Bejgli

What Is Bejgli?

Bejgli is one of Hungary’s most traditional festive pastries, a rolled cake filled generously with poppy seeds, walnuts or other rich fillings and baked until its pastry develops a characteristic marbled surface.

Also sometimes written as beigli, it is particularly associated with Christmas in Hungary and is also enjoyed at Easter and other family celebrations.

Our bejgli is handmade in Budapest by Nándori Cukrászda, the artisan patisserie selected by Best of Hungary founder Monika Gyenes after tasting cakes from a number of Hungarian bakeries.

A Traditional Hungarian Christmas Cake

For generations, bejgli has been one of the most familiar sights on Hungarian Christmas tables. Long rolls are sliced into rounds and served to family and guests alongside coffee, tea and other festive desserts.

The two classic varieties are mákos bejgli, filled with poppy seed, and diós bejgli, filled with walnut.

Traditional symbolism is also attached to the fillings. Poppy seeds are associated with abundance and prosperity, while walnuts have traditionally been regarded as protective, helping explain why both ingredients feature so prominently in Hungarian festive baking.

Explore more seasonal food and gifts in our Hungarian Christmas collection.

Mákos Bejgli – Poppy Seed Roll

Mákos Bejgli is the classic Hungarian poppy seed roll, made with soft pastry wrapped around a generous filling of finely ground poppy seeds and aromatic sweet spices.

Poppy seed has a distinctive nutty, slightly earthy flavour and is one of the ingredients most closely associated with Hungarian and Central European desserts.

Diós Bejgli – Walnut Roll

Diós Bejgli is the other great Hungarian classic.

Its pastry is generously filled with ground walnuts, golden raisins and candied orange peel, producing a rich filling with layers of nutty, fruity and gently citrus flavour.

The walnut and poppy seed versions are traditionally served together, allowing guests to choose their favourite — although Hungarian families have been debating which is better for generations.

Plum Bejgli – A Nándori Speciality

Alongside the traditional walnut and poppy seed varieties, Nándori produces a distinctive Plum Bejgli as a contemporary interpretation of the classic Hungarian roll.

It combines a rich plum preserve with pieces of dried plum soaked in Zwack Unicum, Hungary’s famous herbal liqueur, creating a deeper, fruitier and distinctly grown-up version of bejgli.

The combination of plum and Unicum gives this variety a particularly Hungarian identity while showing how a traditional pastry can be developed beyond the familiar poppy seed and walnut fillings.

Please note: Plum bejgli contains alcohol.

Bejgli Cake – A Modern Interpretation

Nándori also reimagined the traditional roll as a Bejgli Cake, transforming familiar bejgli flavours into a different cake format.

The 350g cake combines ground poppy seeds, plum jam, dried plum and aromatic sweet spices, bringing together some of the characteristic flavours of Hungarian festive baking in an original Nándori creation.

Great Taste Award-Winning Bejgli Cake

Our 350g Bejgli Cake received 1 Star at the 2026 Great Taste Awards by the Guild of Fine Food, providing independent recognition of its flavour and overall quality.

View Best of Hungary’s Great Taste-recognised products in the official Guild of Fine Food directory.

Made by Nándori Cukrászda in Budapest

Our bejgli is made by Nándori Cukrászda, a long-established Budapest patisserie whose confectionery tradition at its Ráday Street location dates back to 1957.

Nándori combines traditional Hungarian pastry-making with its own speciality creations, producing both classic recipes and more contemporary interpretations.

Its wider repertoire includes well-known Hungarian cakes such as zserbó, Dobos torta, Rákóczi túrós and Eszterházy torta.

Explore more of Nándori’s products in our Hungarian cakes and pastries collection.

Personally Selected by Monika

Founder Monika Gyenes tasted cakes and pastries from several Hungarian patisseries before choosing Nándori for Best of Hungary.

She selected the bakery for its combination of flavour, quality ingredients, traditional craftsmanship and small-scale production, as well as the practical consideration that its bejgli travels well and has sufficient shelf life for customers to enjoy after delivery.

The range was deliberately built around the two essential Hungarian classics — poppy seed and walnut — before adding Nándori’s more unusual plum bejgli and award-winning bejgli cake.

How Long Does Bejgli Keep?

Our traditional 500g bejgli rolls normally arrive with a Best Before period of around 30 days from purchase, giving you plenty of time to enjoy them.

Keep unopened bejgli in a cool, dry place and follow the storage instructions on the individual product once opened.

The bejgli cake has a shorter shelf life than the traditional rolls, so always check the individual product information when ordering.

Carefully Packed for UK Delivery

Bejgli is well suited to delivery, but we still take care to protect each pastry to ensure that it arrives intact.

Orders are packed by hand at our Aberystwyth warehouse by our experienced team, led by Abe and Chris, and sent using Royal Mail Tracked 24.

Read more about our UK delivery and protective packaging.

Hungarian Bejgli & European Poppy Seed Rolls

Bejgli belongs to a wider family of filled rolls found throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Closely related poppy seed pastries are known under different names in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Croatia, Germany and neighbouring countries.

For cakes, poppy seed rolls and pastries from the wider region, explore our European cakes collection.

Buy Bejgli Online in the UK

Choose from traditional mákos bejgli, diós bejgli, plum bejgli and Great Taste award-winning bejgli cake, handmade in Budapest by Nándori Cukrászda and carefully packed for delivery across the UK.

For an even wider selection of cakes, pastries and sweet treats, explore our Hungarian desserts collection.