'Dobos Torta'

'Drummer Cake'

There is a story behind this as well of course :)
We celebrated my father's birthday in Sydney Australia in August this year. How unusual! I asked my little son what cake I should make for Granddad and Uncle Greg (who also happened to have his birthday in August). He said it should be a drum cake! Whaaat?! Then I remembered. Of course, dad's favourite cake was Dobos Torta! I didn't have a clue how my son figured this out, it might have been a coincidence but it was a good one. The name 'Drummer Cake' derives from the fabulous translation - and storytelling - of my bro, who is always very precise about the details :)
Ok, decision was made. Then came the shock! How am I gonna make it?! It is said to be one of the most difficult cakes to make! Luckily I have a kind friend back at home who is master of cakes so I turned to her for help. She provided me with the most detailed instructions and different versions of the recipe, even with video tutorials on how to make this cake. I was preparing for the big project for weeks! I 'studied the training material' for days and planned everything step by step. I'd never been afraid of making cakes before :)
The original ‘Dobos Torta’ recipe dates back to 1884. The interesting thing about Dobos Cake is that its inventor - Joseph Dobos - kept the recipe in secret since it was said to be the most wanted cake in Europe at the time.
I chose a recipe considered to be very close to the original version. You wouldn't be able to find some of the original ingredients in today’s shops and groceries and the units had to be converted into the modern ones but the recipe I chose included all the recommendations.
I followed everything exactly as it was written down and it seemed to work!
It is very time consuming, hard work and requires a lot of patience but it is worth every effort. You have to make 6 (7 just in case) sheets of cake, baked one by one. The filling is an extremely chocolaty cream, very interesting how it turns into a lovely light texture made of eggs, sugar, butter and loads of dark chocolate. You have to build the cake up layer by layer, then comes the most difficult part that is the top layer. The last one of the cake sheets has to be covered in caramelized sugar. You need to melt the sugar till it gets a light golden colour then have to work very quickly with it while being extremely careful since it can cause serious burn injuries. Pour the hot melted sugar on top of the cake sheet then spread all over it. You really have to be quick because it hardens in seconds. Put butter on both edges of a long knife (you have to prepare this before melting the sugar) and press then cut the sugar covered sheet into as many slices as you wish. It’s hot, sticky, hardens very quickly then breaks, all sorts of things may happen that might spoil the whole thing but if you follow the instructions carefully you’ll get through it. Then place the slices on top of the cake and decorate. All done.
The result is amazing both visually and taste wise. Try it!