Dobos torta

I was a bit upset and at a loss recently when I read about a quest of Hungarian confectioners to create the "cake of the country" for the commemoration of the founding of our state (20 August). I was at a loss because I thought we had one already: surely Dobos torta is Hungarian enough!? They came up with a cake based on the traditional dessert all Hungarians like (and like to claim as Hungarian but I'm not so sure about that) which the French call ile flottante. I'm not saying it cannot be good but I find no reason for creating such a new cake when we have something to be proud of already. You can read about the history of Dobos cake here.

Perhaps I got upset only because it was at this time that my husband "placed his order" for a cake for his nameday, and it was Dobos torta :)
I'm far from claiming it is a cake you want to whip up for unexpected guests. In fact, this is one of the cakes that only people as crazy as me attempt, the rest walk to a good confectioner's and buy it. And I don't think you can find many people in Hungary who don't like it :)

The cake is usually round, though you can find it in roulade and triangle shape as well at better places - no way I'm attempting those! But hubby ordered a rectangular one, because his granny always made it that way (only he forgot to mention it was a long loaf shape, not like mine, and I almost threw it in his face when he came in as I was making the caramel topping and he said it did not look good...)

I've made this cake before, but I had no real problem because the recipe called for round springform tins, but now I had to fuss about adjusting the recipe to a rectangular tin. I failed quite miserably and the last layer turned out too thin and burnt almost completely and I had to whip up another batch and up the amounts - I don't want to confuse you with all this, I'll give the recipe with modified amounts. (Also, I only got 5 layers instead of six because I didn't have enough cream). However, the drawback turned out to be an advantage, as it is much less time consuming to make three rectangular layers and halve them (either horizontally or diagonally) than make six round layers.

Dobos cake

( for a roughly 25x20 cm cake)

For the sponge:
10 eggs, separated
50g butter, melted and cooled
200g icing sugar
200g flour

For the chocolate cream
8 eggs
200g icing sugar
130g dark chocolate, chopped
260g butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar

For the caramel topping:
1 tsp butter
150g sugar
a few drops of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 220 Celsius and line a 25x35 cm rectangular tin (or three if you have so many).

Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form. Cream the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow and add the flour and egg whites alternately, adding the whites very carefully so as not to "break" them. Finally, add the butter.

Spread 1/3 of the batter in the tin as evenly as possible and bake in the hot oven until light golden. Repeat twice with the rest of the batter (or use a fan oven and three tins to do it at the same time). Leave to cool.

For the chocolate cream whisk the eggs with the icing sugar. Put the bowl over a pan with boiling water and add the chopped chocolate. Continue whisking until the cream starts to thicken. This takes some time, around 15 min. Let it cool completely. This is essential, because if it is just a tiny bit warm, you won't get a smooth cream! Leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours after it has cooled.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla and add the cooled chocolate cream bit by bit, beating it in.

Halve each layers of sponge and choose the nicest one - you need the bottom side of it. For the caramel topping melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, add the sugar and drops of lemon juice and burn until it gets a nice goldenbrown colour. Spread it on the nicest layer of sponge with a buttered knife (a wide one) and make horizontal and diagonal cuts on the surface (you don't need to cut through the sponge but you might want to do it), buttering the knife before each cut. You should get around 16 slices.

Layer the sponges with the cream and place the caramel-topped one on top. Spread cream on the sides and scatter with ground nuts or ground sponge fingers and decorate the edges if you want.

Easter medley

Easter used to be so different when I was a child. In Hungary, there's a tradition of sprinkling girls and women on Easter Monday, so that they do not wither LOL No, actually this tradition can be traced back to fertility rituals. In my grandmother's days boys sprinkled the girls with buckets of cold water, there was no escaping them, no matter how hard they tried! In exchange of sprinkling the boys got Easter eggs painted by the girls themselves.
Later, buckets of water were substituted for eau de cologne, and the boys cited Easter rhymes (funny, coquetting little poems) and in exchange they got painted or chocolate eggs, or even some pocket money.

