Looking for one of the most exquisite treat that eggs and flour can make? Divine tasting buttery chocolate layers with caramelized sugar top.

Dobos Cake, also known as Dobos Torte, is a dessert with a fascinating story that dates back to the late 19th century. This cake was created by Jozsef Dobos, a highly regarded Hungarian pastry chef, with the aim of developing a pastry that could withstand the limited cooling techniques available during that era. His creation was an instant hit, and it soon became a favorite of King Franz Joseph and Queen Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary.

The Dobos Cake is characterized by its unique caramel top, which was designed to prevent the cake from drying out, and its rich chocolate buttercream, a secret recipe invented by Dobos himself. The cake’s success was such that it was made only in Dobos’s kitchen and distributed throughout Europe in ice-filled carts.

During Dobos’s career, the recipe was a closely guarded secret. However, at the end of his career, Dobos donated his recipe to the Pastry and Honey-Makers Guild, thus making it available to the rest of the world.

Despite its royal history, Dobos Cake is not an easy dessert to prepare. It requires a bit of practice and skill in the kitchen, but with patience and attention to detail, it can be accomplished successfully. The cake’s main ingredients are chocolate buttercream and a caramel top, which require a delicate balance of heat and timing to achieve the desired texture and flavor.

For those who are watching their sugar intake, the Dobos Cake may not be the best choice, as it is a rich and indulgent dessert. However, it is possible to modify the recipe by substituting sugar with natural sweeteners such as honey or agave. This way, even those on a sugar-free diet can enjoy the delightful taste of Dobos Torte.

Dobos Cake is a dessert that has stood the test of time, thanks to the ingenuity of Jozsef Dobos. Its unique caramel top and chocolate buttercream make it a favorite among pastry enthusiasts, while its royal history adds a touch of elegance and sophistication to any occasion. With a bit of practice and creativity, anyone can master the art of making Dobos Cake and indulge in a piece of Hungarian culinary history.

Ingredients

As the Dobos Cake is being a fairly picky dessert to make it is recommended to go by the metric measurement values

Pastry

6 medium / 300g Eggs (separated)
⅓ cup / 60g Sugar or sweetener of choice
⅞ cup / 100g Flour
4 tablespoon / 50g Butter (melted)
1 tablespoon / 12g Baking powder (optional)

Filling

8.8 oz / 250g Chocolate
1 tablespoon / 10g Cocoa powder (optional)
18 tablespoon / 250g Butter (unsalted)
4 medium / 200g Eggs
½ cup / 100g Sugar or sweetener of choice

Topping

½ cup / 100g Sugar
4 tablespoon / 50g Water
12 medium / 12g Walnuts (halved for decoration)
4 oz / 100g Shredded walnuts or any other nuts of choice to decorate the outside of the cake

Kitchen utensils

8½” / 22cm Round cake tins

How to make Dobos torte

Pastry

Separate eggs and put them into two medium size mixing bowls then Put half of the sugar with the egg whites and the other half with the yolks.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed.
Separately mix yolks with sugar and beat it until we get a light yellow color.
Beat in melted butter, flour and optional baking powder.
Slowly fold in the egg whites adding just a couple of spoonful at a time.
Cut 8.6″ / 22cm diamter circles out of baking paper to fit at the bottom of the tray then divide the batter into 6 and create as even Ø7.5″ / Ø19cm layers as possible. Put layers into the preheat 356°F / 180°C oven and bake them for 10-15 minutes.
Take them out as soon as we see the edges are light brown. Don’t overbake them as too hard pastry would break. Save the best layer and put it aside for the top caramel layer. We may put a plate on top of it to stop it from deforming.

Filling

Melt chocolate.
Dice butter and beat it for at least 10 minutes until we’ll get creamy and light consistency of it. Fluffier is better.
In the meantime put eggs and sugar into a double boiler
Beat the eggs in medium heat until it is warm and soft peaks form.
Take it off the heat and keep beating until it cools down.
Mix melted chocolate with the fluffy butter
Fold in the beaten eggs carefully. Put the cream in the fridge until it’s ready to be use.

Glaze

This is the trickiest part of the whole cake. We need to prepare all the things needed beforehand in reaching distance as we have to work as fast as possible. Prepare and check everything we will need: A sharp knife, butter and the top layer of the cake.
Pour sugar and water into a saucepan and without stirring, cook until sugar dissolves then comes to a boil and the color starts darkening. It is important not to stir it otherwise it is going to crystallize. Instead of stirring swirl the pan and continue to boil until caramel becomes golden brown.
As soon as golden brown, act fast,
Pour caramel over the best looking cake layer
Mark the caramel as fast as possible with a buttered knife or even better a spreading tool. Keep buttering the knife between the cuts. The easiest is to cut the glaze into 16 wedges. As we don’t have to estimate where to cut. Half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth…
We have to finish before the glaze hardens. Be really careful with the hot caramel. Don’t touch or try to taste it. It would burn the skin badly. When the caramel is hot we can mark it first by pressing the knife onto it gently. Later when it’s hardened we can cut it properly. It is a delicate job as the glaze could break easily.

Assembly

Place the first layer on the cake serving plate as this will make it easier to move it later. Divide cream into 6 evenly then spread filling on the first four layers and stack them.
Put the fifth layer on top. Now we only have 2 portions of the chocolate cream then spread half of it on top of the layer then cut the cake into a proper circle shape if necessary.
Cover the outside of the cake with the other half.
Throw the shredded nuts outside the cake as decoration. It will stick into the cream as it is still soft.
Place 16 half walnuts on top of the cake around the edge. This is where the caramel glaze slices are going to lean on. Cut the glaze properly and place it on top of the cake. Put a walnut in the middle as a final step. Keep it in a cool place but take it to room temperature half an hour before serving.