Sacher Torte

[marmalady]

Have had this recipe forever - I think it's a pretty standard version of the old classic -

SACHER TORTE





6 egg whites
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate
½ cup butter
6 egg yolks
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
½ cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup apricot preserves



Preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour a 9 inch springform pan.

Let egg white stand at room temperature in a very large bowl for 30 mnutes. Melt chocolate and butter in medium saucepan over low heat; cool. Stir egg yolks and vanilla into cooled chocolate mixture. Set mixture aside.

Beat eggs whites on medium to high tilsoft peacks form; gradually add sugar, about 1T at a time, beating about 4 minutes or til stiff peaks form. Fold about 1 cupof the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg white mixture. Sift about 1/3 of the flour over the egg mixture; gently fold in; repeat twice, sifting and folding. Spread batter into preparedpan. Bake for 30-35 minutes til tests clean. Completely cool cake in pan on wire rack. Remove sides of pan and brushcrumbs from edges of cake. Remove bottom of pan from cake.



Heat preserves in small pan til melted,and pass through a sieve; cool slightly.

To assemble, cut cake into two layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate; spread preserves on top of cake layer. Top with second layer. Pour chocolate glaze over, spreading as necessary to glaze top and sides. Let stand at room temp at least 1 hour before serving.



Chocolate glaze: Heat 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate and 2T butter over low heat til melted, stirring occasionally; set aside. Bring ½ cup whipping cream and 2tsp. light corn syrup to a gentle boil in small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate mixture; cool to room temperature before pouring on cake.

 

[PA Baker]

Copying and pasting. Hubby just asked me to make him something with apricot!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

"Joy of Cooking" cookbook has the "authentic" recipe for Sacher Torte and give teh history behind this famous desert.

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[marmalady]

Hmm - which edition? Sorry to say, if it's one of the newer ones, I don't trust 'em!

 

[Floridagirl]

check out this link and you'll find the history/story of the Sacher Torte. It's the original 'Sacher' website. It's in english!

http://sachertorte.sacher.com/layout/dfltfrma.asp?lan=2&navig=0&inhalt=inhalt_en.asp

I was in Salzburg/Austria last weekend and also visited the Hotel Sacher in Salzburg and of course I tried a piece of that famous cake

 

[Konditor]

Sachertorte

Famous the world over, Sachertorte was the invention of Franz Sacher, Prince Metternich’s former chef and a master sugar baker, at Vienna in 1832. Interestingly, this rich cake helped Johann Strauss render the term gemütlich synonymous with Vienna.



Despite the Franz Sacher attribution, Lilly Joss Reich justifiably posed the question, "Whose Sachertorte is the real one?…Everyone claims to have "Die Echte," meaning the right, the genuine recipe. Some are made with ground nuts, some without. The torte must never be sliced in half and filled with any kind of cream. It is only apricot glazed and topped with a chocolate icing."



Reich continued: "As far as I am concerned, the torte is a bit on the dry side. For that reason I add one more egg white to my Sachertorte, knowing very well that it is no longer the "genuine" one. Some connoisseur may object, but with the help of the egg white I keep my torte moist, and I prefer it that way." ~ The Viennese Pastry Cookbook; p. 123.



Consulting several European books, I discover that not every recipe uses solid chocolate in the sponge. For example, cocoa powder is listed amongst the ingredients in Teubner & Wolter’s Back vergnügen wie noch nie (Gräfe und Unzer BmbH, München, 1978). In a publication 20 years later, Teubner specifies 4 oz. couverture chocolate for the sponge base. [Teubner, Schuhmacher, Forsthofer, Witzigmann, & Schonfeldt: The Chocolate Bible (Penguin Studio, 1997); p. 86]. Moreover, the authors of the latter work provide a history of the Sachertorte on p. 71.





