Vegan Torta!!

sponge cake layers with damp paper towel
to keep them from drying out

first layer of chocolate icing

Well, I tried the vegan version of the Dobos Torte (my family calls it "Torta"). It was quite the adventure. I've never actually made the non-vegan Torta on my own. I had to be brave. I didn't follow exactly the instructions that the blog post for the assembly, so mine definitely looked different than what the blogger has pictured. I'll walk you through what happened with each photo posted, and tell you my mistakes. I will absolutely be trying this again and again, and probably again till I get it as close as I can to my family's version of the cake. It wasn't the cake part that was different, but the icing itself.

Icing it all together

To start, I made the sponge cake part of the many layers. This part came out almost exactly like my family's Torta. The blogger does say that she is able to get 10 baking sheets of cake out of the batter.

Some background for you. 

I've mentioned my "hallway of a kitchen" in previous posts...well, it's oven is also small. A regular-sized oven is 30". Mine is 24". I can only fit 9" x 16" baking sheets inside. Also, I'll share that Regina, Saskatchewan is and was not an ideal spot to build. The city was built in a slough (aka swamp). My house's one side (the South side) is sinking into the clay-like soil. My house is not exactly level. In fact, when I'm making stir fry, the mix falls to the back of the fry pan. It's rather endearing.


Now that you have that information on the structure of my home, you'll understand more clearly why I attacked this project the way I did.

Finished Torta with Caramel Glaze
(see the chunky pieces-that's bad) 

First Mistake: I made the sponge cake part entirely too thick, and it didn't go nearly as far as it should have. Because my oven is so small, I can only bake one pan in at a time. I have three pans. I had to wash the pans between layers. That said, I only got 4 pans baked out. This was because of a combination of factors. The oven is too small and I'm impatient. I knew it would take entirely too long to bake all 10 sheets out. I also poured too much batter in each pan because my kitchen is not balanced. It always looked like the batter didn't cover the pan. I just kept pouring more in! Bah!! Lesson Learned: Keep dough layers as thin as possible.

Second Mistake: To help correct the first mistake, I had to divide the sponge cake layer in half so it seemed like I wasn't missing so many dough layers. This created a further problem when it came time to ice it all. The nice thing about having it all baked out nicely in each sheet, is that the layers are closed. By that I mean, crumbs don't get moved around when you're trying to evenly spread the icing. Because I had divided the layers, I had to contend with lose dough crumbs making my Torta messy looking and unkempt.
Lesson Learned: Do not cut into the dough.

Third Mistake: I melted the sugar on the stove, once it was melted, I was to add some Earth Balance and lemon juice. Well! I added the lemon juice first, and it almost immediately hardened the melted sugar. I could barely get the Earth Balance added. It was quick! Rock hard caramel pieces next to the cake, it even removed some of the chocolate icing. Sad, sad day.
Lesson Learned: Earth Balance first.

The hardened caramel next to the Torta

The chocolate icing is darker than my family's icing. Course, that's probably because their icing has raw egg in it.

That kind of makes me want to vomit just thinking about it. 

Anyway! The icing wasn't much like the icing I was used to. Although, my Mom did say that it's very much like the icing of other Torta's she's eaten.
I do want to experiment and perfect it. I'll let you know how it goes. The dough was a winner. But the icing needs some work.
I'm considering adding silken tofu, or even Vegg (vegan egg yolk) to see how it works. I'll keep you informed.

Finished!

A Challenge!! Veganize This: Hungarian Torta

Okay, here's the recipe my mom uses to make her torta. There are lots of versions, even within my own family, maybe your family makes something similar.

The version of this recipe that I had, has terrible directions! Terrible!
"Add the vanilla extract? What vanilla extract?! There's none listed...and how much?!?" Argh.
I didn't get it, so I had Troy look at it. He was super confused, so I talked to my mom. Luckily she was able to email me her recipe(which uses no vanilla extract!). Then we added more instructions because my family recipes seem to not include instructions. :P
Meeting with my mom in person, twice, 6 emails, and 5 phone calls later, I was able revamp the recipe so not just my mom gets it.
This recipe has many steps, it takes about 4 hours, but I am begging you to help me veganize this! Please note that this recipe can be reduced.
Help?
Please? I'll be your friend forever.                 

Hungarian Torta
The Dough-Torta Layers
This should make enough for 3 to 4 large cookie sheets.The layers get cut in half, once baked, so 6-8 layers.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheets with foil.  Coat the foil on the cookie sheets with lard and dust with flour. Be sure to coat all the lard with flour.

