15 November, 2010

Lúdláb torta or in Hunglish "Goose leg cake" :)

lúdláb torta in my version


We have the tradition in Hungary of celebrating St Martin's day on the 11th of November (Márton nap). Of course, it comes from a christian heritage but I don't want to go into details. You can check this on wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Day
All in all, this day is the celebration of the new wine (called "újbor") in Hungary and traditionally roast of goose and steamed red cabbage is served to accompany the wine. The goose is strictly connected to the biblical story of St Martin (the goose is a symbol for St. Martin himself) but no no, we are not cannibals, and we are not eating anyone named after this saint...this is all symbolic.
So, you may ask what does this cake has to do with the goose? Do we put goose meat in the cake? Nooo, of course not. According to the explanation that I am aware is that the shape of the cake slice resembles to the goose leg and not the taste :) :) If you have any better explanation, then I am more than happy to welcome that so that I can expand my tiny knowledge of gastronomy.

Lúdláb Torta (Goose leg cake)
List of ingredients for a 23 cm diameter cake tin

Sponge cake: 
4 eggs (white and yolk separated)
60g sugar
1 pinch of salt
40 g flour and 40 g potatoe-starch
1 tbs of cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 tsp of baking powder

chocolate filling:
250 g butter
90g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
180 g sugar
1.7 dl of double cream

chocolate frosting:
170g dark chocolate
1 or 2 tbs double cream
a knob of butter

to decorate:
7-8 pitted sour cherry (preserve, not fresh)

1. Turn on the oven to 180 degrees and separate the eggs (white from the yolk). Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt to a stiff stage. Basically, when you turn the bowl upside down then it should not fall out of that. That's the stiff stage. Put the whites aside. Whip the egg yoke with the sugar until it gets pale yellow (takes around 7-10 minutes, use a machine). Sieve the flour, the starch and the cocoa powder along with the baking powder into the egg yolk mixture and carefully mix them with a spatula. Finally add the whipped egg whites and as careful as you can be mix them together. Butter and flour the cake tin and put baking parchment in the bottom of the tin. Pour the raw mixture in the tin, bake it in the over for 12 minutes (don't use the fan). When ready, let it cool on a rack, or on your balcony.

2. For the filling: boil the cream with 2/3 of the sugar and 1/4 of the butter (all in all boil it with some sugar and a tine knob of room temperature butter). Let it boil for 2-3 minutes then add the cocoa powder. Mix them together well, but take off the hob from time to time as it might burn down and then you can start all again. As long as you get a smooth chocolaty mixture you have to stir it manually. When ready, let it cool a bit. Beat the butter with the rest of the sugar (you can add vanilla sugar as well if you may wish) until "fluffy". Mix the butter and the chocolaty cream together as long as it has smooth consistency. Pour the cream on the top of your sponge cake, let it cool in the fridge for 2-3 hours before proceeding. (for me the chocolaty cream was a bit too runny so I put in the deep freeze for 5 minutes before pouring on the sponge cake). For shaping the cake it can help that you put the cake tin around the sponge again (if you have a tine that can easily be dismantled)

3. After 3 hrs of freezing/cooling make the frosting. Melt the butter, the chocolate and the cream  over boiling water (I mean put your bowl on the top of boiling water but make sure that the bowl does not reach the water level because it is going to burn down). Stir as long as it is a smooth chocolate frosting and you can add some rum essence to flavour to taste.

4. Take the cake out of the fridge and pour the frosting over the top. Smear it with a palette knife or spatula until coats the cake evenly. Decorate with pitted sour cherry and cool in the fridge for 1-2 hs till you eat it. (if you can wait...)

cake and cow
 

No comments: