I Don't Want to Go as a Purse!

Disney Classic # 29 - The Rescuers Down Under

A few weeks ago when I posted about The Rescuers, I had to admit that I'd really struggled to come up with cake-y ideas for these two movies about the brave little mice who travel the world to rescue orphans from the clutches of the nasties. I accidentally stumbled across the idea to make one cake representing Bernard, and the other representing Bianca. Well, Bernard's Porter Cake came first when we watched The Rescuers a few weeks back, so now it's Bianca's turn. I decided that in honour of this thoughtful and sophisticated lady-mouse from Hungary, I'd make a delicious Hungarian classic - the dobosh torta.

I came across various recipes for dobos torta (or dobosh torte) whilst doing a google search for "Hungarian dessert", and it looked and sounded so delicious I knew I just had to make it! Multiple layers of light sponge with chocolate filling to me sounded irresistible - just like Bianca is to the boys in this movie! However... this cake took a lot of time and effort and was really finicky, which would usually be fine, except the finished product wasn't as outstanding as I'd hoped. This cake is definitely for those with a lot of time and a lot of patience!! The recipe below is based on a recipe found here.

Prep time: 1 hour         Cook time: 1 hour         Serves: 12
Ingredients:

For the sponge:
225g unsalted butter
200g granulated sugar
4 medium eggs
100g self raising flour
2 tsps vanilla extract

For the filling:
100g dark chocolate
200g milk chocolate
450g unsalted butter
5 egg whites
200g granulated sugar

For the caramel topping:

200g granulated sugar
100ml water

1. The first thing to do is to weigh your mixing bowl. I know this might sound strange, but there is a bit of maths involved in this recipe, and you'll need to make not of how much your mixing bowl weighs!
2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Cut 7 circles out of greaseproof paper to line the base of a 7" spring form cake tin.
3. Prepare the sponge mixture: beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, then the flour and vanilla until the ingredients combine to form a smooth batter.
4. Here's the first bit of maths... weigh the cake batter, then subtract the weight of the mixing bowl from that weight. Divide this by 7, and it will give you the weight of how much cake mixture to use for each layer. (For reference, I was using around 100g of batter per layer, but I also misjudged mine I only ended up with 30g batter for my 7th layer... giving me only 6 usable layers, d'oh! Tip: don't forget to account for the bits of mixture you can't scrape from the bowl!)
5. Line the cake tin with one of the greaseproof paper circles, and spoon in enough mixture for one layer. Spread the mixture to the edges, trying your best to make it even.
6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the batter turns spongy. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Repeat this process for the next 6 layers.
7. While the sponge layers are cooking/cooling, prepare the filling: Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a bowl over boiling water. Place this to one side to cool.
8. Beat the butter until soft. In a separate bowl, over boiling water, gently whisk the egg whites and sugar until they reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (around 49 degrees Celsius). Remove from heat and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.
9. Beat the chocolate into the butter, and then fold in the egg whites until all the ingredients are combined. Place the filling in the fridge until it is ready to use.
10. Once all 7 sponge layers are cool, remove the greaseproof paper from the bottom and place the layers on top of one another; trim the edges so that all layers are the same shape/size.
11. Take one layer and cut it into slices. Place the slices on a wire rack over a pan.
12. Prepare the caramel topping: place the sugar and water into a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil without stirring. Once the caramel begins to darken in colour, start to swirl the pan. Once the caramel is golden brown immediately pour over the sliced layer, covering each slice evenly.
13. And now it's time to assemble the cake! Place one layer of sponge onto the serving plate, spread this with a thin layer of the chocolate filling, then add the next sponge layer. Repeat until all but the caramel covered layers have been used. Spread the chocolate filling around the outside of the cake, the put the remaining filling into a piping bag. Arrange the caramel-covered slices on top of the cake, and pipe a decorative pattern/border around the edges.
14. Cut into slices using the caramel slices as a guide, and serve. ^_^

Next time it's my favourite Disney movie of all time, ever; Beauty and the Beast. I'll be making a very special tarte au chocolat with white chocolate mousse!

Happy Thoughts

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