Hungarian Dobos Torte

I grew up eating My Mom’s Dobos Torte, so naturally, hers was always the original to me. After making her version and my chocolate-and-vanilla Reverse Dobos, I decided to dig a little deeper and find an authentic Hungarian Dobos Torte recipe. 

József C. Dobos, the creator of the dobos torte, shared his exact recipe. It’s written in Hungarian but between today’s technology and my Hungarian-speaking mother, I was able to translate it. 

His original cake has six total layers of genoise sponge – 5 of which are layered with a dark chocolate buttercream and the 6th layer is covered in caramelized sugar that gets sliced into wedges. 

The recipe used some ingredients that are not so readily available today so I made a few practical changes, which I’ll explain below. I did try to keep everything else exactly as the recipe instructed – although there are a couple of things I would change for myself which I also recommended below.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Flour – I used all-purpose flour. I highly recommend using a digital scale to measure your dry ingredients.
• Sugar – The original recipe calls for powdered sugar. I don’t believe the powdered sugar used at the time contained added cornstarch, although I haven’t been able to confirm that. Most conventional powdered sugar sold here today does, so I chose granulated sugar for my version. You can use caster sugar or process granulated sugar into finer granules, but honestly, I didn’t find that extra step necessary.
• Cocoa Powder & Butter – The original recipe calls for cocoa mass and cocoa butter. I adapted the chocolate cream using cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and butter instead. These aren’t identical substitutions, but I was really happy with the flavor and texture of the finished cream.
• Vanilla Sugar – I had this on hand because my European mom always has some lol. If you don’t, you can use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste to flavor the cream instead.
• Chocolate – The original recipe calls for “200 grams chocolate, melted” without specifying a cocoa percentage. I used 72% dark chocolate for a rich chocolate flavor that balances the sweetness of the cream.

Let’s Make It

1. Genoise Sponge – This is a basic genoise sponge. I generally make mine a little differently, but for this cake, I followed the original recipe’s method.
2. Chocolate Buttercream – The filling starts with a cooked chocolate custard made with whole eggs, which is then combined with beaten butter. It reminds me of crème mousseline and the rich chocolate filling in a traditional French silk pie, before the whipped cream is folded in.
3. Caramelized Sugar Topping – Sugar is melted and cooked until amber, then poured over the sixth sponge layer and cut into wedges before it hardens. It sets crisp and crunchy, adding a caramelized flavor and a little crunch to all those soft layers of cake and cream.

Chocolate Buttercream

1. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan.
2. Add the chopped chocolate and cook, stirring continuously, until the custard thickens.
3. Transfer to a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature.
4. Beat the butter until pale and fluffy, then add the vanilla and gradually beat in the cooled chocolate custard until smooth and silky.
5. If it’s too soft, refrigerate for a few minutes before frosting the cake.

Sponge Cake

Since the sponges are so thin, another way to bake the cakes is by drawing a 9 inch circle on a parchment sheet and placing that on a sheet pan – then spread the batter thinly inside the 9 inch circle. 

That is an option but I just baked them directly in my 9 inch pan. I greased and lined the bottom of the pan and I like these parchment liners because they have the overhang to help remove them easily. 

TIP: In the photos and in the recipe card, I did use the 9 inch pan so you can see how thin the cake layers are. Personally, if I made this again, I would make them in 8 inch pans so they are slightly thicker – I just think it would give the cake more substance. 

1. Whip the egg whites with half the sugar until stiff peaks form.
2. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until thick, pale and ribboning.
3. Add the sifted flour and melted butter to the yolks, mixing just until combined.
4. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.
5. Divide the batter evenly between six pans, bake and cool.

Assemble

I felt like there was a lot of buttercream for the amount of cake layers so I was generous with it when frosting. I used 100 grams between each layer and I had just enough to fully frost the cake and pipe details on top (I was still left with a very small amount). That said, I felt like that was a tiny bit excessive.

If I made this for myself again, I would make only ¾ of the buttercream recipe and I would do closer to 75 grams of buttercream per layer instead and skip the piping detail on top (I put the measurements for both in the recipe card). 

