Demmler's Sunday Cake: Sacher Cake

The Sachertorte has undisputed cult status. But what actually makes a Sachertorte so special? 
The cake is a chocolate cake made of Sacher mass (flour, butter, eggs, sugar and chocolate) with apricot jam and a special chocolate icing. But the secret lies in the classic balance of ingredients, the process of baking and the special smoothness of the icing. Have you ever baked a Sachertorte? Then we have the recipe (original from Sacher) for you here:

Sacher cake recipe

Makes one baking tin (diameter: 24 cm). Cooling time: approx. 20 minutes. Baking time: approx. 1 hour

• FOR THE CHOCOLATE DOUGH
• 130 g dark chocolate couverture (min. 55% cocoa content)
• 1 vanilla pod
• 150 g melted butter
• 100 g icing sugar
• 6 eggs
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 140 g plain wheat flour

• FAT AND FLOUR FOR THE MOULD
• 200 g Apricot jam
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 150 g dark chocolate coating (min. 55% cocoa)
• Unsweetened whipped cream for garnish

• PREPARATION
• Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Line the bottom of the springform tin with baking paper, grease and dust the sides with a little flour. For the chocolate batter, melt the couverture over a hot water bath and then leave to cool slightly.
• Slit the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the pith. Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar and vanilla pulp using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment until fluffy.
• Separate the eggs. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture one at a time. Now gradually add the melted chocolate coating. Beat the egg whites with the caster sugar until stiff, then fold them into the butter and chocolate mixture. Sift the flour over the mixture, then fold in the flour and whisk the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the springform pan, smooth the top and bake in the oven (centre) for 10 to 15 minutes, leaving the oven door open a finger's width. Then close the oven and bake the cake for about 50 minutes more.
  
  
• Remove the cake from the oven and loosen the sides of the springform pan. Carefully place the cake on a cake rack lined with baking paper and leave to cool for about 20 minutes. Only then remove the baking paper, turn the cake over and leave to cool on the cake rack.
• Cut the cake in half horizontally. Heat the jam and stir until smooth. Spread the top of the two cake halves with the jam and slide them over each other. Spread the sides with jam as well.
• To make the glaze, put the caster sugar in a saucepan with 125 ml water and boil over a high heat for about 5 minutes. Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Coarsely chop the couverture, gradually add it to the syrup and stir until it is a thick liquid.
• Pour all the lukewarm glaze over the surface of the cake at once and spread it quickly with a palette. Leave the glaze to set for a few hours. Garnish the Sachertorte with unsweetened whipped cream.

The invention of the sacher cake

The story of the sacher cake began in 1832: Clemens Wenzel Lothar Prince von Metternich commissioned his court kitchen to serve a very special dessert to his guests on the occasion of a festivity. But because the head chef suddenly fell ill, the 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher had to step in. He promptly created his variation of a chocolate cake, the forerunner of today's sacher cake, which was well received by the host and guests, but to which no further attention was paid.

When Franz Sacher went into business for himself 12 years later and opened a delicatessen and wine shop in Vienna's Weihburggasse in 1848, Franz Sacher's "chocolate cake" finally became a bestseller and achieved local fame. However, the Sacher cake was only perfected by his eldest son. During his apprenticeship at the imperial and royal court confectioner Demel, Eduard Sacher created the Viennese speciality in the form we know today. It was offered both at Demel and at the Hotel Sacher, which was founded in 1876.