Dobos Torte, THE recipe?

[ludja]

It took a year, but I finally made a Dobos Torte for a recent party! The backstory is that I've eaten many slices in Austria and my Mom also made it many times...

I have a few different recipes but I ended up trying the one in "George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary". There were only 4 of us and I was making another dessert couse, so I opted for the somewhat simpler version he gives in which you bake one single thin layer in an 11 by 17 1/2 in pan, then slice to get six (yes, only six!) rectangular layers. The final cake is 8 inches long and 4 inches wide; yielding 8 'schnitten' or slices that are 1 in by 4 in long. I borrowed an idea from Rodger's "Kaffehause" and covered the sided with chopped, roasted and peeled hazelnuts and put a whole hazelnut under each caramal slice on alternating sides to get a 'fan' effect. It looked quite nice and was easier than baking 7-8 extra slices for the typical round cake which serves 12. His chocolate filling is great--unctiously smooth and rich tasting with melted bitterweet chocolate, strong coffee, an egg, butter and sugar. You do have to slice the caramel layer quickly! (less than an minute) but it is also a bit simpler with the rectangle slices. I am digital camera-less so you have to trust me that it looked great-- (tasted great too)!

[middydd]

Thanks for reporting on your results. I'm about due to make a Dobos Torte, this recipe sounds like the next one to try.

[lfujii]

I´ve made Dobos Cake 2 times for my argentine in laws (my father is from german origin) and it is a very popular cake in his family back in Argentina. I had never tried it but since I love baking I rumaged through my cookbooks and found very good recipes. The books are the 1952 (or 1953) version of the Joy of cooking and The Chef´s Dessert cookbook by Dominique D´Ermo (an old cookbook I inherited from my late great grandmother). I love both buttercreams because they are much more darker than traditional chocolate buttercreams. I hope this helps.

[middydd]

I´ve made Dobos Cake 2 times for my argentine in laws (my father is from german origin) and it is a very popular cake in his family back in Argentina.  I had never tried it but since I love baking I rumaged through my cookbooks and found very good recipes.  The books are the 1952 (or 1953) version of the Joy of cooking and The Chef´s Dessert cookbook by Dominique D´Ermo (an old cookbook I inherited from my late great grandmother).  I love both buttercreams because they are much more darker than traditional chocolate buttercreams.  I hope this helps.

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Thanks for the recommendation of the Joy of Cooking recipe, I'm re-reading this thread as the urge to bake a Dobos Torte has struck again.

Ludja, have you tried any Dobos Torte variations in the last while?

[ludja]

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Ludja, have you tried any Dobos Torte variations in the last while?

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No, but fall and winter are good seasons to make one... Also, rereading this thread is making me reconstruct and crave the taste in my mind.

For others interested, here is a phonto of a Dobos Torte I found on Google Images: click

[oli]

This is the recipe I posted on WebFoodpros a while back that Wendy would remember. I am Hungarian, and this recipe is my favorite, and its the only one I use. There are many variations, including adding some almond paste into the mix, which is also very nice. Its the closest to what I remember eating in Hungary and other places in the world that knew how to make them, and that includes the burnt sugar topping, which is traditional.

This is a very rich and delectable cake, originally from Budapest

10 egg yolks

6 ounces granulated sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

8 ounces bread flour

10 egg whites

Beat egg yolks and sugar together until thick. Gradually add heavy cream, and stir well to blend all ingredients. Add bread flour, sifted. Mix thoroughly, and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Butter heavily the bottom of seven 12-inch layer-cake tins (or use spring-form molds). With a flexible spatula spread with a thin layer of Dobos Mix. Bake at 400F for 10 to 12 min., or until done.

Sandwich six layers together with a rich chocolate Buttercream or Ganache Cream. Ice the remaining layer with Caramel Sugar, spreading it on with a spatula. Cut layers immediately into twelve equal pieces with a buttered knife. Mask the cake entirely with chocolate Buttercream and place over the top the twelve cut triangles coated with the Caramel Sugar. A little dot of chocolate Buttercream under each one will help to make it stand up.

In some cases the Dobos Torte top is simply coated with melted Couverture of sweet chocolate. (This is the way its done in bakeries that don't have the time or the ability to do it the original way)

Dobos mix can also be spread over regular 18 x 24 inch baking sheet pans and sandwiched together with chocolate Buttercream. Cut in long narrow strips, ice with Couverture, and cut to size. For seven baking sheet pans, multiply the formula above by 4 (this is another version of Seven-Layer Cake.)

Thanks

[middydd]

This is the recipe I posted on WebFoodpros a while back that Wendy would remember.  I am Hungarian, and this recipe is my favorite, and its the only one I use.

Thanks

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Oli, thanks for posting your recipe. the cake sounds very rich with the cream in it. I'm looking forward to trying this recipe.

[tejon]

I wanted to add my thanks to Oli as well. I travelled to Hungary many years ago and still remember how amazing all of the food was. I will be trying this for our Christmas meal this year.

