Two weeks ago, I wrote about the Esterházytorte and its migration from Budapest to Vienna in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, I have another cake for you that undertook the exact same trans-Danubian adventure after the recipe was published in 1906: the Dobostorte, said to be to the Hungarian capital what the Sachertorte is to Vienna. The cake is named for its creator, József Dobos (pictured below), a restauranteur and chef who, in the late nineteenth century, owned a delicatessen in Pest on the eastern side of the river that cleaves Budapest in twain. In 1885, at the time of the Hungarian National Exhibition, Dobos set himself the challenge of creating an entirely new cake that would have a longer shelf life than most -- something that, even ten days after it had been baked and assembled, would hold its shape and still be edible.
What he came up with was a gateau consisting of alternating layers of incredibly thin genoise sponge and chocolate buttercream. The original recipe had eight layers of each, though contemporary variations that deviate somewhat from Dobos' concept have fewer: anywhere between four and six. Some recipes for Dobostorte add toasted, ground hazelnuts to the chocolate buttercream; others do not. The many fine layers were designed to ensure the whole thing wouldn't collapse or fall in on itself, while the Dobostorte's finishing touch, a covering of caramel that turns hard upon cooling, encases the cake and ensures it won't dry out over successive days. Of course, the crunch of the caramel, which shatters as one drives one's fork into the slice of Dobostorte, also provides an important textural contrast to the softer layers of sponge and buttercream. Dobos kept his recipe to himself until 1906. Once published, there was no going back.