I grew up with this tradition. I was preparing painted eggs for the sprinklers, bought chocolate eggs and helped my mum with the preparations. On Easter Monday it was my father who sprinkled me first, later accompanied by my brother. The first guest to arrive was always my grandfather and then there was no stopping till late in the afternoon: relatives, neighbours, friends, old and young came along, spent a little time at our house chatting, eating and drinking. Even though we women all stank by the end of the day and couldn't wait to put our heads under the tap, these were lovely times, on looking back.

Unfortunately, in our modern world people don't seem to find time for traditions. Easter has become a bore, a chore and everyone's trying to get away from it. Some people take a mini-break, some just go on trips on Mondays.
It just doesn't feel right any more, it has ceased to be the cosy event it used to be, which is sad.

Foodwise, however, I try to keep up the tradition, even if I don't have many guests these days. Mornings are started with boiled ham and eggs, accompanied by various mayo salads: potato, sweetcorn, or "French". I made French salad this year, which is cooked peas, carrots, potatoes, parsnips and raw apples diced, covered in sauce tartare. Bread and/or milk loaf are also served along. In my family there is never a proper cooked meal on Easter Monday, we just have servings of this and that during the day. Honestly, I still cannot imagine anything better than ham and eggs all day at Easter!

Easter preparations

This Easter has arrived so quickly, I hardly noticed and hardly had the time to plan beforehand, so I was just going with the flow, not really having an idea what to bake (me, imagine!). But yesterday settled it and today I started my happy pottering in the kitchen.

Since the lovely Anna sent me a bottle of lemon oil, I have been searching for an occasion to try the lemon cupcakes from Forever Summer and I was craving something lemony this Easter! So cake No. 1 was quickly settled, as the muffins were a breeze to make in the processor. Since I can't get royal icing, which the recipe suggests using and my favourite frosting is cream cheese, I just whipped up a batch of those, using 125g cream cheese, 50g butter and about 4 tbsp icing sugar, and I added some of the lemon oil, a tbsp lemon juice and some zest as well. Mmmmm, so heavenly citrusy! Now I'm thinking of making it as "blondies" in a pan next time, with some lime juice and zest added and the same cream cheese topping. Drooling just at the thought of it...
(Cupcake cases courtesy of Kelly-Jane, aren't they cute? Thanks again!)



I was so desperate yesterday about not having ideas I turned to my hubby for help. Guess what his answer was at the question "What would you like to have?". If you read carefully so far, you'll know it by now: curd cheese. Actually he named this cake but I wasn't giving myself so easily (what about creativity?), so I chose his all time favourite cake, which I've only ever attempted once in our 10 years together: curd cheese squares Rákóczi style. The reason for my not making it is not because it's extremely difficult or fiddly to make. It is simply that I don't like it that much. Or much rather that I can't find a recipe which reminds me of my childhood memories of this cake: soft sponge divided by a thin layer of apricot jam, curd cheese and a huuuuge, sometimes over 7cm(!) layer of marshmallowy soft meringue, sprinkled with chocolate shavings. Mmmmmmmmmm! Whenever I went to the cake shop, I'd ask for this cake, it was made so brilliantly in my hometown.

This recipe doesn't come any close to the above mentioned taste memory either, it is the traditional and home-made version but it did turn out to be the best of the kind I've tasted so far.
I followed the recipe faithfully except that I made 1.5x amount of the dough because it seemed too little for me for my pan and I used 4 extra whites (from the freezer) and proportionately more sugar, because we like a thicker meringue on top. The result: a few hours after the cake has come out of the oven, half of it is missing already. And this time it's not me getting nearer to a broader waistline ;)


In fact, I'm still craving that familiar taste...

