Dobos Torte/ Dobos Torta

This cake is my mother's favourite, so on her last day I made this torte for her to take home in the suitcase. By the way the cake survived the journey without any defect. I will give you a short description of this cake, as this is one of best know Hungarian cake.

Dobos Torte/ Dobos Torta

So first some history on the cake itself:

"Dobos torte  (pronounced [ˈdoboʃ], Hungarian: Dobos torta) is a Hungarian cake named after its inventor, a well-known Hungarian confectioner, József C. Dobos (1847–1924) in 1884. It is a five-layer sponge cake, layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with thin caramel slices. The sides of the cake are sometimes coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts or almonds but the original cake is uncoated, since it was a slice of a big cake. Dobos' aim was to make a cake that would last longer than other pastries, in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The caramel topping helps keep the cake from drying out. The cake is also often called 'Dobos-torta' or 'Dobostorta'.

Dobosh or Dobos Torte (type of cake) was first introduced at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885; Franz Joseph I and his Empress Elisabeth were among the first to taste it. The cake soon became popular throughout Europe as it was different from all others. It was simple but elegant, as opposed to the multi-layer, flaming cakes of the age. Its other secret was its use of fine butter cream, which was very little known at the time; cake fillings and frostings were usually made with cooked pastry cream or whipped cream. The chocolate butter cream and the batter of the cake were both invented by Jozsef C. Dobos.

Dobos Torte is known everywhere in the world and there are more than one hundred recipe variations. It is a commonly made torte in the upscale hotels, restaurants and pastry shops of the world."

So according to the description on Wikipedia it is a 5 layer sponge cake(+the top), but my recipe states 6+1..so I will go with that one...but the end of the day it doesn't really matter if it tastes nice.

For the sponge
8 eggs
170g granulated sugar
150g plain flour
50g butter, melted cooled down to room temperature

For the cream
3 egg yolks
200g sugar
25g plain flour
250ml milk
100g dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa solid)
350g butter at room temperature

For the top
100g sugar

Before you start the sponge you have to prepare the chocolate cream as it needs to cool down completely.

In a pan heat up the milk. In a bowl mix together the 3 egg yolks and the sugar with an electric mixer then add in the flour. Slowly (to avoid lumps) add the warm milk to loosen the mix, then transfer the mix to the pan that you heated the milk earlier. Add the chopped dark chocolate and under low heat melt the chocolate and thicken the mixture. When it is rich and creamy set it aside and leave it to cool completely.

Separate the yolks from the whites. In a big mixing bowl whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks than add the sugar and mix it again. Add the egg yolks and the butter and mix it again.  Fold in the shifted flour(in 3 lots to avoid lumps). 

Preheat the oven to 170C. 
Now you have two options. Either you draw 20cm circles on to baking paper and spread the 1/7 of the sponge mix on it....this is what I did for years. But this year I invested into two 20cm baking ring, so all I have to do is line a flat baking sheet with baking paper, place the ring on it and pour 1/7 of the sponge mixture on it.
Bake each sponge for 10 minutes or until pale gold in colour.

I guess this is the hardest part for me: to divide the mixture to get exactly 7sponges...and all sponges to be the same thickness. Usually I use lots of baking paper when I do this cake as I leave to rest all 7sponge on its lining.

In the meantime you can prepare your filling. Cut the butter to squares and mix in the cooled, room temperature chocolate cream until well incorporated. 

Now you can start layering the sponges with the cream but leave one sponge out for the top caramel layer.

For the caramel layer heat the sugar in a pan over medium heat. The most important part is just shake the pan as the sugar melts, but never stir. If you stir the sugar you break up the sugar crystals and you will get a rock hard caramel which will be inedible...unless you have metal teeth.

Pour the caramel over the 7th sponge(you should place your sponge on a chopping board, so if the caramel run off the sponge you don't have to replace your worktop) and spread it with a spatula knife. With a big oily or buttery knife cut the top to the desired number of triangles...try not to burn yourself. This is the hardest part, as working with the caramel is tricky and the caramel layer will the centrepiece of the cake...so if you ruin it...well anyway the taste is the most important.

When it is ready you can place the triangles on top of the cake. Keep it in the fridge.