It's good to be able to laugh at yourself, even when those laughs stem from a ridiculous looking baking attempt. This creation was one of the Daring Bakers' Challenges.

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.

Since the torte looked quite rich, I decided to half the recipe. I started with the cake layers:

1 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
2/3 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons sifted cake flour
pinch of salt

Although the directions state to bake the cake on round forms, I decided to bake mine on two jelly roll sheets, which resulted in very thin cake layers. Below are the directions and my changes.

Directions for the sponge layers:

1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F.
2.Oil baking sheets and fit parchment paper on each.
3.Beat the egg yolks, 1/3 cup of the confectioner's sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes.
4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.
5.Using a small offset spatula, divide the batter in half and spread onto prepared baking sheets. Use the spatula to even out the batter as evenly as possible. Bake on the top rack for 4-5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. Cool layers completely.

After the layers are cooled, cut them into small rounds. I used the top of a class to shape the rounds, making about two dozen of them.

Then, it was time to prepare the buttercream.

Chocolate Buttercream

2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar, ground in food processor until very fine
2oz bakers chocolate, finely chopped
1 sticks plus 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Directions for the chocolate buttercream:

NB. This can be prepared in advance and kept chilled until required.

1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.
2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes.
3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.
4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.
5.When cool, beat in the soft butter. Chill while you make the caramel topping.

(As you'll see in the photos below, I failed to chill the buttercream long enough. It was too runny, which resulted in very funny looking mini tortes. :) )

Finally, the dreaded caramel topping. Many of the posts I read reported problems with this step, so I was a bit nervous. Not, however, nervous enough.

Caramel topping recipe

1/2 cup sugar, ground in food processor until very fine
6 tablespoons water
4 teaspoons lemon juice

The caramel topping seemed like it would be easy enough. I cut two of the cake rounds into eight triangular pieces each. I boiled the ingredients together, occasionally swirling the pot. When the liquid started to change colors, though, I got preoccupied with something, and next thing you know, it was dark brown. It was only supposed to become amber in color, so I knew it was probably a bit burnt but decided it would be okay. I poured the liquid over the cut cake pieces. It hardened right away, and again, I made a mistake in not completely following the directions, which state to cut the pieces apart in less than a minute. Instead, I let the pieces stand for quite a few number of minutes, and when I returned to them, the caramel had set. I had to attempt to chip apart each triangle, only successfully doing so for about eight of them.

Anyway, to assemble the cakes, I started with a cake layer and then topped each layer with the buttercream. I continued, making about ten layers each. They were looking cute at this point.

However, as I stated above, I hadn't let the buttercream cool enough, so when it came to frosting the entire cakes, the buttercream was very gloopy. It was actually quite amusing. My friend and I had a laugh over it. We topped the cakes with the caramel triangles. The final result doesn't look very pretty, but it was tasty. The caramel triangles were definitely not a success. The caramel tasted burnt, and I picked mine off and threw them away, but the cake was good. :)