Sachertorte – Austria’s national chocolate cake
Possibly the best chocolate cake in the world!
Apricot jam, three kinds of chocolate and centuries of European money — a great recipe for any story
The trail of this heavenly, whipped cream-crowned creation meanders all the way back to the early 17th century through revolutions, family feuds and “torte wars.”
An almost accidental creation of 16-year old apprentice, Franz Sacher in 1832 — the recipe for “Official” Sachertorte chocolate cake remains a closely-guarded, family secret. No one knows whether the critical ingredient in the family’s magic formula is in the apricot filling, the chocolate sponge or the icing. Lucky sources close to the kitchen say that three kinds of imported Belgian and German chocolate are used to prevent any single individual chocolatier knowing the classified concoction.
More than 360,000 Sachertortes a year are made in Vienna almost entirely by hand and shipped all over the world. The only Sacher shop outside Austria is in Italy but we’re going to show you how to:
- assemble the “perfekt” coffee and tea collection for those inevitable “chocolate days,” and,
- make Wolfgang Puck’s Sachertorte recipe.
But first, here are fab four single-cup selections that complement Sachertorte; your own creation; or any amazingly fantastic fancy cake you can imagine by Tiffany at The Bermy Baker.
Green Mountain Dark Magic Extra BoldThis sweet, intense and vibrant blend is spellbindingly complex with the rich aromatics and flavour qualities of espresso, tailored specifically for the unique brewing parameters of a K-Cup.
WHY? Dark and magic enough to go great with Sachertorte or any chocolate cake.
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Green Mountain Dark Magic Extra Bold DECAFGreen Mountain managed to maintain the deep, dark and intense balance of the phenomenally-delicious beans that are roasted separately, then blended and then decaffeinated.
WHY? Dark, magic (and DECAF) enough to go great with Sachertorte, chocolate cake or even chocolate chip cookies.
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Marley Get Up, Stand UpWe found fruity, bright and joyful hints of apricot and lemongrass (the magic ingredient in Sachertorte) in these light-roasted, 100% organic Arabica beans from Rohan Marley.
WHY? Like Sachertorte, there are rumours and rumblings of apricot in this matching light roast.
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Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Viennese Blend“Like its French, Italian and Spanish neighbours, dark-roasted Viennese Blend from CB&TL has less caffeine than its medium and lighter-roasted cousins but a rich, full, musical flavour like the world-renowned Austrian city from whence it takes its name.”
WHY? Like these K-Cups, Sachertorte is Viennese. Like coffee and chocolate and Vienna, this is a mouthwatering magical medley.
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Austrians like their coffee strong
… so for the next three Brew News Wednesdays we’ll explore making easy Viennese-ish style coffees with your single-cup or multi-cup brewer starting with these espresso roasts and blends that you will need depending on your home or office brewer:
Lavazza Blue-brewed espresso; Nespresso espresso; Tully’s ground coffees (including their Espresso Roast) and Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Ambessa Choco Nut Tea from Harney & Sons.
Espressos from Lavazza Italian Lavazza Blue espresso brewing from Convenience Coffee is to Austrian Sachertorte as whipped cream is to chocolate cake.
Lavazza Blue
Espressos from Nespresso We stock a variety of Nespresso capsules — both for home use and Nespresso Pro commercial brewers so you can enjoy your chocolate cake and espresso almost anywhere.
Nespresso from coco.bm
Espresso from TullY’s Our Tully’s 12 oz. packaged coffees are “regular” ground so they’re great for all drip multi-cup brewers, French presses and for sharing some of your cake.
TullY’s 12 oz ground
Ambessa from Marcus Samuelsson Ambessa Choco Nut Blend tea sachets contain apricot making them perfect for pairing with Sachertorte or any torte for that matter.
Ambessa apricot tea
Wolfgang’s Sachertorte
If you can afford the flight and the time off work to grab a just-baked-filled-glazed-and-sliced piece of Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher in Wien (how Vienna is written if you’re Austrian,) we’ve included a Google map below for you — TAKE US WITH YOU PLEEEEEEASE!
If you can’t, here’s Wolfgang Puck’s Sachertorte recipe. It takes about an hour and a half to make (if you don’t drink the apricot brandy while you’re baking,) serves 8-10, and goes great with any of Chef Puck’s single cup coffees or the coffee and Ambessa Tea selections above.
Ingredients
Torte Ingredients
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
- 3 ounces butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 ounce sugar, plus 3 ounces
- 5 egg whites
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup flour, sifted
Apricot Filling Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
- 1 tablespoon apricot brandy
Glaze Ingredients
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
- 1 ounce butter
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- Whipped cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter and flour a 9″ by 2″ round cake pan.
- In a bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and melt over a double boiler. Set aside to cool.
- In a mixer, using a wire whisk, whip the egg yolks with 1 ounce sugar until light and ribbony. Beat in the chocolate mixture.
- In another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 3 ounces of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Fold in the flour and then fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining egg whites, gently but thoroughly. Pour into prepared cake pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until done. To check for doneness, insert a paring knife in center of cake. It should come out dry. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.
Creating the Apricot Filling
- Puree the apricot preserves.
- Stir in brandy.
- Slice the cake into 3 equal layers.
- Spread half of the apricot filling on the bottom layer. Top with a second layer of cake. Spread the remaining apricot filling and top with the last layer of cake.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Creating the Glaze
- In a bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Melt over a double-boiler. Bring the cream to a boil. Stir into the melted chocolate.
- Cool until it reaches glazing consistency. Spread over and around the cake.
- Chill for another 30 minutes before serving. Serve with whipped cream.
- See Sachertorte coffee pairings above or choose from this month’s #youcangettherefromhere Austrian-connected coffees & tea selections.
Origin, other sources and thanks for this Brew News edition, “Sachertorte — The World’s Best Chocolate Cake”:
- Hotel Sacher classic Sachertorte image courtesy Oz Steve 78 at Flickr
- Hotel Sacher Service courtesy W.E. Power at Flickr
- Sachertorte “uncut” courtesy María Valdéz at Flickr in Innsbruck
- Wolfgang’s Sachertorte Recipe courtesy Chef Wolfgang Puck via the Food Network
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