1. Stack five sponge layers with chocolate buttercream between each layer.
2. Chill briefly, then frost the outside and pipe buttercream dollops around the top.
3. Refrigerate while you prepare the caramel topping.

Caramelized Sugar Topping

Don’t ask why I did this on a towel – I clearly didn’t use my brain. I would place the cake on a parchment paper and place the paper on top of a cutting board.

1. Melt the sugar in a saucepan, swirling occasionally, until evenly amber.
2. Pour over the reserved sixth sponge layer and spread evenly.
3. Before the caramel hardens, score it into wedges with a greased knife, greasing between each cut.
4. Once set, cut completely through the wedges and arrange them at an angle on the buttercream dollops.
5. If you’re not piping on top, I would simply just lay them flat on the cake. 

Serving & Storing

I prefer to serve the cake slightly chilled. The buttercream is on the softer side so I don’t recommend leaving it out in a warm environment for too long. 

The sugar topping is best served fresh so if I was serving this somewhere, I would prefer to make the topping the day of so it has the best texture. It can get a little more chewy once it’s been sitting in the refrigerator. 

Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days, or freeze for longer storage. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving or at room temperature for a couple of hours. 

I feel like I sound very critical of this cake lol I’m really not, I actually really loved it. In fact, I think this is the best chocolate buttercream I’ve ever made…that should say a lot and I prefer dobos with the crispy sugar topping vs. my mom’s chocolate glaze. I also love the fact that it uses whole eggs in both the cake and the buttercream so you’re not left with anything after.

In hindsight, I think this cake is MUCH more similar in theory, taste and texture to the Prinzregententorte than it is to my mom’s recipe. I suppose my mom should just pick a different name for her cake lol.

I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as we did. My son actually preferred it to my mom’s dobos which was previously his favorite cake! 

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B

Recipes

Layer Cakes

Hungarian Dobos Torte Recipe

prep 1 hour hr

cook 6 minutes mins

2 hours hrs

total 3 hours hrs 6 minutes mins

Serves 12 servings

Hungarian Dobos Torte made with 6 thin layers of genoise sponge, rich dark chocolate buttercream and a crisp caramel topping, with a few practical adaptations to the original recipe.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe email recipe

Servings 12 servings

1x2x3x

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• ▢
  stand mixer
• ▢
  small saucepan
• ▢
  Whisk
• ▢
  Rubber Spatula
• ▢
  offset spatula
• ▢
  round cake pans original recipe and photos use 9" but I prefer 8" so the layers are slightly thicker.

Metric(US) Imperial

Ingredients

Chocolate Buttercream*

• ▢ 4 large whole eggs
• ▢ 200 grams granulated sugar
• ▢ 17 grams vanilla sugar, can be swapped for 1 Tbsp vanilla
• ▢ 15 grams unsweetened cocoa powder, I use Dutch-process
• ▢ 200 grams dark chocolate, chopped
• ▢ 283 grams unsalted butter , room temperature

Sponge Layers

• ▢ 6 large egg whites
• ▢ 50 grams granulated sugar
• ▢ 6 large egg yolks
• ▢ 50 grams granulated sugar
• ▢ 100 grams all-purpose flour
• ▢ 35 grams unsalted butter, melted

Caramelized Sugar

• ▢ 200 grams granulated sugar

Method

Chocolate Buttercream

*This amount of buttercream is enough to full frost the cake generously. If you're not frosting the outside and decorating the top, you can get away with making less. I've put the amount in the notes section below.
1. In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together the eggs with the sugar and cocoa powder until they're well combined.
   4 large whole eggs, 200 grams granulated sugar, 15 grams unsweetened cocoa powder I use Dutch-process
2. Add the chocolate and place the pan over medium-low heat, stirring continuously but not aggressively. Just keep it moving so it doesn't scramble the eggs.
   200 grams dark chocolate chopped
3. Once it starts to thicken a little, whisk more aggressively. Take the mixture up to 170°F / 77°C or until it holds streaks. Immediately remove from the heat and pour into a bowl to chill completely.
4. Remove immediately, cover the surface with plastic wrap and allow it to cool completely to room temperature.
I refrigerated it for 30-60 minutes but keep an eye on it because you don't want it to get too firm or it won't mix well.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the room temperature butter until it's pale and fluffy.
   283 grams unsalted butter room temperature
6. Add the vanilla and gradually beat the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped butter until it's smooth and silky, scraping the edge of the bowl as needed.
   17 grams vanilla sugar can be swapped for 1 Tbsp vanilla

