Rigó Jancsi
A cake named after the Hungarian Roma violinist Rigó Jancsi, whose affair with an American heiress, wife of a Belgian prince, scandalised Europe in the late 19th century. It is a thick layer of airy chocolate mousse between two thin chocolate sponges, with a whisper of apricot jam and a glossy glaze, cut into cubes. The mousse is made from ganache that must chill for several hours before it can be whipped — so it is best to start the day before.
Your own work in that: 40 min.
- Ganache 10 min
- Chilling the ganache 240 min
- Sponge 20 min
- Baking 12 min
- Cooling 30 min
- Assembly 40 min
- Setting 120 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the ganache the day before
Bring the cream to the boil and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Wait a minute and stir until smooth; add the rum, if using. Cool, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Only thoroughly chilled ganache will whip.
Ingredients: 500 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g dark chocolate, about 60% · 2 tbsp rum
Hot cream over chocolate — then hours in the cold.Make the sponge mixture
Heat the oven to 180°C and line a 30×40 cm tray with paper. Melt the chocolate with the butter and let it cool slightly. Whisk the whites to stiff peaks with half the sugar; beat the yolks with the rest of the sugar until pale and stir in the chocolate.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 80 g sugar · 50 g dark chocolate · 30 g butter · 50 g plain flour · 15 g cocoa powder
Combine and bake a thin sponge
Fold a third of the meringue into the yolk mixture, then the sifted flour and cocoa and the rest of the meringue, gently with a spatula. Spread evenly on the tray and bake 10–12 minutes, until springy to the touch.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 80 g sugar · 50 g dark chocolate · 30 g butter · 50 g plain flour · 15 g cocoa powder
Cool and cut in half
Slide the sponge on its paper onto a rack and cool. Cut it in half across to get two 20×30 cm layers. Put one in a rectangular tin or frame of that size lined with paper.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 80 g sugar · 50 g dark chocolate · 30 g butter · 50 g plain flour · 15 g cocoa powder
One tray, two 20×30 cm layers.Spread with jam
Warm the apricot jam and spread it thinly over the layer in the tin. The jam adds a light tartness that cuts through the sweetness of the chocolate.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp apricot jam · 100 g dark chocolate · 30 g butter
Whip the mousse
Whip the chilled ganache with a mixer until fluffy, like whipped cream — about 2–3 minutes. Do not overwhip: overbeaten mousse turns grainy.
Ingredients: 500 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g dark chocolate, about 60% · 2 tbsp rum
Like whipped cream — any longer and it turns grainy.Assemble and chill
Spread the mousse over the bottom layer, level it and cover with the second layer. Refrigerate for 2 hours, until the mousse sets.
Ingredients: 500 ml whipping cream (30%) · 200 g dark chocolate, about 60% · 2 tbsp rum
Glaze and cut into cubes
Melt the chocolate with the butter, cool slightly and pour over the top, spreading thinly. Once the glaze sets (about 15 minutes in the fridge), lift the cake from the tin and cut into 15 cubes with a knife dipped in hot water. Keep in the fridge up to 3 days.
Ingredients: 3 tbsp apricot jam · 100 g dark chocolate · 30 g butter
Before you start
Cut it cold
Rigó Jancsi is cut straight from the fridge, with a knife warmed in hot water and wiped after each cut. Only then is the cross-section neat, with clear layers.
Chocolate
The mousse tastes best made with 55–65% chocolate. Darker chocolate makes a firmer mousse once chilled, milk chocolate one that is too sweet and soft.
History
Rigó Jancsi was a Roma violinist with whom Clara Ward, an American heiress married to a Belgian prince, eloped in 1896. According to tradition, the cake named after him was created in Budapest soon afterwards.
