Daring Bakers August Challenge - Dobas Torte

Since I started this blog I thought I should join the Daring Bakers as I don't want to sit back on my laurels and churn out my old easy favourites all the time. Check out http://thedaringkitchen.com for more info about it.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

The recipe looked daunting but turned out to be surprisingly simple (apart from the caramel but I'll come to that later). You whip up some super light sponge cake with loads of eggs and bake six layers separately which seems like a chore but as they bake in about 5 minutes and you can have two (or more) in at once its really quite fast. The chocolate buttercream was also relatively simple, you could make a more basic buttercream but the eggs do add an amazing richness. The caramel which is supposed to coat the top layer ended up soaking into my sponge and my presentation really wasn't up to scratch as you're supposed to prop up each caramel coated slice with a hazelnut but my nuts sank into the chocolate.

Despite my shortcomings, my guests were more than happy with the result and wolfed down half with Mr Jen taking the remainder to work the next day to try to save my waistline. He must be in line for most popular employee by this stage as he always takes in my baking as I have no control if its in the house.

Here is the recipe from Rick Rodgers if you want to give it a go - you could leave out the caramel layer and while it wouldn't be a real Dobas Torte it would still be a delicious chocolate cake.

Sponge cake layers
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided
1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour (SUBSTITUTE 95g plain flour + 17g cornflour (cornstarch) sifted together)
pinch of salt
Chocolate Buttercream
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) caster (ultrafine or superfine white) sugar
4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature.
Caramel topping
1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or ultrafine white) sugar
12 tablespoons (180 ml) water
8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed, rice bran, sunflower)
Finishing touches
a 7” cardboard round
12 whole hazelnuts, peeled and toasted
½ cup (50g) peeled and finely chopped hazelnuts
Directions for the sponge layers:
NB. The sponge layers can be prepared in advance and stored interleaved with parchment and well-wrapped in the fridge overnight.
1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).

2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) springform tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over (the circle should be visible from the other side, so that the graphite or ink doesn't touch the cake batter.)

3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.)

4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.

5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" springform pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:
NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.
1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.

2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.

3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.

4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.

5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate buttercream. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

Directions for the caramel topping:
1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Score the cake into 12 equal wedges. Lightly oil a thin, sharp knife and an offset metal spatula.

2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.

3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. I made mine ahead of time and the cake layer was cold and the toffee set very, very quickly—too quickly for me to spread it. Immediately pour all of the hot caramel over the cake layer. You will have some leftover most probably but more is better than less and you can always make nice toffee pattern using the extra to decorate. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool another minute or so, then use the edge of the knife to completely cut and separate the wedges using one firm slice movement (rather than rocking back and forth which may produce toffee strands). Cool completely.
Assembling the Dobos
1.Divide the buttercream into six equal parts.

2.Place a dab of chocolate buttercream on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.

3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.

4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.

Iggy's Bread and Five Dock delights

Apologies for being such a slack blogger. I've made the crazy decision to take a last minute trip back to the UK and Ireland with the Monkey next Saturday so my head has been somewhat full of flights, car hire, presents, accommodation etc etc. I promise to report back from the other side of the globe.

I am finally reporting on last Sunday when we had our neighbours and their gorgeous little girl over for afternoon drinks and snacks. We had a spare couple of hours on the Saturday afternoon so we took the opportunity to head over to Five Dock to pick up some Italian treats.

For those who don't know, Five Dock is a suburb of Sydney with a large Italian population. Its a little more off the beaten track than Leichhardt which only benefits the lovely delis, butchers and bakeries. Hearing all the staff and customers chatting in italian gets me in the mood for some serious eating! I always head to Rizzo Deli (107 Great North Road), where the staff are always friendly and heavy-handed with the tasters while we decide what to buy. On this occasion we picked up a variety of salamis, a few cheeses and some delicious sicilian olives. Sadly they were out of their pesto stuffed peppers which are the star of any antipasto platter.

We made a quick call to friends in Leichhardt and arranged to pop in for coffee on the way home which gave us the perfect excuse to pop into Pasticceria Tamborrino (75 Great North Road) for their amazing cannoli. We bought a mixture of mini cannoli - chocolate, vanilla and (my favourite) ricotta flavoured with rum and devoured them shortly afterwards.

To go with our italian platter I popped into Iggy's Bread (49 Belgrave St, Bronte) on the Sunday morning to pick up some of their delectable sourdough ficelle (photo above). Iggy's are actually an American "chain" - www.iggysbread.com who have come to Sydney operating out of Bronte. I have heard that the current hole in the wall is temporary until they get DA approval to bake in their Macpherson St (Bronte) shop which they currently just sell from on the weekend. As the two shops are equidistant from my house I don't really mind! The current location means I have a excuse to pop in to Favoloso for coffee which is always good.

All the goodies were collected and laid out. With the addition of our neighbours and a couple of bottles of wine, our Sunday afternoon was a success. I was especially impressed with our 2 year old neighbour's ability to eat around the stones of the olives. I'm going to have to start training the Monkey for that one!

Vegetable Purees - Beyond Babyfood

I didn’t really go down the pureed food route with the monkey, instead opting for the “Baby Led Weaning” approach where you give the baby chunks of food for them to chew (or gum) their way through. However I have recently found some new uses for veggie purees that I thought I’d share.

The Monkey is a big fan of pasta (like her mother) but tomato based sauces give her a bit of a rash. While I love a creamy carbonara, obviously its not the healthiest option and I’m keen to include extra veg whenever possible so I’ve been exploring using veggie purees as sauces. The Monkey isn’t a huge fan of broccoli – she seems to think it is something to play with rather than eat. She wolfed down most of my portion of spaghetti pesto when we were down in Melbourne which gave me a brainwave for a quick dinner idea. I steamed two heads of broccoli, pureed them with my stick blender and stirred in a shop-bought tub of pesto adding a drop of the pasta cooking water to get to the desired consistency then mixed with the cooked pasta and served with some extra parmesan. It was a success all round with Mr Jen enjoying it just as much as the Monkey who made liberal use of the latest word in her repertoire – “MORE!”.

The other success has been steamed pumpkin which I’ve just mashed and added parmesan and some pasta cooking water for another tasty sauce. Both of these sauces are made in about the same time as it takes to cook the pasta so are fantastic 15 minute dinners.

Mr Jen’s potato addiction has reared its head since the detox ended so I tried an alternative to mashed potato the other day – pureed cauliflower. It was a triumph! I couldn’t believe how well it turned out. I steamed a whole head of cauliflower and then pureed it with the stick blender and added a tiny bit of butter , a drop of milk and sea salt and pepper. It was absolutely delicious with a slight sweetness that was perfect with the grilled trout that I served it alongside. I used a fraction of the butter that I’d use in a potato mash and really didn’t miss it – that combined with the great nutritional value of cauliflower – this dish is a winner all round. Even Mr Jen agreed it was a worthy alternative to potato which I never thought he’d admit!