Hungarian confectioners, like the Eucharistic World Congress of 1938, once again got involved in the preparations of the International Eucharistic Congress, in making the series of celebrations even more memorable.
In honor of the Catholic world event, the Magyar Cukrász Ipartestület, on the initiative of Éva Vojtek, announced a tender for the creation of the cake for the congress. The announcement of the competition was preceded by long consultations, in which the professional body involved the Archbishop-Metropolitan of Kalocsa-Kecskemét Bábel Balázs. He helped prepare the competition by defining church aspects.
The applicants had to design and assemble their cakes according to several criteria. One of the most important of these was that the confectioners use ingredients that also appear in the Bible to create the product's characteristic, defining taste. Examples include figs, dates, pomegranates, blackberries, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, beans, or olive oil. During the planning process, the professionals also had to make sure that their work could be individually packed and stored without refrigeration due to the nature of the event.
From the first round, the judges, consisting of well-known professionals, sent seven cakes to the finals. The seven confectioners received a lot of useful advice from the board members regarding the materials used, decoration, naming and packaging.
"The jury was faced with a serious task by the contestants, as each finalist cake was a real curiosity. Each product approached the topic in a different way, so the decision was even more difficult," assessed Balázs Erdélyi, president of the Hungarian Confectionery Industry Association.
The creator of the winning cake: master pastry chef Zsolt Karl. According to the jury's assessment, the product has well combined Hungarian confectionary traditions with ingredients that also appear in the Bible. The cake, wrapped in Bratislava dough and made with a rich, fruity filling, met all the criteria and, according to the reviewers, it can well present the Hungarian confectionery traditions to guests from abroad.
Almonds, figs, dates, plums, apricots and honey also appear in the winning creation, in addition to the orange flavor. With the support of the National Cooperation Fund and the cooperation of Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt., nearly 1,300 first communion children will receive the "NEK Cake" at the opening mass of the congress.
more about this on the NEK website.
Photo: Ambrus Marcsi
