A Hungarian favorite: poppy seed pudding (mákos guba) for Christmas! – the recipe

I’m sure I’m not the only one who can’t wait for Christmas: who could resist all that delicious food and drink on the table? Especially if you are Hungarian or spending your winter holidays in Hungary, you will most likely find yourself in the dining room. Among the many traditional Hungarian Christmas dishes, mákos guba (poppy seed pudding) is one of my favorites. Even more so when it’s made like a cake! You can find the recipe for the macos guba cake below.

Ingredients for poppy seed cake

• 8 dried (or just old) rolls (kifli)
• 1 liter of milk for the base, 2.5 dl of milk for the cream
• 3 egg yolks for the base, 2 egg yolks for the cream
• 15 dkg granulated sugar for the base, 15 dkg granulated sugar for the cream
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar for the base, 2 packets of vanilla sugar for the cream
• 10 dkg of butter for the base, 20 dkg of butter for the cream
• 15 dkg of ground poppy seeds for the base
• 10 dkg of raisins for the base
• grated rind of 1 lemon for the base
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon for the base
• 3-4 tablespoons of apricot jam for the base
• 1 package of vanilla custard powder for cream
• Top with 2-3 dl of whipped cream

How to make macos guba cake

According to magyarorszagom.huhere’s how to make the perfect macos guba cake:

1. It pays to buy the rolls a day in advance so that they are dry rather than fresh. These rolls should be cut evenly first, as this is the basis for the makos guba.
2. Then, after cutting the rolls, we start preparing the milk sauce as follows: add 10 dkg of butter to a liter of milk and heat it. Mix 3 egg yolks with 15 dkg of powdered sugar and 2 packages of vanilla sugar until smooth. Then, while stirring slowly, add to the milk and cook over steam until it thickens.
3. Return to the rolls, sprinkle with ground poppy seeds, cinnamon, raisins and grated lemon zest and mix. Once it’s done, pour over the boiled milk, stir, making sure the bun slices remain intact, and let it sit for a while. The buns need a few minutes to absorb the liquid.
4. Sprinkle breadcrumbs into the buttered cake tin. Then we pour poppy seeds and milk rolls into it. Spread the jam on top, spread it evenly and put it in a preheated oven at 100 °C for 15-20 minutes.
5. When it’s nicely browned, let it cool in the pan and then put it on a tray.
6. Time to prepare the cream. Mix 20 dkg of butter with half the amount of granulated sugar (7.5 dkg) until smooth and set aside. Mix the other half of the granulated sugar with 2 egg yolks, 2 packets of vanilla sugar and custard powder, add the milk and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens, then cool completely.
7. Add sugared butter to the cooled pudding. When you have a smooth cream, you can spread it on the cooled poppy seed rolls and put the whole thing in the fridge to cool and harden.
8. Finally, whip the cream until stiff and decorate the cake with it.

Enjoy! Let us know if you decide to try this treat.

Last year we shared a recipe for a simple macos guba – find it HERE.