a single bite together with cocoa, walnuts and fruit. Under the white and black visible from above are the three sponges, and the layers of sponge and cream appear as you eat.

Somlói galuska served at a restaurant in Fót, Hungary. Chocolate sauce is layered over the sponge and cream. Photo: Illustratedjc, 2014-04-01, Fót, Hungary. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Downscaled version from the provider; no additional processing.

Somlói galuska served in a bowl. Chocolate, white cream and chopped nuts are layered over the sponge. Photo: Christo, 2017-02-13, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Downscaled version from the provider; no additional processing.

A version made by layering store-bought biscuit with three kinds of cream

Among the recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the method) published by the Hungarian food site Street Kitchen is one that uses store-bought biscuit instead of baking three kinds of sponge. In that version, the cream is divided into three portions flavored with vanilla, cocoa and walnut. The biscuit is soaked in tea mixed with rum and layered with fruit, and the dessert is chilled for half a day to finish.

This simpler version moves the flavors that were divided among the three colors of sponge into three creams and adds rum to tea instead of to syrup. Even without the step of baking the sponge, the steps of combining several flavors in layers and chilling them so that they blend remain.

Gundel’s present-day dessert also layers three kinds of sponge with walnuts, cream and chocolate. The aromas soaked into the sponge are kept separate from the sauce poured on at the end, which gives depth of flavor to each soft mouthful.

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