Mocha Dobos Torte-lettes, and Rosanna, Inc. Giveaway Winners!

This post is so long overdue--I must apologize!  Deadlines popped up at work and friends came into town for the summer, and so I ended up with one very belated birthday cake.  But no matter! cake is welcome at any point in time. :-D

First off, I must thank you all so, so much for sharing all of your birthday cake ideas with me.  Even though I physically baked my own cake, just seeing all of your thoughtful ideas really made me feel like the Baker's Curse was gone.  And boy, did you all have wildly wonderful cake ideas!  Some of my favorites included a lemon thyme cake with honey mascarpone whipped cream; an Earl Grey cake with kumquat marmalade and almond buttercream; a lime cake with blackberry-elderflower buttercream; tres leches cakes; an icebox cake with chocolate chip cookies (this actually inspired my last post); a champagne and strawberries cake; and on and on!  Let me tell you: it was so hard for me to make a decision that I waffled back and forth between cakes for days.  But finally, I decided on megcjones's idea for an espresso-spiked dobos torte, so here it is: raspberry mocha dobos tortelettes!

[click on photo for larger image.]

Oh boy, oh boy.  These tortelettes were so delicate and yummy--a perfect balance between cake and chocolate, with just a whiff of espresso flavoring in the cake.  Unlike many other sponge cakes, these were so moist and yet still very light, and I loved the drama of all those layers stacked up inside a tiny little cakelette.  I took the liberty of substituting fresh raspberries for the more traditional caramel topping, too, because we all know how much I adore raspberries. :-)  And, counter to how they may look, these took almost no time to bake up at all--two half sheet pans in the oven for about seven minutes each, and you're done!  Woohoo to easy yet impressive-looking cakes!  (Yes, I'm terribly lazy at heart, especially around my birthday.)

Congrats to megcjones for winning the Rosanna, Inc. Le Gateau cake stand!  There are also two more winners of Petite Treat cupcake pedestals from Rosanna, Inc.  Drawn at random, these are Anna and Jessica Lynn.  You all should receive emails soon--if not, please contact me at s [at] dessertsforbreakfast [dot] com.

I really want to thank everyone again so much--and the folks over at Rosanna, Inc.--for helping to make this an absolutely wonderful birthday cake year!  :-D

Read on for recipe....


Raspberry Mocha Dobos Tortelettes
adapted from smitten kitchen
makes four 6-layer, 2" cakelettes

for cake layers:
7 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 lb (456 gr | 3.5 cups) powdered sugar
3 1/3 oz. (94 gr | 3/4 cups) AP flour
1/2 Tbspn lemon juice
1 tspn instant espresso powder
1/2 Tbspn vanilla extract
salt

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line two half-sheet (12x17") pans with parchment paper, and grease and flour the parchment.
2. Separate the eggs. Weigh the egg whites and the egg yolks, including the three extra yolks, and divide each in half.  You will be making two cake layers, repeating the recipe steps twice with half of the ingredients each time.
3. Place half of the total egg yolks in a mixer bowl with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high until light. Reduce speed and gradually add 1/2 lb. of the powdered sugar. Return to high and continue to whisk until thick and glossy. Reduce speed again and gradually add half of the flour. Return to high; whisk for five minutes more.  Stir in the lemon juice.
4. In a separate bowl, combine half of the total egg whites with a pinch of salt. Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
5. Stir 1/4 of the whipped egg whites into the yolk mixture to lighten the batter. Then, fold in the remainder of the whipped whites. Do not overmix!
6. Spread the batter onto one of the prepared pans and bake for 5-7 minutes until golden brown on top with some darker spots. Remove from the oven and pan, and invert onto a greased wire rack. Let cool completely. When cool, use a 2" cookie cutter and cut out twelve cake circles.
7. To make the mocha layers, repeat steps with remaining ingredients. Add the instant espresso powder in with the flour, and substitute the vanilla extract for the lemon juice.

for frosting:
1/2 lb (227 gr) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 lb (226 gr | 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tspn vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
2 Tbspn powdered sugar

1. Melt the chocolate and let cool until room temperature.
2. Beat the butter until soft and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract, egg yolks, powdered sugar, and cooled chocolate. Beat until smooth.
3. Stack the cake rounds with thin layers of frosting, alternating between the mocha and plain cake flavors. Cover the cakes with a thin crumb coat and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Cover with the remaining frosting and top with fresh raspberries.

Warning:  Please be advised that this cake does have raw eggs in the frosting.  Make sure to use fresh eggs from a source that you trust.

Enjoy!