A while back, I wrote about how I thought my house might be in haunted in this post. Well, since that incident we’ve had a few other unexplained occurrences. The most recent happened when I was baking this delicious cake–the famous Dobos Torte, or Hungarian Seven Layer Cake. I was taking pictures of caramel I had just made. Afterwards, I set the camera down on the kitchen table and walked away. I suddenly heard a click sound. I turned around quickly to make sure Wesley hadn’t gotten his hands on my camera. When I saw that it was safely out of his reach, I decided to investigate. I noticed that among the photos of buttercream, caramel, and cake layers there was a picture of Wesley with me in the background. Now, I know that there’s probably a very reasonable explanation, especially since we’re talking about an electronic device such as a camera. However, Wesley and I were the only ones home at the time, and I can’t help but feel like we were being watched. Check out the photo below and let me know what you think.
Spooky! Okay, so Dobos Torte is a very famous torte–delicious too! It’s a seven layer cake, and each bite is full of soft, sweet sponge, smooth, chocolaty buttercream, and crunchy caramel candy. I got this yummy recipe from Gil Marks’ book The World Of Jewish Desserts by way of Epicurious. I deviated from the original by smashing up the hard caramel and sprinkling it on top and around the sides. It reminded me of broken stained glass and I thought it added a certain elegance to the cake. However, I was disappointed by the look of the layers once I sliced myself a piece. They just aren’t distinctive, are they? Oh well.
There are three components to making this cake. First is a vanilla sponge, which has no chemical leavening, therefore, it gets its rise from air beaten into the eggs. Second, is the chocolate buttercream which is made using the Italian buttercream method (a hot sugar syrup is slowly poured into whipped egg yolks, and then butter is added). The third component is a basic caramel. I found Gil Marks’ recipe for caramel quite interesting because it contains Cream of Tartar. I had never heard of using Cream of Tartar in caramel, but apparently its acidity prevents crystallization from forming. Basically, you’ll have a smoother caramel. Sold.
After I iced the cake, I sprinkled the caramel all around. Then I filled a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with the remaining buttercream, and piped flower-like decorations all around the edge and along the bottom.
- 6 Large Eggs
- 1 and ¼ cups (250 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp. Salt
- 1 and ½ cups (187 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1 and ½ cups (300 g) Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cups Water
- 6 Large Egg Yolks
- 2 cups (4 sticks or 452 g) Unsalted Butter, softened, cut into tablespoon-sized portions
- ½ cup (93 g) Vegetable Shortening, cut into tablespoon-sized portions
- 2/3 cup (10 oz. or 283 g) Semisweet Chocolate, melted and cooled
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Salt
- 3 TBS Rum (optional but should be mandatory)
- 1 and ½ cups (300 g) Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup Water
- ½ tsp. Cream of Tartar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms of two 15 and ½-inch by 13 and ½-inch jelly roll pans, then line the pans with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl attached to a standing mixer connected with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 7 minutes). Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Finally, sift the flour over top, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour in.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two jelly roll pans. Use and off set spatula to smooth the batter evenly over the bottom of the two pans.
- Bake until the edges begin to lightly brown (about 7 to 10 minutes). Use a sharp knife to cut around the perimeter of each cake to loosen from the pan. Gently pull on the parchment paper at one end to bring the cakes onto wire racks to cool.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar and water together until the sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes). Stop stirring when the mixture begins to boil. Using a candy thermometer, monitor the temperature of the sugar mixture. When the mixture reaches 250 degrees F. (soft-ball stage) remove from heat. This will take about 10 minutes.
- While the sugar mixture is boiling, start to whisk the egg yolks in your standing mixer. Whisk until the egg yolks are pale and thick. This should take about 5 minutes. In a slow and steady stream, pour your sugar syrup into the egg yolks while the mixer is running. Be sure to pour the syrup down the side of the bowl and away from the whisk itself. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens, becomes almost white, and beautifully voluminous. It should also come back down to room temperature (about 15 minutes of whisking).
- Beat in the butter and shortening and whisk until smooth. Gradually add the melted but cooled chocolate. Finally, stir in the vanilla, salt, and rum. Chill the buttercream for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week. If the buttercream is too firm to spread, let it sit out until it comes to room temperature (about 1 hour).
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Place the sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a saucepan and cover with a lid. Bring the heat up to medium high, and let mixture heat up for 4 minutes. Remove lid. Using a candy thermometer, monitor the sugar mixture’s temperature. When it reaches 318 degrees F. and has a deep, amber color remove from the heat. Carefully pour the caramel onto the parchment-lined cookie sheet. Set aside to harden. Once the caramel has cooled you can smash it up into tiny pieces. You just made candy! Have a piece, pat yourself on the back, and then get ready to assemble this beautiful cake.
- Using an 8-inch cake ring or an 8-inch cake pan, cut out six circles (three from each large cake), Freeze the cake scraps for a future trifle. Place a cake layer on a cake plate. Add about ¼ cup of the buttercream and spread it evenly on top. Add another cake layer and spread on another ¼ cup of buttercream. Repeat layering the cake layers and buttercream. Finally, ice the entire cake sides and all. Reserve a cup and a half of the buttercream for decoration. Sprinkle the caramel pieces on top, and on the sides. Spoon the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe out buttercream flower-like decorations around the edges and top of the cake. Chill. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day or in the freezer. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Two 15 and ½ inch by 13 and ½ inch jelly roll pans
- Standing mixer with whisk attachment
- Sifter
- Rubber spatula
- Off set spatula
- 2 wire racks
- Saucepan with lid
- Candy thermometer
- 8-inch cake ring
- Rimmed cookie sheet
- Piping bag fitted with large star tip
