…and we continue our culinary tour with some of my most memorable desserts. For those of you who requested to read about some of my food experiences, I’ll try to throw in some food critic buzzwords to keep it interesting.

The Perníčkův Sen Gingerbread Store, Prague: Best Smell

The gingerbread was okay.

The Cakes of Magveto Café: Best Taste

The cakes at Magveto Café, our hangout and study spot in downtown Pest, are some of the best around. Among my favorites: a simple but wonderful apple cake, a traditional Hungarian poppyseed cake, carrot cake, and a caramel dark-chocolate tart. After finishing a particularly difficult math problem set, I often celebrate with a slice. So when I heard from one of my roommates that the cafe receives a cake delivery every morning, I was intrigued. Where could they come from? More importantly, how could I get my cake directly from the supplier?

I asked the proprietor of Magveto, Péter, what bakery supplied their baked goods. He told me, but my plans to cut out the middleman were foiled. Apparently his friend bakes them in her home every morning and brings them to the café herself.

Alas, I’ll just have to break in and take them from her.

Bertels Kager Frederiksberg Cheesecake, Copenhagen: Best Texture

Some truly inspired cheesecake. I loved the mouth-feel.

Dessert Tapas Barcelona: Most Exciting

I love tapas. These little, one-euro desserts were absolutely worth it. Why can’t we buy everything in one-euro bites?

Budapest Spring Market, Kings’ Marzipan: Most Decadent

Spring in Budapest is so different than the winter. In March, once the weather hesitantly crept above freezing, the city leapt into action. Early in the semester, we could do some research and find a few interesting cultural events happening around the city each week. Now, it’s impossible to keep track of all of them. In fact, as I write this post, I’m sitting at a café waiting for a concert at Café Frei celebrating the “Night of Coffeehouses” festival in Budapest. They just seem to want to celebrate everything with a festival!

The beginning of this transition to Festival Season in Budapest was marked by the opening of the Spring/Easter Market in downtown Pest. Featuring stalls with art, pottery, clothing, and food, it was quite the spectacle. By now, we’re used to it.

I decided to try a Whisky Truffle Marzipan from Kings’ Marzipan, and I think it was the most decadent food I’ve tasted since coming here.

 

Levendula Ice Cream: Most Innovative

For the first half of the semester, my roommates and I would often stop on the way home for a 300-forint rétés (Hungarian strudel). But once warmer weather came around and Levendula opened for the season, we immediately switched our biweekly investment for this excellent 300-forint ice cream.

The variety is fantastic. While it’s hard to choose, my favorite flavors are Strawberry-Ginger, Lemon-Mint, Toffee, and–at the very top of the list–Gorgonzola, which is now tied with Tumeric for my favorite ice cream flavor.

In the next installment, we get a little closer to home. In fact, we go home, to my apartment, for some of what I’ve cooked up while abroad.

Szia!

Nathaniel