Sacher Torte may not be my usual fudgy, dense chocolate cake. Instead, it’s a classic chocolate cake smothered and sandwiched with apricot jam and coated in a delicious chocolate glaze! What’s not to love about that?
I have to admit, I’m a big lover of dense, fudgy cake and had previously dismissed the Sacher Torte. However, my husband is a huge fan, and when we were in Vienna a few years back, we pretty much destroyed ourselves on the good stuff! After all, Vienna is the birthplace of the Sacher Torte, so it was almost compulsory!
WHAT IS A SACHER TORTE?
Sacher Torte is a very famous, classic Austrian chocolate cake. It was first created in Vienna, at the Hotel Sacher in 1832 and is still served everywhere in Vienna. And still at the Hotel Sacher!
The torte consists of two layers of (fairly plain) chocolate cake, with lots of apricot jam being used to moisten and seal the cake. I was lucky enough to have some delicious homemade apricot jam from my sister, Helen, which made my Sacher Torte even more special.
The cake is then completely covered with a chocolate glaze and (traditionally) has “Sacher” piped along the top. It is served as an afternoon tea or dessert, with lashings of Chantilly Cream
TRAVELING IN VIENNA
My husband and I were lucky enough to visit Vienna a few years back and I have to say it was one of the most gorgeous cities I’ve ever visited. Everything was so clean, so classically beautiful and just so civilized. It makes perfect sense that this most famous, classic cake comes from Vienna!
SACHER TORTE: AN OLDIE AND A GOODIE
So while I’ve been reminiscing about the days when were were able to travel internationally, I thought I could recreate some of the desserts I’ve sampled along the way. And when I came across my Mum’s 1970’s cookbooks and found a recipe for Sacher Torte, I knew I had to make it. And it was delicious!
So here’s the Sacher Torte from my Mum’s old cookbook. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it brings back some memories of the places you’ve visited and the foods you’ve eaten along the way….
Sacher Torte
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 185 g semi sweet dark chocolate
- 185 g unsalted butter room temp
- 170 g caster sugar
- 6 eggs separated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup milk
- 330 g self raising flour sifted
- 500 g apricot jam
Chocolate Glaze
- 185 g sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 185 g dark chocolate
- 1-2 drops vegetable oil
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Pre heat oven to 150° C and butter, flour and sugar 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. Line the bottom of the tins with a disc of baking paper
- Melt chocolate over gently simmering water, then remove from heat to cool slightly
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for a few minutes
- Add the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy
- Add cooled chocolate and beat until blended
- Add egg yolks, one at a time and beat after each addition, until combined
- Mix in the vanilla and milk
- Fold through the sifted flour
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
- Fold through a small amount of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture, to loosen the mix, then continue folding through the rest of the egg whites
- Divide the mixture into the 2 tins and bake for 35-40 minutes
- Remove cakes from the tins and cool on a cooling rack
- Once cooled, trim the surface of the cakes so the tops are flat
- Heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan over medium heat, then push it through a sieve.
- Spread the sieved jam liberally over the cake and sandwich together. Continue to spread the entire cake with the rest of the jam, then allow to cool and set
- Once the glaze is made (see below), spread it quickly over the entire cake and allow to set
- Serve with Chantilly Cream
Chocolate Glaze
- Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Make sure all of the sugar has dissolved. Allow syrup to cool
- While the syrup is cooling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler and allow that to cool as well
- Gradually beat the chocolate into the syrup.
- Mix through the oil and immediately pour over the cake and spread evenly
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