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Anybody have a name or recipe for this?

6K views 19 replies 15 participants last post by  kelvin 
#1 ·
With the help of my wife & sister-in-law, here is my best description of a desert we used to get for parties from a place called "The Hobson House" in Long Grove, Illinois. Unfortunately the place closed quite a few years ago & I have been without my favorite desert ever since. :(

It had 3 layers (approx. ¾"-1" thick each) of cake that had a texture sort of similar to the outer part of an éclair (not real sweet or like a cake mix) possibly baked in a buttered pan with granulated sugar creating a bit of a crunchy/crispy exterior.

We think the filling was custard, rasberries, sliced sugared almonds, & pastry crème.

I'm told that The Hobson House called this a Torte. When I google "Torte" the descriptions I get doesn't really describe the stuff I'm looking for.

Anybody have any info that would help me be able to eat this again?
 
#2 ·
Jstin,
I believe you would achieve the torte you're looking for by using puff pastry circles, basic vanilla custard and the garnish of your choice.
Puff pastry is available in most markets now. It must be baked at a high temp (400-450) brushed with water and sprinkled with sugar. The sugars will melt and sort of caramelize keeping the circle from getting soggy when put together. I believe your description is spot on for this and the butter content in the dough would give the appearance of a buttered pan.
hth
 
#4 ·
Gee, I haven't been to Long Grove for a long time! There are some fine chocolates to be found there....

To me your recipe sounds more like it's made from choux pastry, the pastry that's used in eclairs, cream puffs, etc. Choux (pronounced "shoo") is very, very easy to make. You can pipe it into any shape you like using a pastry bag (or plastic bag with a piping tip stuck through one corner).

Here's a recipe that uses choux pastry: Profiteroles Recipe: Recipes: Food Network

You can use choux for many wonderful things, both savory and sweet.
 
#5 ·
Mezzaluna,
After reading the post once more, I think your insight might be more correct. or;) we may both be right. It maybe something like the bottom of a St. Honore. A puff circle, then pipe choux paste on top and bake. You poke holes in the choux and fill with custard.:lol:
OR, now that I think about it a little more. It could be the popular German dessert, Bienenstich sp? BeeSting. That is sort of a Brioche dough baked with a crunchy sugary almond top. It is then cut in half and filled with custard. Yea, that's the ticket:eek:
baddaboom
 
#8 ·
Just to be sure, what I referred to as "filling" is actually spread between the layers of "cake" in place where icing would be with a common layer cake. As you can probably tell I'm not much of a chef.

Yes, Long Grove does have good chocolate.

No, it's not Bienenstich, although that's the closest that I've had. My sister-in-law mentioned above married German & has brought Bienenstich to parties just to tease me..:) I wonder if I can use what ever the cake layers are made of to begin my testing?

I do appreciate all of your replies folks.
 
#11 ·
ChefRAZ, the bottom pic looks pretty close. The cake layers were thicker though. The entire torte was probably 4" tall after the whipped cream was applied just before serving. I think I neglected to say that before.

jessiquina, I don't think it was a napoleon, looks good though.

Thank you.
 
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