Shortcut Dobos Torte Recipe

I was really lucky growing up as I had a Mum who loved to bake. She was always in the kitchen making some tasty treat or a delicious dessert.  And best of all, she allowed me to help.  I learnt all the foundations of baking from watching and helping my mother.  I learned to measure ingredients precisely, to have a light touch when making scones and pastry, to fold egg whites delicately, to melt chocolate gently over heat, to make sure all the sugar dissolves when creaming butter and making meringue, to be vigilant about baking times, and to let things cool properly.  These lessons have served me well over the years and my baking failures have usually been the result of not following one of these rules.

My Mum's baking bibles were her little green recipe book containing the recipes she had collected over the years, and the Margaret Fulton Cookbook - a staple in most Australian households in the 1970s, just like the Abba "Arrival" album. 

One of my favourite dessert recipes from her little green recipe book is for Shortcut "Dobsch" torte.

Dobos torte originates from Hungary and is a multi-layered cake filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel.  My Mum's version used a pre-bought sponge cut into three layers and filled and coated with a chocolate and whipped cream mixture.  It was always a winner in our family. 

Here is my version, which involves making a cornflour sponge first.  It is less of a shortcut than my Mum's recipe but definitely less complicated than the original.

Shortcut Dobos Torte

Sponge

4 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup cornflour
pinch salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 drops vanilla essence

Filling/Coating

225g dark chocolate
1 tsp black coffee dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water
2 tbsp brandy
1 and a 1/2 cups of whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.  Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with unsalted butter and dust with flour.  Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together on a high speed for at least 10 minutes until thick and fluffy.

Meanwhile sift the cornflour, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt together.   Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture.  Divide the mixture evenly between the two sandwich tins and smooth the tops.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  You will know the sponges are cooked when they have come away from the sides of the tins, and spring back to the touch. 

Leave the sponges to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a clean tea towel.  When completely cool, wrap the sponges in cling film and put in the freezer until firm (at least 1 hour). 

Cut each sponge into three layers using a serrated knife.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over gently boiling water.  You need to make sure that all the chocolate is melted otherwise little lumps with show up in the chocolate cream.  Add the coffee to the melted chocolate and stir until smooth.  Stir in the brandy.  Set the chocolate aside to cool.  Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in the cooled chocolate.

Using a palette knife, spread each layer generously with chocolate cream and then put the layers together.  Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate cream.  Chill the cake in the fridge for several hours until firm.  Serves 12 if you like small pieces, or 8 if you love to eat cake!

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