Doberge Cake

Below is an article about the dessert known as the Doberge Cake: 


DOBERGE CAKE

For years, I have heard about New Orleans, Louisiana being something of a "foodie town". But after learning about the origins of this latest dish, I am finally beginning to realize that this might be true. And what is the latest dish I just learned had originated in New Orleans? Namely a dessert known as the Doberge Cake.

The Doberge Cake is actually an adaptation of a Hungarian dessert known as the Dobos Torte. Beulah Levy Ledner was the daughter of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants who had settled in St. Rose, Louisiana in the late 19th century. By the beginning of the Great Depression, she had moved to New Orleans where she started her own bakery business from her home in 1931. Sometime between 1931 and 1933, Ledner created her own version of the Dobos Torte. 

Ledner kick started the Doberge Cake by following the recipe of the Dobos torte with layers of Genoise cake. But instead of spreading each layer of cake with buttercream and topping the whole thing with a layer of hard caramel glaze; Ledner spread each cake layer with a custard filling and iced the whole cake with buttercream and a thin layer of fondant icing. The traditional flavors used for a Doberge cake are chocolate, lemon or caramel. Many times, the cakes are made with half chocolate pudding and half lemon pudding.

A man named Joe Gambino purchased the name of the cake, the recipe and the retail shop from Ledner in 1946. She also promised that she would not reopen in New Orleans for five years. After a few years of illness, Ledner reopened her bakery in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, under the name of "Beulah Ledner, Inc." As her business and popularity grew, her son, Albert, designed and built a new building for a new machine to mass-produce sheet cakes using his mother's recipes. Ledner opened another bakery on May 21, 1970 and operated it until she retired in 1981 the age of 87 and sold her business and the Doberge recipe to Maurice's French Pastries. The latter continues the business of baking and selling Doberge cakes in Metairie.

Below is a recipe for the Doberge Cake from the Genius Kitchen website:

Doberge Cake

Ingredients - Genoise Cake
3⁄4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated, whites stiffly beaten
1 cup milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 1⁄2 cups cake flour (measured after sifting)
scant teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation - Genoise Cake
Cream the butter, sugar and salt until smooth. 
Add egg yolks, one at a time, and blend until smooth. 
Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk. 
Beat until blended. Add vanilla and lemon juice. 
With a spatula, fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Grease 9-inch cake pans. 
Pour ¾ cup batter into each pan, spreading evenly over bottom. 
Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. 
Repeat process until batter is completely used, to make eight thin layers.


Ingredients - Chocolate Pudding
2 cups granulated sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 kitchen spoons cocoa (heaping spoonfuls)
4 tablespoons bitter chocolate
4 eggs (whole)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups milk

Ingredients - Lemon Filling
1 1⁄4 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons flour
1⁄8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1⁄2 cups cold water
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons sweet butter
2 teaspoons lemon peel, finely shredded
1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice


Preparation - Pudding and Custard
Stir all dry ingredients together in a saucepan, then add the remaining ingredients. 
Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. 
Remove from fire to cool.


Ingredients - Chocolate Buttercream Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1⁄2 lb oleo, softened (margarine)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cocoa
1 ounce bitter chocolate, melted

Ingredients - Chocolate Icing
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 semi-sweet chocolate baking squares, melted
1⁄4 cup butter
3⁄4 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients - Lemon Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, softened, room temperature
3 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon lemon peel, finely shredded
1⁄4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄4 teaspoon lemon extract


Preparations - Chocolate Butter Cream Icing
Cream sugar and oleo, then add cocoa, then the melted chocolate and vanilla. 
If too thick, add a little hot water, very slowly, until the consistency is right.

Preparations - Chocolate Icing
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and let it come slowly to a boil, then boil about 10 minutes until it thickens. 
Beat until thick enough to spread.

Preparation - Lemon Frosting
Beat cream cheese, icing sugar until fluffy. 
Add 1 tsp lemon peel, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp lemon extract and beat till smooth.


Cake Assembly
To assemble the cake, place one layer on bottom of a cake platter. Pour 1/2 cup of lemon filling on top of 1/2 of the cake. Spread Chocolate pudding on the other half of the cake. 
Repeat the above procedure with the remaining cake layers and filling.
Top with final layer of cake with both the chocolate pudding and lemon filling. 
Cover cake with plastic wrap and put in fridge for 2 hours till well chilled.
Spread Lemon Frosting on the sides and top of the lemon half the cake. 
Spread chocolate butter cream icing on top and sides of the cake's chocolate side.
Cover and chill inside the refrigerator.
Then cover the chocolate side with the Chocolate Icing.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.