Mađarica – Croatia’s Heavenly Chocolate Layer Cake Recipe

What is Mađarica?

Mađarica literally means a Hungarian girl. But despite its name, this exquisite chocolate cake is the quintessential croatian dessert .

A queen of Croatian sweets, mađarica has a VIP invite to all our celebrations. And once you try it, you’ll know why.

Mađarica kolač didn’t come from Hungary, but the Hungarian Dobos torte may have inspired it. With their immaculate layers of pastry and chocolate cream, slices of madjarica and Dobos torte do look alike.

But let’s set aside the story of mađarica’s name and focus on why this Croatian cake is so famous.

Every major feast in Croatia, from births, marriages, and anniversaries, is crowned with mađarica. This is the christmas dessert that disappears first and the birthday sweet that no mother can refuse to make for her child.

When you master the mađarica recipe, this dessert will become your biggest pride. I’ll teach you how to produce the flawless-looking madjarica with the neatest pastry and cream layers.

And because everyone knows how much effort goes into producing this divine cake, expect to be showered with appreciation and compliments.

HOW TO BAKE SUPERBLY THIN CRUSTS THAT DON’T BREAK

Mađarica recipe calls for precision. Decide in advance on the pastry sheets’ dimensions. To make it even easier, cut out a parchment paper of that size and use it as a guide.

Now, the geeky bit. Weigh the dough ball and divide this number by five. It’s how much each pastry sheet should weigh. When you portion them, weigh each piece and adjust to get the precise number of grams. This technique produces a stunning, pro-level mađarica.

s you roll out the sheets, always start from the center. The sheets won’t be even if you thin out the ends to get to your desired size. Their ends will over-bake and crumble off. Worse, once you assemble the cake, it will end up with a dome in the middle.

Before baking the sheets, prick them all over with a fork to prevent the dough from inflating and creating bubbles.

Always slide pastry sheets off the cake pan with two long spatulas. Don’t touch the sheets while they are warm. They will firm up once they cool to room temperature.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE AND SLICE MAĐARICA TO MAKE IT PERFECT-LOOKING

Use the same cake pan to assemble madjarica but turn it the right way up.

Now you face the challenge of layering the cake evenly with pastry sheets and cream. If you weighed everything as I suggested, this step is easy-peasy.

Here’s what to watch for.

Place the first pastry layer on the bottom of the cake pan. Pour a portion of the chocolate cream and spread it with a spatula. Cover with the next pastry sheet. Gently run your hands over it to distribute the cream into every corner.

Let your touch be soft but thorough. You don’t want to break the pastry sheets. The goal is to push the cream from the center out to the corners.