Never Again

Don’t get me wrong I love a challenge, and sure, isn’t that why I joined the Daring Bakers? This months challenge though nearly tipped my challenge enjoyment level over the edge, it wasn’t difficult as such but just such a palaver. I spread the challenge over two days (very unlike me) to try and give myself more time and be more organised; but alas it was not to be, the kitchen still looked like a whirlwind had just passed through. To top it all I didn’t even really enjoy eating the finished challenge bake enough to feel it sated my initial stress.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake, filled with a rich chocolate buttercream and topped with thin wedges of caramel. (You may come across recipes which have anywhere between six and 12 layers of cake; there are numerous family variations!) It was invented in 1885 by József C. Dobos, a Hungarian baker, and it rapidly became famous throughout Europe for both its extraordinary taste and its keeping properties. The recipe was a secret until Dobos retired in 1906 and gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners’ and Gingerbread Makers’ Chamber of Industry, providing that every member of the chamber can use it freely.

Simple ingredients make this elegant Hungarian cake, but the process is rather complicated, you really do have to be patient, organized, thorough, oh and did I mention patient. A kitchen with plenty of workspace helps too! However I do want to stress it is not difficult, just complicated! The two are very different – here you have plenty of stages to complete, but none of them overly taxing.

We had free-reign with the cakes flavourings so I went for a coconut enhanced sponge with white chocolate and Amarula liqueur buttercream.

Coconut essence is lovely stuff, it smells like a Bounty Bar in a bottle.  For those of you not in the know a bounty bar has a very sweet and slighty chewy coconut filling covered with milk chocolate (sold in a blue wrapper) or dark chocolate (sold in a red wrapper) and is one of the few chocolates to come wrapped in two individual halves. If I want ‘trashy’ chocolate I really do enjoy these.

The fruitiness of the coconut worked really well alongside the Amarula – Amarula is originally a Zimbabwean cream liqueur which was manufactured in South Africa, It is made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African Marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) which is also locally called the Elephant tree or the Marriage Tree. Amarula is far too sweet and sickly for me to drink, even over ice, but in baking it becomes a lovely fruity background note.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Pairing the fruity liqueur with white chocolate probably wasn’t the wisest choice I’ve ever made as it made the buttercream even sweeter and rather too rich, a dark (minimum 70% cocoa solids) chocolate would have been a much better choice and perhaps more enjoyable.

The caramel was very simple to make, caramel no longer holds any fear over me now, in fact I rather enjoy it. I did succumb to using my sugar thermometer to judge when it was ready to pour though I did find it a little too sharp in lemony flavour, so (not that there will be a next time) should this ever have to be repeated I would advise the amount of lemon juice be cut down by half. Maybe I just had strong lemons? 

I decided to skip decorating the sides of the cake with nuts as we are not huge fans of lots of nuts on cakes, the few hazelnuts nestling under the caramel discs were quiet enough for us.

My family really enjoyed the torte, so maybe I was just overwhelmed by the process of baking it and by the point of eating was actually too fed up of thinking about it to fully enjoy it.

The Recipe:

Sponge Layers:

• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups (162g) icing sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) coconut essence
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (or 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour sifted together)
• pinch of salt

The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.

1. Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 200C or the equivalent.
2. Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9″ (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn’t touch the cake batter.)
3. Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the icing sugar, and the coconut in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don’t have a mixer.)
4. 4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of icing sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5. Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8″ springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Buttercream:

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 4oz (110g) white chocolate
• 2 tablespoons Amarula
• 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1. Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.
3. Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4. Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5. When cool, beat in the amarula and soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Caramel:

• 1 cup (200g) caster sugar
• 12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
• 8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)

1. Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.
2. Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.
3. The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. It helps if the cake layer hasn’t just been taken out of the refrigerator. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.

Finishing Touches:

• 12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted

1. Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.
2. Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.
3. Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.