Gerbeaud on Vörösmarty tér: Kugler, Gerbeaud and the Dobos Torte
Why is it significant?
Take in the big square first: the white marble statue of the poet Mihály Vörösmarty in the middle, and on the northern side a long, elegant shopfront, with chandeliers glowing behind tall windows and a terrace of little tables.
Key Facts
| Place | Gerbeaud on Vörösmarty tér: Kugler, Gerbeaud and the Dobos Torte |
|---|---|
| Address | Vörösmarty tér 7-8, 1051 Budapest, Hungary |
| Geo Coordinates | 47.49700, 19.05030 |
| Part of Walk | Coffee, Cake & Paprika: A Budapest Food Walk from Gerbeaud to the Great Market Hall |
| Generated | Generated |
Take in the big square first: the white marble statue of the poet Mihály Vörösmarty in the middle, and on the northern side a long, elegant shopfront, with chandeliers glowing behind tall windows and a terrace of little tables. That is Gerbeaud, and for well over a century it has been the address for cake in Budapest.
The story starts in 1858, when the confectioner Henrik Kugler opened his shop in Pest. In 1870 he moved it to this square. In 1884 he took on a partner from Switzerland, Émile Gerbeaud, who soon ran the business and gave it his name. Gerbeaud was an inventor as much as a baker. He is credited with popularising cognac cherries in chocolate, and the layered slice of walnuts, apricot jam and chocolate that Hungarians still call zserbó, after him.
But the most famous Hungarian cake was not invented here at all. The Dobos torte is the work of József C. Dobos, another Pest confectioner, who presented it in 1885 at the national exhibition in the city. Thin sponge layers, chocolate buttercream and a hard, glassy caramel lid that kept the cake fresh for days, which made it travel well. Copies spread everywhere, and in 1906 Dobos gave his recipe to the confectioners' guild so that everyone could at least make it properly.
Under communism the shop was nationalised and, for decades, carried the name of the square instead of the Swiss confectioner. The old name came back in the 1980s, and with it the white-gloved, slightly ceremonial atmosphere you still feel inside.
One more thing under your feet: the little yellow underground line that stops in this square opened in 1896, the first underground railway on the European continent, built to carry crowds to the millennium celebrations in the City Park. Now leave the square at its southern corner and walk into Váci utca, Pest's most famous shopping street.