Sacher (a kind of): the recipe
I usually smile when I find in the web: “Sacher, the original recipe”...you wish! ;) Sacher Torte was invented in 1832 by the Austrian pastry chef Franz Sacher and, since then, his recipe has been scrupulously kept secret in the Hotel Sacher’s pastry studio. I am afraid we will have to take a little trip to Vienna to try the original one…honestly, I would sacrifice myself with pleasure :)
I made Sacher twice in my life: in the far 2007 and this week. I will be honest with you, guys: it’s a hard work, but the result is worth it. The most complex step is the preparation of the chocolate sponge cake. A soft glazing would be ideal, mine was a little bit too crunchy.
Sacher-like cake (doses for 8-10 persons)
For the chocolate sponge cake (adaptation of Di Carlo’s recipe)
- 250 g of soft butter
- 188 g of icing sugar
- 20 g of honey
- 250 g of dark chocolate 70%
- 11 egg yolk
- 11 egg withes
- 213 g of sugar
- 250 g of weak flour
For the filling
- 300 g of apricot jam
- 200 mL of water
- 120 g of sugar
For the final glaze
- 1 tablespoon of apricot jam
- 350 g of dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon of honey (select a delicate one)
Preparation of the sponge cake. Please, note that I divided Di Carlo’s doses by 4. Despite that, I got enough batter for 2 sponge cakes. Melt the chocolate in a small pot by simmering. Whip the butter with the icing sugar and the honey (I have used a standing mixer for that). Slowly pour the melted chocolate and keep whipping. Add the yolks one by one and keep whipping. Set the whipped mixture aside. Whip the egg whites in a bowl along with the sugar*, until you obtain a stable foam. Add the meringue you just made in the chocolate mixture: alternate a bit of meringue and a bit of sieved flour. Mix gently in order to maintain the batter frothy. Grease 2 oven pans of 22 cm diameter with butter and sprinkle them with a bit of flour. Pour the batter into them and bake at 180 ˚C, for about 30 min. As baking time might change from oven to oven, check the cake with a tester. Once the cakes are ready, let them cool down covered with a humid cloth. Wrap one cake and store it in the freezer. You can use it for another Sacher.
*sugar must be added when the egg whites are a bit frothy.
Preparation of the filling syrup. Make a syrup by bringing to boil the water and the sugar in a pot. Let the sugar dissolve and set aside to cool down.
Preparation of the chocolate glaze. Melt the chocolate in a pot by simmering. Add the honey and stir well to obtain a smooth glaze.
Mounting the cake
Cut one sponge cake in half, horizontally. Soak each internal part of the disks with the syrup. Fill with the apricot jam and close the disks. Place the cake on a grate and spread a thin layer of jam on the top. Glaze it with the melted chocolate and level it with a spatula, so that you have an even glaze. Keep in fridge till serving.