Daring Bakers August 2009: Dobos Torta

Hmmm… see that mound of chocolate and goo up there? That is my first Daring Baker’s challenge – the Dobos Torta.

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.

So how do I preface this post? Ah yes – I am the world’s worst baker. I’m really bad. But that’s okay, most people like me for my cooking and I’m totally at peace with that.

If you’re wondering what the cake should look like, you can find the full recipe (and some really pretty pictures) over at The Daring Kitchen.

I think my first mistake was that I totally forgot to add the 2/3 cup sugar to the egg whites before folding into the egg yolk mixture. This is like my calling card, by the way. I’m FAMOUS for forgetting to add ingredients. Coincidentally, this only happens when I’m baking! Never when I’m cooking… why is that? But I brushed this mishap off as I figured, “Hey, it’s chocolate cake, it’s not going to suffer from being not sweet enough.” (Note: I was wrong.)

Then when it came to whisking in the butter into the chocolate egg mixture for the buttercream, I didn’t let the chocolate-egg mixture cool down enough, because I ended up with ganache instead of buttercream. Note to self: do not attempt future baking adventures at 10 pm on a Wednesday night. You ARE too tired, even though you think you aren’t.

And then finally I made a huge mistake with the caramel… I didn’t pick up the caramel covered pieces off the parchment until the caramel was cold… which meant that it was rock hard goo. So you see where this cake has delightful caramel pieces on top?

Dobos Torta WIN

See where this one is suspiciously missing said caramel pieces?

Dobos Torta FAIL

I would note, suprisingly, that none of these mistakes prevented my husband from eating half of the cake in 10 minutes. Go figure.

Playing in the Kitchenette:  Elizabeth and the Catapult / Taller Children

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