Joffre cake is a rich, layered chocolate and buttermilk cake that was invented in 1920 in Bucharest. Built in 1852, a restaurant, hotel, and cafe called Casa Capsa was thought to be a symbol of Romanian high society, a place where the most special dinner parties in Bucharest took place.
When Marshal Joffre, leader of the French army, visited the country in 1920, the Capsa brothers organized a special event in his honor and made a special cake that was named after the Marshall. The size and shape of the cake are thought to be modeled after the French casquettes worn in World War I by the Marshall's troops.
This simple dessert consists of thin egg noodles that are cooked in milk, then mixed with whipped egg whites and curd cheese before they are neatly placed between sheets of phyllo pastry. The noodle filling is usually enriched with raisins, cinnamon, vanilla, or lemon zest, and the dessert is typically served warm and dusted with powdered sugar.
The invention of the cake is often associated with the Romanian city of Cluj, but who exactly invented it is still a matter of dispute. While one theory claims it was an invention of a Hungarian named Varga, others believe that it first appeared on the menu of a family-owned Darvas restaurant at the beginning of the 20th century.
MOST ICONIC Vargabéles
Mucenici (lit. martyrs) are traditional Romanian pastries made from a sweet dough similar to that used for cozonac. They are shaped in the form of number 8, and are then boiled in water with sugar, cinnamon, and crushed walnuts, while modern variations may also employ desiccated coconut.
The name of this dish derives from the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, a group of Christian Roman soldiers who were drowned in a lake during the persecutions of Diocletian. It is said that the pastries embody the martyrs, while the water in which they are boiled represents the lake where they had drowned.
Plăcintă cu ciocolată is a thin pastry with chocolate and nut filling. It is one of many Romanian plăcintă dishes that are stuffed with either savory or sweet fillings. This dessert is made with soft dough layers filled with chocolate, eggs, sugar, and chopped nuts, and flavored with orange zest and vanilla extract.
Its sweet and nutty flavor, enhanced by the refreshing orange zest and vanilla, will satisfy any sweet tooth.
Amandine is a traditional chocolate cake that's filled either with chocolate or almond cream. The cake has four components – the sponge cake, the syrup, the filling, and the glaze. The sponge cake is made with eggs, sugar, water, flour, oil, and cocoa, the filling (chocolate buttercream) consists of eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and cocoa, the syrup is made with water, sugar, and rum, and the glaze is made with chocolate and whipping cream.
Of course, there are many recipes for this cake, so the ingredients may vary in some cases. Amandina has been popular in Romanian confectioneries ever since the 1960s, and it's usually decorated with a bit of the cream and a thin, diamond-shaped chocolate piece on top.
MOST ICONIC Amandine
MAIN INGREDIENTS
A light dessert called plăcintă cu urdă is a traditional Romanian pastry filled with a mixture of urdă cheese, brânză cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla sugar. Raisins soaked in orange juice or rum, smântână, and orange or lemon zest are typically added to this dish for extra flavor.
The dessert can be eaten hot or chilled, topped with granulated sugar or a dusting of powdered sugar.
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