If you're ever in need of an extra-impressive dessert, dobos torte has got you covered. From the thin sheets of cake layered with rich chocolate buttercream to the wedges of crunchy caramel on top, this is cake like you've never seen it before!
A traditional Hungarian dessert, this cake is made with very thin layers of sponge cake (at least five of them!) separated by equally thin layers of chocolate butter cream. The result makes for a dramatic presentation and a pudding-like consistency as you eat your way through a slice. The fans of caramel-coated sponge cake decorating the top are like an added bonus!
This cake is also the predecessor to the infamous New Orleans Doberge Cake. The New Orleans version usually uses pastry cream or pudding in place of buttercream, in alternating flavors of chocolate and lemon. Yum!
Feel like attempting a dobos torte of your own? Here are a few recipes to try!
• Dobos Torte from Sugar and Spice
• Viennese Dobos Torte from Food & Wine
• Double Dobos Cake from Oprah.com
Have you ever had dobos cake?
Related: Home Hack: How to Frost a Layer Cake
(Image: Sugar and Spice via Tastespotting)
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What a beautiful dessert/pic!!
I have never apparently had an "authentic" dobos torte, according to my Hungarian father - even my grandmother's doesn't have enough layers, the double dobos recipe seems like it would most likely meet their approval. We've gotten them from Hungarian bakeries and they still have not been up to the old-country standard. However, I am terrified of making my own caramel so I will probably never figure out what they really think is authentic. Candy thermometer = deal breaker for me.
I love to bake, I have an incredible sweet tooth, and this looks so delicious... but there are some things that I leave to the bakeries. This thing, with all its layers and creams, would be one of them.
Oh, agreed- I always thought these are beautiful!
Here's mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pellet13/3914698398/
I was born in Hungary. I LOOOOVE dobos torta, whenever I go back, I have to have a slice.
Last year I sprung for a professional pastry book, which has a recipe. This year, I will attempt to make it, so my husband can enjoy this delicious piece of Hungarian cooking. As a vegetarian, he's mostly excluded from the rest :)
My grandmother lives down the street from the best bakery in Budapest and a slice of dobos torta is always the first cake I eat when I visit. I'm not really into the fancy versions I see--I prefer my $2 slice.
Playminxie: There's a ton of Hungarian food you can make vegetarian! Just substitute tofu or seitan for the meat. Stuffed peppers, kohlrabi, cabbage and fasirt all with tofu. There's always fozelek, lecso, and mushroom paprikas...
Natolee - I have the great fortune to be living in Budapest now, and although I have a million allergies that keep me from eating most Hungarian foods, I would love to know where the best bakery in Budapest is. is it Auguszt Csukraszda? that's the one I hear about the most, I think.
Dropkick: Daubner Cukrászda at Szépvölgyi út 50 in the II kerület. You will most likely wait in line for at least 20 minutes, no matter what time you go. My favorites are their dobos and somlói galuska. Really great pogácsa too! Their ice cream is also good, but they don't sell it in the winter.
My late grandmother was Hungarian and made dobos torta for only special occasions. Her recipe takes 3 days! I've never attempted making one myself. I love them though, maybe it's time to try it!
I have made the Rick Rogers recipe from Kaffeehaus (which is the recipe on Sugar and Spice) and it is time-consuming but not really that hard. I made it at a friend's house, not even my own kitchen. I did have a Kitchenaid stand mixer at my disposal. It's been a while, but I think it was a birthday cake for a friend who spent a lot of time in Budapest and he found it to be pretty authentic.
I do agree with the tip at the bottom of the Sugar and Spice page, about cutting the top layer before pouring the caramel...mine cooled very quickly so it cracked when I cut it, which didn't look very nice. It tasted fabulous though!
I also really recommend the Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. I have it and love it! I was re-reading it a few weeks ago and there are so many recipes I want to make...
http://www.amazon.com/Kaffeehaus-Exquisite-Desserts-Classic-Budapest/dp/0609604538/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267135150&sr=8-1
I just made this tonight for a party tomorrow. It's very time intensive (3.5 hours) and had some tricky parts.
natolee - koszi szepen! that's not too too far from where I work, so I will try to drop in there some time.