Sensational Sachertorte
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
– Charles M. Schulz.
It is on my bucket list to go to Vienna. And under that bucket-list Vienna entry there is a sub-entry to head straight for the Hotel Sacher for a slice of the “original” Sachertorte. Divinely rich, sinfully chocolatey, shiny and gorgeous, Sachertorte is one of those sexy, luxurious desserts you hear or read about (or see them botch pretty badly on GBBO), but no one seems to actually make just for the hell of it.
(At least, no one I know. When’s the last time you were at a dinner party and someone brought out a gleaming Sachertorte? I rest my case.) It turns out to be a cake with a pretty fascinating history – including a bitter legal contretemps – and, like Thomas’ English muffins, the “original” recipe of the Hotel Sacher is still under lock and key.
Franz Sacher
So, the story goes like this: In 1832, Prince Klemenz Wenzel von Metternich, Austria’s minister of foreign affairs, was organizing a big party for his fellow mucky-mucks, and he wanted his cook to create a brand new dessert for the shindig. But said cook fell ill on the day of the event, apparently too ill to bake. Enter Franz Sacher, his 16-year-old second apprentice, who seized his moment and made up the Sachertorte recipe on the spot with the ingredients available, changing confectionery history with his decadent chocolate-cake, apricot-jam creation. For while the cake portion might not have been revolutionary, the pairing with apricot preserves and the shiny chocolate glaze certainly were.
The cake was a hit and Franz eventually took a position at the royal bakery to the emperor, where he was also able to offer his Sachertorte to the people. It was Franz’s son, Eduard Sacher, who decided to open a fancy hotel that would boast the name of the family (and the famous cake), and later his cigar-smoking wife Anna who turned it into one of Europe’s greatest hotels. Opening in 1876, the Hotel Sacher served Sachertorte in its cafés, and the cake has since become as associated with Vienna as wiener schnitzel and the Vienna Opera House. (What’s fascinating to me is how one sick boss, an unexpected opportunity, and an inspired cake translates to fame in the word-of-mouth, long-ago days before the internet. It’s not like Franz had an Instagram feed, after all.)
Sadly, as a trip to Vienna isn’t in the cards for me anytime soon – nor is it likely anyone I know will be making a Sachertorte – I had to take matters in hand and whip one up myself.
Reality Bakes
As I wanted a really, really shiny glaze, I added corn syrup to my chocolate and repeated the rum refrain that was in the apricot filling/glaze. And while I really love the bittersweet chocolate in the cake itself, I mixed in semi-sweet for the glaze. I will say, it helped a lot to scrape up all the excess chocolate that dripped off the cake, reheat it, and pour it over the cake again to cover any bare spots and make the top look really coated and shiny. (I did this the day after the cake was originally made, actually, and it worked very well.)
As far as the writing on the cake…well, what can I say, I didn’t want to jack up a cake I’d just spent all afternoon making, so I loaded a pastry bag with melted chocolate and wrote out “Sacher” a bunch of times on parchment paper laid on top of a cutting board. I then froze the paper/cutting board with the writings for about ten minutes before selecting the best one and just sticking the whole word on the cake. Works for me.
Sachertorte
Ingredients
Torte:
- 5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup superfine sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, leveled with a knife
- 1/2 cup (scant) almond flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Apricot Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
- 2 tbsp rum
Chocolate Glaze:
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tbsp rum
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz mixed bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
Torte:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch pan (preferably springform), and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the paper, then lightly dust flour along the sides of the pan. Tap out the excess flour. Set aside.
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of very hot, but not simmering, water, stirring occasionally. Once completely melted, remove from the heat and let cool, stirring often.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and superfine sugar with a handheld mixer on high speed just until soft, shiny peaks form. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high until smooth. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the confectioners sugar. Return the speed to medium-high and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until mixture is fluffy again, scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically. Beat in the chocolate and vanilla, then gradually add the flour mixture.
- Beat about one-fourth of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold in the remaining whites. No white streaks should remain.
- Spread evenly in the pan and smooth the top. Bake on the center rack until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or almost clean, about 35-45 minutes.
- Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove sides of the pan (if using a springform pan) and invert the cake onto the rack. Remove the paper and reinvert the cake onto another rack right side up. Allow to cool completely.
Apricot glaze:
- Combine apricot preserves and rum in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once boiling, continue to cook, stirring often, until mixture is sticky and drops cling to the spoon, about 3 minutes. Press the preserves through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Use while still warm.
Assembly:
- Use a long serrated knife to slice the cake horizontally into two equal layers. Place one cake layer on a rack over a baking sheet and brush the top of the layer with the apricot glaze. Place the second cake layer on top, making sure cake is level, and then glaze the top and sides of the cake with the remaining glaze. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to set the glaze.
Chocolate glaze:
- Whisk the corn syrup with rum until thickened, about 1 minute.
- Add the heavy cream. When the cream mixture is piping hot but not yet boiling, add to the chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Let sit for a minute, then stir until chocolate is completely melted.
- While chocolate glaze is still warm, pour it on top of the cooled cake, starting in the top center. Use an offset spatula to gently smooth the glaze over the cake, letting it run down the sides. Patch any missed spots with chocolate glaze that has dripped off the cake. Cool just until glaze has barely set, then transfer to a serving plate and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to completely finish setting.
- Serve with whipped cream (optional).