[ludja]

This is the recipe I posted on WebFoodpros a while back that Wendy would remember.  I am Hungarian, and this recipe is my favorite, and its the only one I use.

...

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Let me add my thanks also, Oli. I will try this recipe the next time I make a Dobos Torte. The cream is an interesting component.

Growing up my Mom made a cake that used whipped cream rather than butter for the cake layers and that was truly deliciious.

[ludja]

A photo of Tejon’s Dobos Torte from the Dessert thread here: here

Here also is some discussion regarding the construction of the top caramel layer: click

Nice looking Dobos Torte!!! Which recipe did you end up using, Tejon?

[tejon]

I used Oli's recipe for the cake with some ganache I had sitting in the freezer, whipped, as the frosting. Sorry I didn't post the picture to this thread! The cake wasn't difficult to do at all. I used the bottom round of two 9 1/2 inch springform pans, sprayed each with an oil based spray with lecithin (tried buttering them first but had difficulties getting the layers off after baking). I found that leveling the batter even with the slightly raised sides of the bottom round resulted in a very even cake that was a little less than 1/4 inch thick once baked. I did eight rounds total including the top layer. The caramel wedges were angled nicely before I photographed them, but the cake sat out in a warm room for too long and the ganache holding the wedges up collapsed. Still tasted delicious, and this is a cake I will certainly make again. Thanks again, Oli!

[miladyinsanity]

Thanks Oli for the recipe!

I made it yesterday, and boy, it's good! Only 6 layers because I recalculated the recipe for 2 halfsheet pans (use 6 eggs, and use proportionate ingredients), then sliced accordingly.

I filled mine with chocolate buttercream. I may have to use a meringue buttercream next time, because the yolks-based kind is a bit too rich for this cake.

I got a bit too greedy with the caramel part. I do love my caramel. So now the fork can't cut through it as it's too thick.

[Desiderio]

I am courious , it is possible to spread sugar on th top layer and then use a torch type to caramellize the sugar?

[tejon]

I think you'd be likely to burn the top layer of cake in places. An even layer of caramelized sugar would also be difficult - you'd have spots that are dark and spots that don't end up as caramelized. Plus, the final look and texture would be rather different.

[Desiderio]

I think you'd be likely to burn the top layer of cake in places. An even layer of caramelized sugar would also be difficult - you'd have spots that are dark and spots that don't end up as caramelized. Plus, the final look and texture would be rather different.

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I figured .Thank you Kathy, I will have to experiemtn little bit wih this , I alway wanted to try it but never attempt.

[miladyinsanity]

Vanessa, it's really not that hard to spread the caramel, unless you're making a really really big cake.

[ludja]

I have always used more of a wafery cookie recipe for the cake layers, rather than a sponge cake. Is this style familiar to any others?

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I've always used a sponge cake recipe. I know the cookie type layers you mean, my mother uses that type of layer in her Vinartarta (prune filled Torte) and apparently the Icelandic cake developed from the Dobos Torte.

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These are quotes from awhile back but they perked my interest again upon rereading this thread. One common cake made in Austria with the purchased wafer layers (Oblaten) is the Pischinger Torte. You use 6 or more wafers so at a quick glance it looks similar to a Dobos Torte although it does not have a caramelized top. Typically I think it has a filling of dark chocolate with or without hezelnuts. I could see someone adapting this to a make an easier Dobos torte by caramelizing the top layer, but as mentioned, the traditional recipe uses thin spongecake layers.

The Vinatarta sounds pretty interesting middydd; I wonder if it is Czech or Hungarian in origin?

Edited May 3, 2007 by ludja (log)

[miladyinsanity]

Would I get the wafer layers you are talking about from this recipe, do you think Ludja?

[ludja]

Would I get the wafer layers you are talking about from this recipe, do you think Ludja?

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Interesting; that linked recipe does make crunchy layers but they look different to me than the Oblaten I remember seeing in a Pischinger Torte. If I remember correctly, the wafers are like the thin plain, crunchy, sometimes waffled, wafers served with ice cream in many places in Europe. In Maida Heatter's Cookies she has a recipe for "French Sugar Fans" that might be similar. Lastly, here is an older thread that has some discussion of the wafers, their uses and where to buy them: click

[miladyinsanity]

Hm...

I haven't decided what I'm making this weekend yet, so I may make the layers just to find out how they turn out. I figure I can store them in tupperware for a few days if I cannot decide what to fill them with.

[middydd]

The Vinatarta sounds pretty interesting middydd; I wonder if it is Czech or Hungarian in origin?

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That's an interesting question. Apparently, in Iceland the layers were sponge cake, but the version that became traditional in "New Iceland" (Manitoba, Canada) had cookie type layers. The eight or so cookie layers were spread with a prune filling, stacked and then iced with an almond flavoured icing.

The recipe was apparently brought to Iceland by members of the "Constantinople Guard" as they travelled through Europe and tasted the famous cakes of Vienna. The Vinartarta was their adaptation of cakes like Sachertorte and Doboschtorte.