I was delighted when I discovered the August Daring Baker challenge!
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.
Perfect timing for me, because my husband’s birthday is in August, and the boy was deserving of a big gorgeous cake, don’t ya think? So the elements of the dobos were a sponge cake, frosting, and the caramel topping.
Of course, some things never change, and a gluten free cake was a must. I used the Better Batter sponge cake recipe, which worked beautifully. It was a little dense, but largely bakers’ error–I didn’t sift the flour into the mix, and as soon as I did it, it was obvious how important it was. But the cake was excellent and kept well.
For the frosting, I made a luscious, chocolate hazelnut vegan sugar free frosting based in (don’t tell!) navy beans. I do have rough ideas, but often am not good enough about writing down what I do when I’m adding in things madly and my hands (and mouth, to be honest) are covered in chocolate. I’ve made it 3 times, and it’s always worked well enough to spread and be super yummy, but if it’s thick enough, it can be whipped and pipes beautifully. I need to figure out the proportions, but the main ingredients are cocoa, navy beans, hazelnut butter, agave and some mesquite and cinnamon. Good stuff! and if you want more details (from the notes I have) drop me a line, but I’m not sure it’s accurate
You may notice the lack of caramel topping. Actually, it’s hiding. I burnt myself on the first one, and the second one didn’t seem to really harden well. I’m not sure what I did wrong. I did sprinkle the crumbs on top, and DH felt that it was his obligation to eat the remaining sugary pieces…so it was all good.
All in all, what a fun cake! I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge. It kept beautifully for a few days and I got such a kick out of making a normal looking traditional birthday cake. To see the artistic and creative stylings of other DB’ers, please check out the blogroll.
Stumble It!
Yum, yum, yum! And it’s beautiful, too.
Gorgeous job!! Love the navy bean based buttercream – sounds delicious! The torta looks stunning =D.
Fantastic and I hope your husband had a very Happy Birthday! 🙂 Wow, that icing sounds amazing! 😮 I would have never thought that it had navy beans by looking at it!
So pretty and yummy!
Wow! So impressive. And kudos to you for figuring out how to make the cake gluten free. The navy beans – how fascinating! Can’t wait for you to post the recipe.
Ellen
What a great cake! And I’d love the navy bean frosting recipe (or notes)–what a brilliant idea! Please do it again and take notes so you can post the recipe! 🙂
Such a lovely cake! You did awesome on this challenge… Especially with a bean-based frosting, how creative!
That is a stunning cake — gorgeous decorations. Like others, I’m impressed that the frosting is bean based!
I’m passing along a compliment to you on my blog, when you get the chance:
http://isolatedfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/09/id-lichen-to-say-thank-you-feel-free-to.html
I have founded a new GF application and I’d like to talk with you about a partnership that would feature your articles … I’m a huge fan! 🙂 I’d like to discuss what we’re doing and how we can partner with each other.
My family has been GF for 7 years and I’m very aware of how to live GF.
If you’d like to speak I can give your more detail, but essentially what we’ve built is an application that integrates rich content in the form of articles and news, but ALSO recipes, food research and locations. There’s also a hefty social component.
When are you free to discuss?
My, goodness; what a fabulous cake!
Beautiful, and the buttercream sounds really interesting. If you do end up writing it out, it sounds really cool.
Hi,
LOVE your recipes! would love to have your navy bean chocolate frosting recipe, even if it’s sketchy at this point. Always looking for sugar free frosting ideas, and this one sounds yummy! Thanks so much!