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one slice of dobos torte cut to show the layers.
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4.67 from 12 votes

Dobos Torte Recipe

This is one of the best cakes ever: traditional Hungarian Dobos Torte with several pastry layers, chocolate buttercream, and a sinfully delicious caramel topping.
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Cakes
Cuisine: Hungarian
Servings: 14 slices
Calories: 439kcal
Author: Adina

Equipment

Ingredients

Batter (Note 2):

  • 6 large eggs
  • 100 g confectioners sugar divided
  • 30 g unsalted butter
  • 100 g all-purpose flour

Chocolate buttercream:

Caramel:

  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 20 g unsalted butter
  • toasted almond flakes or hazelnut brittle to decorate the sides of the cake

Instructions

Batter:

  • Preparations: Preheat the oven to 160°C/ 320°F. Draw 6 circles of 22 cm/ 8.5 inches diameter on 6 sheets of baking paper.
  • Beat egg whites: Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff, add half of the confectioner's sugar (50 g/1.8 oz) , and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.
    6 large eggs
  • Melt the butter in a small pan and let it cool until you beat the egg yolks.
    30 g unsalted butter
  • Beat the egg yolks and the remaining confectioner's sugar (50 g/1.8 oz) in another bowl.
  • Mix batter: Add the egg whites to the egg yolks and incorporate them carefully. Add the melted and cooled butter to the mixture and incorporate. Fold in the flour.
    100 g all-purpose flour

Cake layers:

  • Weigh the batter into another bowl. Divide the quantity into 6 equal portions. Precise weighing is better than estimating in this case.
  • Spread batter: Place one piece of baking paper with the circle on it on a baking tray. Spread one portion of the batter on the circle you drew on baking paper. Use a long batter spatula to do that and make sure that the batter layer is even.
  • Bake for 10-11 minutes or until golden. Repeat with the remaining 5 batter portions. Let them all cool completely.

Buttercream:

  • Soften butter: Take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.
    270 g unsalted butter
  • Bain-marie: Beat the eggs, the icing sugar, the vanilla sugar, and the salt in a double boiler (bain-marie) until it thickens slightly. It took me about 13 minutes to reach that stadium, but I stood by and beat the mixture continuously until it thickened slightly. Do not let the water come to a boil at any time; that will make the eggs curdle.
    4 large eggs + 200 g confectioners sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar + a pinch of salt
  • Cool: Take the mixture off the heat and continue beating it until it cools slightly. Set aside and leave it to cool a bit more. Stir from time to time.
  • Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (bain-marie) as well. Let it cool slightly and add it to the egg mixture. Incorporate well. Leave the mixture to come to room temperature.
    200 g bittersweet chocolate
  • Beat butter: Place the butter (at room temperature) in a bowl and beat it until creamy. Add the unsweetened cocoa powder and incorporate.
    35 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Add the chocolate mixture to the butter one tablespoon at a time and mix thoroughly in between so that it doesn't curdle. Having both the chocolate mixture and the butter at room temperature is very important as well. If their temperature is different, the buttercream will curdle (Note 3).

Caramel glaze:

  • Preparations: Before making the caramel, prepare the things needed to spread the caramel on the cake and cut the caramel layer. The caramel hardens quickly; you have to be very quick.
    Choose the nicest-looking cake layer for the caramel and lightly butter the spatula you will use to spread the caramel and the knife you will use to cut the caramel cake layer. The knife should be a long, sturdy, and sharp one.
  • Make the caramel: Place sugar, vinegar, and butter in a pan. Let it start to caramelize, and then start stirring gently. Be careful not to burn the sugar; it will taste bitter, and you will have to start again. The right color should be a nice reddish-brown, like amber.
    100 g granulated sugar + 1 teaspoon vinegar + 20 g unsalted butter
  • Spread: Take the caramel off the heat and quickly spread it on the chosen cake layer using the long buttered spatula. Work very quickly!
  • Cut: Immediately start cutting the caramel cake layer into 12, 14, or 16 slices, depending on how large the cake portions should be. Work quickly. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the Dobos cake.

Assemble the Dobos Torte:

  • Keep some buttercream for covering the side of the cake and for decorating it with rosettes.
  • Divide the rest into 5 equal portions and spread each portion evenly on each of the remaining 5 cake layers.
  • Assemble the cake: Place the first cake layer on a cake platter and arrange the following cake layers on top of each other to form the torte.
  • Cover the sides: Use a little of the remaining buttercream to cover the sides of the cake nicely.
  • Sprinkle the sides with toasted almond flakes or hazelnut brittle.
  • Pipe: Place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag and pipe rosettes of buttercream around the top edge of the cake. Pipe as many rosettes as you have caramel wedges.
  • Top: Arrange the caramel wedges at an angle on top of the piped rosettes, like in the pictures above.
  • Chill the cake before serving.

Notes

  1. Measurements: I would not attempt to bake this cake without a digital kitchen scale; the recipe is fairly difficult, and using cups won't help (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
  2. Double broiler: Use a pot filled halfway with water and place a heatproof bowl on top, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Add the ingredients to the bowl.
  3. If the buttercream curdles, you can fix it by beating it at high speed or gently heating it in a double boiler while mixing until smooth. Just don’t let it get too warm or melt. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 185mg | Sodium: 65mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g