Liptauer

Liptauer comes from Slovakia but I'm sure if asked, most Hungarian people would say it's a Hungarian speciality.The reason for this is because Liptau and the neighbourhood used to be a part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
My mum makes excellent Liptauer so I've never looked for a recipe in my life, just try to imitate that - sometimes with more, sometimes with less success, just as it is the case with grandma's recipes. They always taste "better" ;)

Liptauer

100g ewe's cheese (Bryndza)
250g curd cheese
100g soft unsalted butter (or a bit more if your cheeses are too dry)
1 tsp grated brown onion
1 clove of garlic, grated
paprika, ground pepper to taste
a hint of ground cumin
and carefully added salt (the amount depends on how salty your ewe's cheese is, you must be very careful or it turns out inedible - it has been the case with me before!)

Just beat everything thoroughly either by hand or in a KA. Serve with fresh bread and veggies if you please.

Carnival time!

Just like in many other countries, besides the religious connotations, carnival (farsang) in Hungary marks the weakening reign of winter and the coming of the glorious spring. Although feasts are not as numerous and widespread as they used to be, some regions still keep their traditions alive. One of the most interesting traditions is busójárás , about which you can read here http://www.vendegvaro.hu/en/35-20172.

However, the gastronomical mark of carnival has not been forgotten over the times and doughnuts are still happily made by grandmothers and mothers during this time of the year.

The most popular doughnut is the so-called "ribbon doughnut". The reason for the attribute "ribbon" is that when made properly, there is a lighter circle around the middle of the doughnut.

Although my aim is not to intimidate you from reading on, I cannot say that this is the easisest snack to make. There are many areas where you can go wrong, but with a little practice (and luck) you can get it right.

First of all, you need to get the dough perfect. It's an extremely sticky dough, difficult to manage. If it's not proven well, you'll end up with objects that can be used to kill LOL. So if you've never made yeasted dough before, I beg you not to start with this.

Secondly, the oil. It can be neither too hot nor too cold. If it's too hot, the doughnuts will burn quickly outside but remain raw inside - yuck! In the reverse case the doughnuts will absorb too much oil - not too pleasant either!

If you can escape these two pitfalls, you win - and what you win is worth all the effort! And to prove that I'm talking sense, I confess this is my first time of making doughnuts - as I'm so lucky as to have a grandmother around who has done it for me so far. But it was time I tried my luck with these!

Ribbon doughnuts

(makes about 20-25)

600 g plain flour

35 g baker's yeast

100 ml + 250 ml lukewarm milk

4 tbsp sugar

50 ml rum

4 egg yolks

1/2 tsp salt

zest of 1 lemon

70 g butter, melted and cooled slightly

oil for cooking

apricot jam for serving

Sift the flour (I know it's a bore, but you really need to do it for the dough being airy). Make a starter by crumbling the yeast in 100 ml milk, and adding 4 tbsp of the flour and 1 tsp of the sugar. Stir well, and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Heat the rum a bit and add the remaining sugar. Add it to the flour with the starter, egg yolks, salt, lemon zest. Add the milk step by step, using a wooden spoon or a dough hook. You need to add all the milk, it should be a very sticky dough, difficult to work. Add the butter gradually and work the dough for 5-6 minutes. My Beauty was a wonderful help with this!

Cover with a tea towel and let it rise for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size (I put mine in the cold oven and turn on the light: this gives enough warmth for the dough to rise nicely).

Knead the dough quickly again, and spread it with your fingers on an oiled surface until about 1.5 cm thick. Dip an 8 cm round cookie cutter in oil and cut out circles (you can re-knead the leftover dough until all is gone). Transfer to a dusted surface, cover with a tea towel and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.

Press the middle of each circle with your thumb. Pour oil in a big casserole until it comes about 2-3 cm high. Heat it, add three-four doughnuts with the upper side down (!) in the oil and cover with a lid. Cook for about 1.5 minutes, then turn them over (do not stick anything in the dough) and cook the other side for the same time without the lid. Transfer to a plate with a kitchen towel.

Serve with icing sugar and jam.

See, it wasn't that difficult after all :) I can now sit down and even my knees might stop shaking LOL