Have you heard of The Daring Kitchen? No? Well let me tell you about it!

The Daring Kitchen originated as The Daring Bakers in November 2006 when two ladies decided to bake pretzels for the first time using the same recipe, and then write about their experiences in a blog. The next month they chose to bake biscotti and this time they decided to have a few other fellow bloggers join. In 2009, The Daring Cooks were formed, in an effort to learn how to become better cooks. In January 2016, the two halves of the site became one and The Daring Kitchen was born. The idea of The Daring Kitchen is to recreate a recipe (monthly challenge) and then write about it. Fun, right?!

This month’s challenge (and my first challenge!), hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, was Hrapocuša. Yeah, I know…What in the heck is that?!!? Hrapocuša (hrah-PO-choo-sha) cake (or Dolska torta, or “Dol cake”), is a specialty on an island called Brac, located in Croatia.

It just so happened that my husband’s family was coming for a visit to celebrate my brother-in-law, Lou’s, birthday. So I decided to make him (and the rest of the family) my guinea pig something out of the ordinary. The cake’s bottom layer is a fragrant almond-based sponge with orange-vanilla notes, while the top is a lemon-scented crunchy brittle made of walnuts. Overall it was well received. Some liked the sponge better, while others liked the brittle topping. Be warned though! It has quite a bit of sugar and is very rich. A small slice goes a long way!