Daring Bakers August

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.

August is a birthday month in my house, so when I saw a cake recipe set for Daring Bakers in August, I was psyched. But here's the rub, the birthday is today. So I couldn't make it early and save the pictures for the 27th as I sometimes do. I had to wait until today to start. I suppose I could have started yesterday with the sponge layers, but I decided to go out last night with a friend and see Julie & Julia. What an inspirational movie for the foodie crowd. I'd already read the book, but I think that the producers and actors really did a phenomenal job with this one. However, since this isn't a movie review blog, I'll return to the task at hand.

Exhausted this morning, yet inspired by the flick, I set out to start the cake this morning shortly after vanilla french toast with sauteed peaches was cooked and cleaned.

I've never made a cake with layers this thin before. Although I've done much baking and icing, I've never made a buttercream the way this recipe called for. Doing butter cream this way was ceratinly more time consuming, but way worth the effort. The final product was especially velvety and smooth with a full bodied taste. I doubt I'll go to all the trouble to recreate this Dobos Torta in entirety, but I guarantee I will make this frosting again.

Biggest problem was the caramel. Amber brown is subjective term; I wish there had been a temperature because I didn't let it go long enough, so it did not totally solidify. The top layer is a little bit softer than expected, but maybe that's not all bad after hearing from others that it was essentially tooth breaking made the correct way.


So I'm glad I snuck this one in, even though it was a bit late. The birthday boy is very excited, both for the cake and the homemade spaghetti and meatballs.


Please excuse the army party plate. What else could a seven year old want his cake served on?