Gerbeaud Cake

gws insisted I bake this cake because a Hungarian friend of ours from La Jolla made it for Thanksgiving. Creating it involved some math though. The measurements were in dekagrams, and I don't have kitchen scale. Fortunately, gws was so insistent that he discovered an incredibly useful baking conversions webpage. I used the recipe below, which is the one our friend used, but this one looks quite similar and the designation of a specific type of pan is helpful. Making this involved only a little bit of anxiety for me--that is, I've never tasted it so I didn't know what to expect, working with yeast is always a tiny bit tricky, and I hoped my conversions were right. Whether or not it's authentic, it sure tastes great.

Make sure to cut the pieces in small, finger-like rectangles because they are rich. The cakes end up tasting like chocolate-covered shortbread sandwiched between a crunchy nut layer and hint of sour jelly. (I included the weights since they will be more precise.)

Gerbeaud Cake (Dobos torte)

For the dough:

4 c. (450g) all purpose flour
1 c. (200g) very soft butter or margarine
1/4 c. (50g) granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 T yeast (20g)
pinch of salt
3 oz. (100ml) plain yoghurt + more if dough is too crumbly

For the filling:
1 1/4 c. (300g) jam (apricot or whatever, I used red currant because it's sour)
1 c. (200g) ground walnuts (I ran them through the food processor)
1/2 c. sugar

For the topping:
7 oz. (200g) dark chocolate
2 T oil

Preparation:

Combine all the dough ingredients together and knead it together. This is best done with a wooden spoon at first and then your hands. The dough should be firm, not soft, and somewhat tacky. It seemed like a firmer version of sugar cookie dough to me. Add more yoghurt if it's too crumbly.

Grease a deep, medium-sized baking dish. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cut the dough into 3 even pieces. On a floured surface, roll out one of the dough pieces the size of the baking dish and place in the bottom. Trim any edges so it fits. Spread half the jam on this layer of dough. Combine the ground walnuts and sugar together and sprinkle over the jam layer.

Roll out the second piece of dough and repeat with the remaining jam and walnut-sugar layering.

Roll out the third layer and place on top.

Cover the whole dish with a tea towel and let the dough rise for 1 and a half hours at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is light brown. Allow to cool for an hour.

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or carefully in the microwave. Blend well with the oil. Pour the chocolate over the cake and smooth with an offset spatula. Allow to cool completely and cut into narrow slices. If you want to be fancy, cut it in diamond slices like baklava.