Cold, windy rainy and dark autumn. Something so stereotypical and so unpoetic at the same time. But that gives us the right to visit our cuddly sweet den, where we find warmth, love and inspiration.
For the Octobers daring baker’s I was challenged to bake Sachertorte. Honestly, I can’t call it challenge anymore, because after 4 years of living near Vienna, Sachertorte gradually took over the top spot in my ’favorit desserts’ list.
I found so many versions of Sachertorte and the truth is that even in the dessert’s birthplace Vienna, the cake is made using different techniques.
Here you can find the original recipe. It is in German, so below you can find English version and my twist on it.
Original Sacher Torte Recipe by Carla Sacher
The cake:
- Mix 140 g butter with 80 g sugar until fluffy.
Add 6 egg yolks.
Add 140 g softened chocolate
Beat 6 egg whites until soft, add a pinch of salt and 10 g sugar and whisk until stiff.
Sift 100 g flour and stir in 60 g cocoa.
Cover the bottom of your cake ring with baking paper and spread the dough.
Bake 45 minutes at 160-170 ° C.
Let it cool.
Cut the cake in the middle and brush with warm apricot jam. Even out the top of the cake.
Spread the jam also on the sides and the top of the cake.
The chocolate glaze:
- Chop and melt 250 g of dark chocolate.
Add 15 g of cocoa.
Stir in 250g crystal sugar or fondant.
When the mixture is homogeneous and lukewarm pour it over the cake.
Precautions:
- Having an even top of the cake is everything. The design is so simple that the most important trait of the look is the glaze that should act almost like a mirror.
- Before glazing, freeze the cake to have it easier for the glaze to set and retain evenly thick layer on the sides and edges.
- I made my own chocolate glaze using chocolate ganache (because I found the original too sweet):
Ingredients:
2 blades of gelatine
1/2 cup of milk
50 g glucose
150 g dark chocolateSoften the gelatine in cold water.
Bring the milk to the boil with the glucose and remove from the heat.
Add the softened gelatine.
Add chocolate.
Remove any airbubbles, but don’t beat the mixture!
Wait until it reaches temperature of 35 to 40°C then pour over the cake. - The apricot jam goes well with a splash of rum.
