Sacher Torte

• Dark cooking chocolate – 150 g
• Butter – 150 g
• Sugar – 120 to 150 g (I used 120 g)
• Vanilla sugar – 10 to 15 g
• Eggs – 6
• Flour – 150 g
• Baking powder – 1 tsp
• Salt – a sprinkle

• Apricot jam (smooth, with no chunks) – 250 g (you can use a bit more)

For the ganache glazing:

• Dark cooking chocolate – 170 g
• Double cream – 170 g

Method is explained and illustrated below. Enjoy!

Separate yolks from whites. (Eggs must be of room temperature, so take them out of the fridge at least an hour before you start making the cake).

Chop the cooking chocolate into small pieces and melt it (either over a double-boiler, or in the microwave). Be careful not to over-heat it, especially if you’re melting it in a microwave. Heat it up for 30 seconds or so, then take out and give it a stir, and continue until almost completely melted, with just a few chunks left – then stir it up, and those remaining chunks will melt on their own.

Into a main whisking bowl, add the butter, chopped in smaller pieces. It should be of room temperature and soft, so take it out of the fridge a few hours before you start making the cake.

Add about half of the sugar…

… and vanilla sugar…

… and whisk thoroughly, starting from smaller speed, then at a maximum speed, until very light and fluffy.

Then add one egg yolk…

… and whisk thoroughly. Then add another egg yolk, and whisk again. Continue until you’ve added all the egg yolks, one by one.
IMPORTANT: it’s crucial to whisk the egg and butter mixture very thoroughly. The quality of the cake depends on it a great deal.

That’s what your final mixture should be like.

Then, add the melted chocolate into the mixture (it should cool down by now)…

… and whisk it to combine.

Sift the flour into the mixture…

… adding the baking powder…

… and whisk again – at the minimum speed, only to combine.

Into a separate whisking bowl, add the egg whites and a sprinkle of salt…

… and whisk until just light and fluffy.

Add about a third of remaining sugar (I used Unrefined Golden…)

… and whisk until fully combined. Then add another third of the sugar, and repeat the process until you’ve used all the sugar and reached stiff peaks.

Then, add the whisked whites into your main chocolate mixture – a few spoonfuls at a time…

… and stir in slowly and carefully, in circular motion, and only in one direction, lifting the mixture from the bottom, so the whites won’t subside.
You should also switch your oven on at this stage, and start pre-heating it to 180 C.

Your final chocolate batter should turn out like this.

Prepare the tray. I cover the bottom with parchment paper and don’t grease the sides.

Place your batter into the tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for approx. 45 minutes.
To check whether it’s ready, take it out of the oven and stick a wooden cocktail stick (or a wooden toothpick) into the centre of the sponge. The stick should came out clean and dry. If it still has traces of wet batter on it, put the tray back into the oven.

When your sponge is ready, take it out of the tray and place on a rack – it’s the best way to cool it down.

Cut the crust off the sponge with a long sharp knife…

… and cut your sponge base into 2 layers.
If you plan to make the jam layer and ganache, and assemble your cake, the next day – you can wrap the sponge layers into a cling film and keep them until you are ready to continue making your cake.

Take the half of apricot jam (keep the other half on a side for now), place it into a saucepan, add 50 ml of water and heat at a medium heat until it thickens and is about to boil, stirring constantly.

Place the bottom layer of the cake onto a cake base…

… and gently pour half of the syrup onto it, while the syrup is still hot.

Now, take the other half of the jam you had put on a side before, and place onto the moistened sponge base, spreading evenly and making a jam layer.

Cover it with a top layer of a sponge base…

…and pour the remainder of the syrup onto it. If you have any apricot jam left – cover the cake with another layer of it.

Make sure to spread the jam onto the sides of the cake as well.

You can put the cake in the fridge at the moment, and now, make the ganache glazing.
Place the double cream into a saucepan, and heat at a small heat, until it’s hot – but do not boil it.

Chop the cooking chocolate into pieces and melt it…

… and add into the hot cream.

Stir until combined.

Optional: you can add a small piece of butter into your ganache – it makes it especially glossy.

When the ganache is ready, place the cake onto a rack, and put some cling film under the rack.

Cover the cake with warm ganache, letting the surplus of it pour down the rack onto a cling film.

Smoothen the top of the cake with a long spatula…

… and the sides too.

Now, place the cake on a side for the ganache to cool off. Gather the surplus of ganache from the cling film…

… place it into a piping bag and cut the edge making a very small hole.

Now, a very important moment – decorating your cake! 🙂
Traditionally, Sacher Torte is not decorated at all. Sacher Hotel has its special seal that says “Sacher” and is placed onto the top of the cake, or onto each slice (when sold by slice).
Since I do not have a special Sacher seal, I will just write “Sacher” on the cake.
To ensure my writing looks nice on the cake, I first practiced writing on a small plate 🙂

When I finally got to write on the cake, I was quite happy with the writing 🙂

I placed the main writing in the top half of the cake and not in the middle, because I wanted to leave room and add a few smaller writings to the future slices of the cake 🙂 Once you’ve finished writing, put the cake in the fridge.

… And when the big day came, the cake looked just perfect! 🙂

I even felt reluctant to cut it…

 

A big slice with the writing on it 🙂

It’s perfect – moist, with the amazing chocolate taste, and the tang of apricot 🙂

How to stop eating it? 🙂

In Sacher Hotel, this cake is usually served with whipped cream. You may also do it.