Café Sacher (No. 4 Philharmonikerstrasse) & Café Demel (No. 14 Kohlmarkt) were entrenched in a 25-year legal battle over the right to use the moniker "Original Sachertorte" to sell their product. In 1965, an Austrian court ruled in favor of the Hotel Sacher. My understanding is that the authentic recipe from the Hotel Sacher is most commonly offered as follows:



Cake

4 ounces sweet butter

½ cup confectioners' sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 eggs, separated

5 oz. dark chocolate

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup flour

apricot jam, stirred


Icing

4/5 cup confectioners' sugar

½ cup water
6 oz. coating chocolate
Whichever recipe you prefer to make, please accompany the serving with a generous heap of freshly whipped cream. Food police or no, that is requisite!

 

[htc]

Will I be banned from DC if I admit I've never really heard of this dessert?? I've run across it in my various cook books, but never paid any attention, since I'm not a big chocolate fan and it doesn' require lots of decorating like a cake. I'll have to try making one soon...

 

[GB]

Will I be banned from DC if I admit I've never really heard of this dessert??

YES! But since you have now heard of it you are safe

 

[HappyAvocado]

oh yum! when i visited austria i was fortunate enough to be able to try an authentic sacher torte and WOW, i am not usually a big cake fan but that desert, combined with an excellent espresso and the scenery of beautiful vienna is a very fond food memory of mine. i think i might have to try this recipe.

 

[Brooksy]

Thanks M'lady.

If I stuff it up I ain't tellin', 'cos GB will be on my case. (I've never heard of it till now.)

Looks really nice, but my cake results have a lot to be desired unfortunately . (Hope this admission doesn't get me banned by the cake patrol)

 

[PA Baker]

my cake results have a lot to be desired unfortunately . (Hope this admission doesn't get me banned by the cake patrol)

We could never ban you, Brooksy!!!

 

[cc2003btw]

Now i've seen something similar looking, they said it's done well in monaco. Served with gold leaf.

 

[Konditor]

Now i've seen something similar looking, they said it's done well in monaco. Served with gold leaf.

Prince Rainer et famille had been more-or-less regular guests at the Hotel Sacher when visiting Vienna. Therefore, we can reasonably surmise that at least one member might have had to satisfy a developed craving for this renowned cake at home in the Monaco Palace and its environs.

Is the gold-leaf-gilded version served at the Louis XV restaurant in the Hotel de Paris (one of Europe's last really grand hotels) or, perhaps, at the Hotel Hermitage? Neither of these sites would seem entirely plausible, but maybe they'd prepare the dessert upon request.

 

[mudbug]

Konditor, I am so pleased to see you back among us, and with some interesting and elegant information as usual.

 

[cc2003btw]

Prince Rainer et famille had been more-or-less regular guests at the Hotel Sacher when visiting Vienna. Therefore, we can reasonably surmise that at least one member might have had to satisfy a developed craving for this renowned cake at home in the Monaco Palace and its environs.

Is the gold-leaf-gilded version served at the Louis XV restaurant in the Hotel de Paris (one of Europe's last really grand hotels) or, perhaps, at the Hotel Hermitage? Neither of these sites would seem entirely plausible, but maybe they'd prepare the dessert upon request.

That indeed is the one, cheers. I thought i recognised it. Have some karma.

 

[PieSusan]

check out this link and you'll find the history/story of the Sacher Torte. It's the original 'Sacher' website. It's in english!

http://sachertorte.sacher.com/layout/dfltfrma.asp?lan=2&navig=0&inhalt=inhalt_en.asp

I was in Salzburg/Austria last weekend and also visited the Hotel Sacher in Salzburg and of course I tried a piece of that famous cake

I had the cake as well (it was ordered and shipped) and sampled it with one I had made out of Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts and the party guests all preferred the cake I made. I think that says a lot for Maida Heatter's recipe.

 

[Behind the photo]

I have been to the Sacher bakery/hotel in Vienna, a few months back—I did not like their version very much. Too dry for my tastes. I prefer more dampness and more apricot jam in it.

 

[ChefJune]

When I was catering, we used to make Sacher Torte often for special occasion desserts, and would write the name of the birthday person in the molten chocolate on top, rather than "Sacher."

I haven't made the cake in a long time now. Will have to check to see which recipe posted here comes closest to mine.