My birthday was a few weeks ago. I turned 36. It’s really hard for me to believe that I am a mere four years away from 40. I remember both my parents turning 40! I have been very fortunate in the past 36 years, though. I’ve had many wonderful experiences, been to some of the most amazing places on earth and met many, many fabulous people. I’m looking forward to mid-life and the new adventures it will bring.
This year I had one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a long time. Usually my husband has to work on my birthday. If you are born anywhere from August to November and expect your husband to actually be home for more than an hour on your birthday, don’t marry a musician who will take a job as a high school band director. But this year, the moons aligned and not only was my husband home all day for my birthday, but my parents made the trek from Michigan to Nevada in time to celebrate with me. That hasn’t happened in 10 years!
Birthday lunch at Buca di Beppo sans my sister who is taking the picture
I never quite know what to do about a cake for my birthday — do I make my own cake? Who wants to do that? I’m not much of a baker. Baking is fussy — things must be exact and I’m not much in to exactness which is why I cook better than I bake. But this year I decided that I would take the time to make myself a really nice birthday cake. I gave myself permission to make as big a mess as I needed and go for it.
I chose the Dobos Torte from Smitten Kitchen and it did not disappoint. In fact, it’s was far beyond my expectations. The buttery, chocolatey frosting was out of this world. And — it was easy! Seriously. I mean, it’s not boxed cake mix easy, but for a 6 layer torte, this is as easy as it gets. My only disappoint was how small it is. I wanted more!
I’m not posting the recipe because Deb does a great job of being very detailed on make the torte. But I did make mine a little differently. First, I baked mine on a jelly roll pan (12 x 17, I believe), which I cut in half and then cut the halves into thirds for 6 layers. To get it out of the pan, I flipped it over on to the back of a second jelly roll pan and then flipped it back on to cooling racks. Miraculously, it worked! Second, I skipped the caramel layer. I’ve never had the torte with it, but I certainly didn’t feel like it was missing anything. I did use raw eggs in the frosting as called for by the recipe, but I know my farmer and the chickens that laid those eggs.
I can’t recommend this cake enough! If you have any questions about making it, feel free to leave a comment!
Leave a Reply