Sponge Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (177C) and grease and line pans with baking spray and parchment paper.
The original dobos (made in my photos) used a 9″ pan – I recommend 8″ pans so they're a smidge thicker, easier to handle and gives a little more substance and height to the cake.
I used three pans and just did the other three layers after the first three baked.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the 6 egg whites with 50 grams of sugar until stiff peaks form.
   6 large egg whites, 50 grams granulated sugar
3. In another bowl for the stand mixer (OR move the egg whites to a separate bowl and use that one again – no need to clean in), beat the 6 egg yolks with the remaining 50 grams of sugar at full speed. It will get thick, pale and ribbon off once it’s done.
   6 large egg yolks, 50 grams granulated sugar
4. Sift the flour over the beaten yolks and drizzle the melted butter along the edge of the bowl. Mix just until it’s well combined.
   100 grams all-purpose flour, 35 grams unsalted butter melted
5. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, just until it’s all combined.
6. Divide the batter into six pans, I did roughly 75-80 grams of batter per pan. Bake them for about 6-7 minutes (8-10 minutes for 8" pans), until they're set and lightly start to get some color.

Assemble

1. Use only 5 out of the 6 layers to assemble the cake. I used roughly 100 grams of buttercream per layer. It felt like a bit much for me so I recommend closer to 75 grams of buttercream per layer.

   Refrigerate the cake for a little before frosting the outside of cake.
2. Use the rest of the buttercream to frost the outside of the cake and pipe little poofs on top! Refrigerate the cake while you make the the caramel.

Caramelized Sugar

1. Place the sugar into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Do not stir it, just swirl the pan every so often to make the sugar melt evenly.
   200 grams granulated sugar
2. It will start to brown, swirl the pan to make it brown evenly. Once it's all dissolved and a medium amber color, remove it from the heat and let it rest for just 30 seconds or so.
3. Place the last layer of sponge cake on a cutting board lined with a sheet of parchment paper.
4. Then pour the sugar onto the remaining cake layer and use a spoon to spread it out.
5. Before it's completely set, swipe a large knife through a stick of butter (or grease it with spray or oil) and score the caramel so it's easier to slice once it's set. Grease the knife between every slice. The original cake was sliced
6. Once it's set, use the knife to slice them completely through and place them on top of the cake at an angle.

Notes

Buttercream: I’ve included the full amount to stay close to the original recipe and because I used it to frost and decorate the cake as pictured. Personally, if I made it again, I’d skip the extra piping since most of that buttercream went uneaten lol. For less decoration, I’d make ¾ of the buttercream recipe:

• 3 large whole eggs
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 13 g vanilla sugar
• 11.25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 212 g unsalted butter (15 Tbsp)

The original recipe from Joseph C Dobos uses cocoa mass and cocoa butter in the buttercream. I replaced those with cocoa powder and extra butter but if you want the original proportions here they are:

• 4 large whole eggs
• 200 grams sugar
• 235 grams unsalted butter
• 35 grams cocoa mass
• 17 grams vanilla sugar
• 35 grams cocoa butter
• 200 grams chocolate, melted

Nutrition

Calories: 549kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 8gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 19gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 217mgSodium: 60mgPotassium: 212mgFiber: 3gSugar: 47gVitamin A: 889IUCalcium: 44mgIron: 3mg

Course: Cakes

Cuisine: Hungarian

Keyword: dobos torta, dobos torte, hungarian dobos torte