Monday, August 15, 2011

DOBOS TORTE



Seeing that I have only one one rack in my oven a Dobos Torte was not something I was keen to attempt. But I did it. In 4 hours.

The sponge layers took only 5 minutes to bake but must be watched and baking those thin layers should never be paired with accidental naps in between.

The chocolate frosting made me falter and I almost went for another recipe because 3 raw egg yolks could mean salmonella attacks, hospitalization and doctor's bills en masse. I decided to be brave and went ahead. We are all well, alive and hungering for more Dobos Torte. Thanks be to God.




I had cut the last piece of sponge layer into 8 wedges and seperated them a little before pouring the amber caramel over. One thing I learnt was that you only need to cut through the caramel when the caramel has hardened. With a very sharp knife. It is much easier than having sticky caramel globbing up your knife and gooey caramel threads stretching between your fingers endlessly.

A Dobos Torte looks much harder to make than it really is. And it is very very delicious and beautiful to look at. Maida Heatter's recipe is a winner. The birthday boys yummied it. 




The recipe ~ taken from Smitten Kitchen ~ a Maida Heatter recipe.






Serves 12


Cake :


7 egg, seperated
3 egg yolks, additional
455 gm (1 lb) confectionaer's sugar (icing sugar)
94 gm all purpose flour
1 T lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt


Frosting :


227 (8 oz) bittersweet chocolate ( I used 60 per cent cacao)
226 (8 oz) gm butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 large egg yolks
2 T confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)


Caramel :


1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 T water


Make cake ~


Line, butter and flour well 8 8 inch round pans or 7 9 inch round pans. I only had 3 8 inch round pans so I had some relining and buttering and flouring to do.


Pre-heat oven to 450 F


Beat 10 yolks on high of an electric mixer for a few minutes until it turns pale and lemon coloured. Reduce speed, add sugar gradually and increase speed again and continue likewise until sugar is finished., and mixture is thick and glossy.


Reduce speed again and add flour gradually and then increase speed and mix for about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and mix a few seconds more.


In a seperate bowl that is clean and dry beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. 


Stir in a few tablespoons of the egg white  into the egg yolk mixture to loosen the yolk mixture up. Then add the rest of the whites in 3 batches until the whole mixture is smooth. I used a wire whisk to do this.


Divide the batter into 8 or 7 portions depending on the size of your pan ( I weighed my batter) and pour into tins, leveling the batter and baking each layer for 5 minutes.


Keep the baked sponges aside and if you stack them please make sure you have baking paper in between. 


Make frosting  ~


Melt chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter till soft and smooth. Add vanilla and 3 egg yolks. Add sugar and cooled chocolate beating well until thoroughly mixed. 


Spread this frosting thinly on each layer on cake leaving one layer unused.

Cover the whole cake with the chocolate frosting and chill in fridge while making the caramel layer.


Make Caramel Layer ~


Place the unused layer of sponge on baking paper. Cut the into 8 wedges. Seperate them a little. 
Meanwhile place sugar and water in a small pan and heat on high until the sugar melts and turns amber. Immediately take off heat and pour the caramel over the cut sponge cake.Let teh caramel cool and harden somewhat before cutting with a very sharp knife seperating teh wedges and neatening the edges if necessary. 

Arrange on top of the frosted cake. 




20 comments:

Elin Chia said...

Zurin..this is yummy good..of course your boys yummied it :)) Looks hard to make. Shall try it one day...salivating now !

ann low said...

Zurin, this is very beautiful. Wish I can have a slice :)

Xiaolu said...

This looks incredible, Zurin. Must take lots of patience ;p

Anonymous said...

Looks like it would melt in your mouth. Yummy!

La Table De Nana said...

Now that is prizewinning..
I have only made a Croatian dessert that is similar w/ all the little layers..all baked individually..but they are cut in squares..
And it never looked like this.
Gorgeous Zurin.

Kurryleaves said...

perfectly done...love the clicks dear...

H said...

This looks good. I wonder if my mother feels lie making cake... xD

(I don't like making cake :P)

Anonymous said...

Let me tell you that you cake looks awesome! I'm salivating looking at it haha

Sarah-Jane - SiliconeMoulds.com said...

wow - that's a labour of love Zurin ! Very pretty and very labour intensive.

I bet it disappeared much faster than the time it took you to make it :-)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

I have about 4 hours worth of Elvis CD's, so i can see making this!

Seriously delicious and I just LOVE the presentation!

Linda said...

Zurin that is one spectacular cake!
Just gorgeous...I wish I could have a bite!
You can never go wrong with a Maida Heatter recipe...she rocks!
And so do you!
L~xo

Sashquatch said...

Ive been eyeing up this recipe for a few weeks now, waiting to pluck up the courage to give it a go! Yours looks SO gorgeous though, you really have done the most fantastic job, and im sure the taste is worth any effort that went into it :)

Purabi Naha said...

this is really so tempting! I loved your photography!! you are really good at baking, decorating and of course, photography!
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com

Russell said...

This torte looks incredible! I am salivating and definitely wanting to try this asap. Great post. Thanks for sharing. Yum!

a quiet life said...

such a thing of beauty... i am trying to lose weight this year so i avoid temptation... but then i get weak and come and oogle your glorious blog... i try to be quick, so i can't taste it as i go, but this one is too hard to leave...

Passionate About Baking said...

Wow! This looks good, but tedious! Yummy!

Through My Kitchen Window said...

greetings from montenegro zurin. I couldnt help but drop in and here you are posting a gorgeous looking european cake that resembles so much of what is in the bakeries over here. congrats on the authentic look of your torte and I can only imagine how nice it tastes. i may leave the internet cafe now and look for a bakery, but I'm certain I won't find anything this yummy. Hugs mariana.

Zurin said...

Mariana,

Hugs ~ so glad u dropped by :) I hope youre having a good time there with ur girls. Enjoy urself ~

The torte was very delicious and it is a beauitful cake....kudos to the inventor.....next time Ill make sure I have a bigger oven when I make this though. but so worth it :))

Unknown said...

That is so cool.

ai wei said...

hi zurin, nice meeting you today in the class.
your photos are superb! am really hungry here. awww

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