Hungarian Dobostorta (Dobos torte)
A showstoppingly spectacular cake with alternating thin layers of sponge cake and chocolate buttercream, topped with a hard caramel topping.
Equipment
- parchment paper
- offset spatula
- electric mixer
- food processor (if decorating with nuts)
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 6 eggs separated
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar separated
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose or cake flour
- pinch salt
Chocolate buttercream filling
- 2 egg whites
- 2 eggs separated
- 1 cup granulated or caster (baker's) sugar
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar or more as needed
- 1 lb butter room temperature
- 1 Tbsp dutch-process cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
Caramel topping
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp light corn syrup or golden syrup
- 1 cup hazelnuts optional
Instructions
To make cake layers
- Prepare your baking surfaces first. If using 9-inch cake pans, grease them and line with parchment rounds. Otherwise, draw 9-inch circles on sheets of parchment and place them marked side down on a baking sheet. Prepare as many pans or circles at the number of layers you prefer. The recipe makes enough batter for at least 8 layers.
- Put the 6 egg whites in a mixing bowl and whip them to soft peaks, about 2 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup of the confectioner's sugar and whip until combined, 30 seconds or so.
- Add another 1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar and continue whipping for another 90 seconds or so until eggs whites are glossy and stiff, about 4 minutes total whipping time from start to finish. Remove the egg whites to another bowl or fit a second mixing bowl onto your mixer if you have one.
- Place the 8 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the remaining cup of confectioner's sugar in the mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, about a minute.
- Fold the two egg mixtures together gently. It may help to start by blending in a few egg whites using your mixer's whisk attachment. Then add the rest of the egg whites and fold with a spatula.
- Sprinkle the cup of flour over the egg batter, add a pinch of salt, and stir to combine. Do not over mix.
- Weigh your batter with a scale (should weigh around 700 grams or about 25 ounces). Divide this number by the number of layers you wish to bake. That is the amount of batter you need to weigh out for each cake layer. Heat oven to 400°F.
- Spoon the necessary amount of batter into each cake pan or parchment circle. Spread it with a spatula to the edges of your cake pans or just about to the edges of the circles you've drawn on parchment.
- Bake layers for 7 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and lift them from the pans immediately to cool on racks.
- Repeat the last two steps until you've baked all your layers. Let all layers cool completely before you begin assembling the cake.
To make buttercream frosting
- Working over a double boiler, whisk ½ cup of the granulated sugar into the egg whites.
- Keep whisking while you gently heat the eggs to 160°F. Be careful not to cook the eggs.
- Remove from the heat and beat the eggs on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of granulated sugar and continue beating about 2 minutes until stiff. Set aside.
- Combine the egg yolks with ½ cup of powdered sugar and heat over double boiler, whisking or beating them as they gently heat.
- Heat the mixture until it reaches 160°F, again being careful not to cook the eggs. Let the mixture cool a few minutes.
- Cut up the room temperature butter into chunks and add a few tablespoons to the yolk mixture. Beat until smooth.
- Add the last ½ cup of confectioner's sugar and the remaining butter a tablespoon at a time, beating on medium after each addition until smooth.
- Then beat in the tablespoon of cocoa, vanilla and pinch of salt.
- Chop up the chocolate and melt over the double boiler or by using the microwave on 50% power for 2 minutes or so.
- Pour the chocolate into the egg yolk mixture. Stir to combine.
- Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, starting with ¼ of the whites to lighten it then with the remaining egg whites.
- Stir the mixture until the frosting is evenly combined. If it seems too loose, add another ½ cup of confectioner's sugar and beat until it is a light and fluffy consistency.
- Chill frosting until ready to use. If it's very cold when you are ready to assemble the cake, beat with a paddle in a mixer to loosen and fluff it up for easy spreading.
To make the caramel topping
- Combine ¾ cup sugar, 3 tabelspoons water and 1 teaspoon light corn syrup in small saucepan.
- Heat without stirring until bubbly and mixture becomes light amber in color. To prevent crystals from forming, brush sides of pan with water.
- Immediately pour the caramel onto the top layer of your cake. Spread it evenly to completely cover the cake layer all the way to the edge.
- Before the caramel is compleley set, deeply score it with an oil-rubbed knife to form 16 wedges. Cut all the way through if you want separate wedges for fanning them on top or just leave the score marks on the top layer.
To assemble the cake
- Put a small dab of frosting on a cake plate or cardboard round, if using. Place the first cake layer down in the center of the plate.
- Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake. Start in the center and push it outward to the edges. Just spread enough frosting to match the thickness of the cake layer.
- Repeat with each successive layer until you have used all but the top caramel layer.
- If using the scored caramel layer flat, place on top and then frost around the side of the cake. If you want to fan out the caramel wedges, frost the side of the cake first. Then prop the wedges up by putting a bead of frosting under one edge. You can also prop them with a whole roasted hazelnut, if using. (See note)
Notes
You can further decorate the sides of your cake with crushed roasted hazelnuts. Roast 1 cup of whole hazelnuts for 10-15 min at 350°F or for 5-10 minutes in a pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Place roasted nuts in a towel and wrap it shut to let them steam for about a minute. Then rub the towel back and forth on the counter and the skins will slip off.
Reserve 16 nuts to prop caramel wedges, if desired, and set aside. Drizzle a tablespoon of the homemade caramel topping over the hazelnuts that will be ground for the side decoration. Let the caramel harden then coarsely pulse-grind the nuts in a food processor.
Hold the cake over a sheet pan and press crushed hazelnuts onto the side, working from the bottom up. Let excess nuts fall onto the sheet pan. You can use the fallen nuts as needed.