I kind of fell into the hype for this movie. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a good movie. I’m not sure it needed to be so long (3.5 hours, including a 15-minute intermission), and it the biggest hype was that you had to see it on the biggest screen possible. I didn’t go to an iMax or anything - just a standard movie theater - and don’t feel I gained anything that I would have lost if I were to watch it at home. Maybe a few scenes benefited from the movie theatre. But, I feel like a movie like Dune is better in the theater than this one. The soundtrack was really good and the story was interesting. The architect who was the subject of the movie originated from Hungary, so I made a Hungarian dessert, with an extra focus on the structure of the topper to play off of the bookcase scene in the movie. This is a lot of work, but well worth the effort and joins another dobos I made a few years ago.
Hungarian Dobos Torte adapted from: Cafe Osharak
The original recipe calls for an involved process to make thinner layers that gave me anxiety (baking is not my forte). So, I went with a bit of an easier method. You’ll need three 8-inch cake dishes and bake-up in two separate batches. You’ll also need a digital scale and instant-read thermometer.
Sponge Batter (x2)
6 eggs separated
⅛ tsp cream of tarter
½ cup of sugar divided
100g cake flour
2 tbsp butter, melted
Chocolate Buttercream
200g semisweet chocolate
10 egg yolks
240g sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp corn syrup
3 sticks of butter at room temperature
Caramel
200 g sugar
50ml water
30g corn syrup
Praline
½ cup toasted hazelnuts, skinned + more for cake decoration or use chocolate-covered espresso beans
Make the cakes. Preheat the oven to 425.
Separate the yolks from whites into two separate stainless steel bowls for a stand mixer.
Add the cream of tartar to the whites and mix on low until foamy, using the whisk attachment. Add in half of the sugar and beat on high speed until medium peaks hold. Reserve.
Add the vanilla and remaining sugar to the bowl of yolks and whip until pale yellow and doubled in size - about 5 minutes.
Fold ⅓ of the whites into the yolks until no streaks remain. Then repeat with remaining whipped egg whites.
Sift in the flour, then fold into the batter until fully incorporated. Mix ¼ cup of the cake batter with the melted butter and stir into the large bowl of batter.
Spray the cake pans with baking spray and evenly divide by thirds. Tap the pans on the counter to ensure even coverage and any gas bubbles come to the surface.
Bake for 6-8 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.
Remove from the oven and set on a cooling rack for a couple of minutes. Then, remove the cakes from the pans and set on the rack to finish cooling.
Repeat this process once more so you have 6 cakes.
Make the buttercream. Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, then set aside to cool.
Combine the yolks with ½ cup of sugar and vanilla. Beat until pale yellow and doubled in size, about 5 minutes.
In a saucepan combine the remaining sugar, 2 tbsp of water and the corn syrup. Boil until it reaches 238 degrees and immediately pour it into the whipped yolks with the motor running.
Keep mixing 2-3 minutes until the bowl feels close to room temperature.
Then, stir in the chocolate with a rubber spatula until fully integrated. Reserve.
Make the caramel. Combine the caramel ingredients in a skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Do not stir the contents of the pan. Swirl the pan after it has been boiling and the color of the sugar starts to change to yellowish brown.
While you wait for the caramel to boil, set one cake layer on a sheet of parchment and set the prepared hazelnuts on another sheet of parchment set on a baking sheet.
Once the caramel is starting to color, swirl the pan until it is dark golden. Turn off the heat and pour half of the caramel along the top of the cake layer. Then, pour the remaining caramel over the nuts and allow it to cool and harden. Using an offset spatula, work the caramel as close to the edge of the cake layer as possible.
Once the caramel layer on the cake has set for about a minute. Take a sharp knife and start scoring the caramel into 12ths.
Once the caramel is nearly hardened, dip a serrated knife into a glass of hot water. Wipe the knife and slice the caramel-coated cake, using the scoring guides.
Once the caramel has hardened around the nuts, break into pieces and throw into a food processor and pulse until chopped.
Assemble the cake. Place the bottom layer on a sheet of parchment that is set on your work surface - it will help if you have a lazy suzan or turntable for this process. Spread a thin layer of chocolate buttercream on the cake layer, all the way to the edge, using an offset spatula. Continue stacking and spreading the buttercream.
Once the cake is stacked, frost the exterior of the cake with more buttercream.
Then press some of the crumbled praline into the frosted side of the cake.
Finally, place 3 whole roasted hazelnuts (or chocolate-covered espresso beans) in a line, starting about half an inch from the edge and working to the middle.
Take one of the caramel-covered pieces of cake and dip the edge in buttercream, followed by dipping the buttercream into the crumbled praline. Carefully place the piece on its side, on top of the cake, and lean it against the 3 nuts or chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Repeat with the remaining caramel-topped cake pieces, spreading them out roughly 2 inches apart.
Clear away any loose praline topping from the sheet of parchment. Then carefully slide the cake (still on parchment) onto your final serving platter. Cut away the parchment around the base of the cake. You can spoon on a little extra at the bottom to hide any parchment that might be showing along the bottom edge of the cake.
Serve when completed.
______________________________ Copyright 2025, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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