• 18 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp  salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

• 18 eggs, separated               
• 18 Tbsp granulated sugar

Beat egg whites till stiff. Add half (9 Tbsp)of the sugar. Keep beating till mixed in well. Set egg-white mixture aside.

Beat egg yolks till thick, adding other 9 Tbsp of sugar.

Fold dry ingredients mixture into egg yolks. Fold in the egg-white mixture.

Put batter in just to evenly cover the pan.Watch carefully as it bakes quickly. Should be a very light brown.

Remove from oven, remove foil from pan and turn over onto brown paper. Gently remove foil from layer.

Repeat till all layers are baked.

 The Torta Filling

• 10 egg yolks
• 2 eggs(whites and yolks)

Beat these together until they're a creamy yellow colour. Put mixture in fridge to keep cool.

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Place in a pot, mix and boil, stirring constantly. Boil till mixture forms a thread when dripping off a spoon (till it is thick to drip off spoon-my grandma calls this 'threading'). Immediately, but slowly, add to the egg mixture beating all the time. Beat till completely mixed. And mix for a couple minutes longer.

Once quite cool add the following butter mixture:

• 2 cup unsalted butter, softened  
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder, add more to taste

Sift the cocoa powder into the butter. Then mix butter mixture with the cooled egg mixture.Cut the dough layers in half put frosting between each layer and top. Be sure to alternate the layers to prevent lopsided Torta.
Trim sides of cake and frost.
*********************************************************************************
We cut the cake into thin-ish slices, rather than the classic cuts like the cake shown above.
I always loved this cake served frozen. My mom likes it room temperature. But to each their own!
Please don't hesitate to message me, or tweet me any questions!!

I Don't Eat Eggs

It's funny . . . because I did LOVE eggs!
Every way possible!
Egg salad, scrambled, hard-boiled, sunny-side up, over-easy, eggs Benedict, in omelets, in sandwiches, and in bagels(with cheese and salsa!). Loved eggs!

The reason it's funny, is because once I started to associate eggs with the pain and suffering and truly see what they are, I was able to change.
Now when I think about chicken's eggs, I have zero interest or desire to eat them.
I think about all of those birds forced into that tiny 'living' space with other diseased, miserable birds. Forced into those terrible conditions. Only to meet a cold end.
I watched Mercy For Animals' Fowl Play a couple months ago. Very disturbing!
I refuse to give my money to that industry! Well, my taxes still pay to subsidize...but I am not giving them the money that I have a say about! Damn it!!

There are ways of creating the same, or very similar, flavors and textures that I crave. I really and truly don't feel like I've 'given up' or 'sacrificed 'anything for the vegan cause. If I want it bad enough, I'll either find a way to make/get said item, or I'll practice patience and wait till I can have it. It'll be more special, is my thinking.

That being said, my grandmother makes this dessert that is incredibly delicious. My family calls it Hungarian Torta. I love it. My grandma even made some to serve at our wedding.
I think it's so good.
But I grew up with it. Troy doesn't think it's that great. In fact, once he heard the ingredients, he said it's actually a little gross.                 Wah Wah
It is absolutely not vegan. It has a lot of eggs. A lot.
I would love to veganize this torta, but I am lost. I definitely need help.
**I'll post a link to the recipe once I get some more details from my mom. It is the most poorly written recipe that we have ever read! It's so confusing! I have many many questions for my mom, and once she's able to give me more direction, I'll post the recipe. That will be my challenge.
          Veganize this!(see, then I'll post a link there, where it's underlined!)

About six months into my veganism, I watched a video on YouTube, "Best Speech You Will Ever Hear-Gary Yourofsky". It was amazing! 
I bring up this inspiring speech because Gary Yourofsky talks about chicken's eggs. He refers to eggs as 'chicken periods'.
This was mind-wrinkling for me.
Chicken periods?!? Come on, now, they are different!
                       ...once I started to think about it though...

Yes, I realize it's not quite the same as eating human menstrual fluid. 

But it's damn close.

The real difference is that our babies grow inside of us.
For birds, the chick gets all of its nutrients from inside of the egg, while baby humans first get all of their nutrients from the menstrual lining in their mother's uterus. The same thing happens to female chickens as female humans: If the egg is not fertilized, it gets discarded. It leaves the body.

Ta Dah! Eggs and periods. Well, to be completely accurate, for birds, the egg leaves the body either way.

So, yes, eggs are nutritious.
Nutritious for chicken fetuses!
They do have a hell of a lot of cholesterol!
Yes, I realize that we aren't really eating the "unborn fetuses of chickens". They are unfertilized. Still, that's fucking gross.
Chicken periods.