Dobos Torte

Preheat the oven to 205 °C. Have ready two 25 cm cardboard rounds. Generously grease a 23 cm springform pan with soft butter.

Beat the egg whites until frothy and gradually rain in the 200 g sugar. Beat just to soft peaks.

In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the milk, lemon zest, vanilla and salt. Fold this into the whites.

Sift the flour over the egg mixture and fold in carefully.

Spread about 300 ml of batter (roughly 1/7 of the total) into the prepared pan. Bake for five to nine minutes, or until small brown spots appear.

Remove from the oven, lift the layer out with a spatula, dust lightly with flour and place on a rack to cool.

Grease the pan again and repeat until all the batter is used (about six more times, for seven layers in total).

Place the layers between wax paper, cover with a towel and chill for a few hours.

Make the chocolate buttercream.

Layer the cooled rounds on one of the cardboard circles with the buttercream. Start with one layer, cover with buttercream, then press down the next layer for a good seal.

Repeat with the remaining layers, but reserve one layer for the caramel top.

Wrap the cake in plastic and chill it together with the remaining buttercream for at least six hours.

Grease the other cardboard round and place the reserved last layer on it.

Place 200 g sugar into a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook until the edges look melted and brown. Begin stirring with a wooden spoon and cook until the sugar turns amber.

Carefully pour the caramel over the top of the reserved layer and spread to the edges with an oiled knife.

Quickly score the still-soft caramel into 16 wedges with an oiled knife. Let it cool slightly.

Place the layer onto a counter dusted with sugar and let the caramel cool completely.

Spread more buttercream on top of the chilled torte and finish with the caramel round. Chill before serving.