Hatlapos

Hungarian airy, hot cocoa cake. Or that is what my children named it! This cake smells like pee when its layers are baked, but the ammonium bicarbonate allows no leftovers from the leavening agent to weight down the cake. I am not sure if it would work with baking powder, but I may try it one day... This cake is delightful, totally worth making your house smell like ammonia for it for a night!

Ingredients

500g flour

2 tbsp crisco

20g ammonium bicarbonate

100g icing sugar

pinch of salt

1 egg

milk, sour cream to assemble

cream:

4 cups milk

3 tbsp cocoa powder

6 tbsp flour

150g sugar

100g butter

vanilla sugar

Preparation

Mix the dry ingredients for the dough, then blend in the crisco and egg and enough sour cream or milk to bring it together to a pliable but not overly sticky dough.

Cut into six equal pieces and form into balls. 

Roll out each to the size of a quarter sheet pan. Line the back of the sheet pan with parchment paper.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven until just barely begins to get a little light brown color at the edges. Basically, the biscuit pieces should still be white. Remove onto cooling rack and bake next one.

Once all the layers are baked, you can return them to the oven to eliminate any ammonia smell (low temperature heating...don't bake further.

Mix the flour, cocoa powder and sugar for the cream. Add in a portion of the milk and mix until smooth, then add the rest of the milk progressively.

Bring to a boil so it thickens. Melt in the butter. Stir in the vanilla last.

Fill the layers with five equal portions of cream. Allow to sit overnight before slicing!