chocolate

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One of the great "fad" desserts of the 19th century, the Dobos torta or torte (sometimes Anglicized as "Dobosh") was invented by the famous Hungarian confectioner Jozsef C. Dobos in 1884. Dobos owned a far-famed shop in Budapest that specialized in gourmet foods generally: at a time when shipping food over distance was usually unreliable, his shop routinely featured as many as sixty imported cheeses, as well as foreign wines, breads, and occasionally cakes. His high profile often took him to international food exhibitions, so that he became, for his time, what we would think of as the equivalent of a superstar TV chef / food impresario.

The fame of the torte to which Dobos gave his name was probably at least partly due to its extravagant use of chocolate buttercream, at a time when most cakes were iced or filled with cooked creams, whipped creams, or custards. Dobos had brought the buttercream recipe back with him from one of his many exploratory journeys -- in this case, a trip to France -- and shortly thereafter introduced the cake at the National General Exhibition of Budapest in 1885, as well as featuring it in his shop. Due to all this publicity (for it became a favorite of the Emperor and Empress of Austro-Hungary), people in cities across Europe began clamoring for it: but Dobos refused to license out the recipe. Instead. Dobos developed a special container in which it could be safely shipped, and "the cake with the secret recipe" soon started appearing in all the great European capitals. In fact, Dobos actually toured with the cake, personally introducing it in city after city, until the early 1900's, when he retired. He then gave the recipe to the Budapest Confectioners' and Gingerbread Makers' Chamber of Industry, on the condition that all members should be able to use the recipe freely.

Recipe and directions under the cut...