Sachertorte

The Sachertorte is a dessert coming from Vienna, and it was made for Prince Metternich and his guests. It’s a chocolate dessert with an apricot jam filling, and a ganache on top :-) My ganache does not really shine (!), and you will be able to see imperfections, but I did not want to threw away the ganache and make it again! The result is absolutely delicious even if the ganache is not very photogenic! It’s a really delicious dessert and quite easy to make! You just need to know how to make meringue and that’s all! Give it a try, you worth it and it sure worth the try!

In two words:

“Years are just like wind blows, and we are the leaves that they take with them”

To Start...

difficulty a bit of technique is required
preparation10’ (to prepare the ingredients) + necessary time to chill the cake + 20’ (in the refrigerator to fix the assembled cake) + 10’(to fix everything together)
cooking - 35′
serves - 8 small parts (15cm de Ø mold)  

Ingredients

for the cake
  • 60gr of dark chocolate (70%)
  • 65gr of all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon of fleur de sel or coarse salt
  • 1 pinch of cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of baking powder
  • 60gr of butter (soften)
  • 15gr of confectioner’s sugar (*)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 65gr of caster sugar
for the filling
  • 85gr of apricot jam
for the syrup with rum
  • 45gr of caster sugar
  • 55gr of water
  • 1 + ½ teaspoons of rum
for the ganache
  • 115gr of dark chocolate (70% cacao)
  • 20gr of butter
  • 75gr of heavy cream

Steps

before starting

  • The day before (or several hours before) get the cake butter out of the refrigerator to soften in room temperature

for the cake

  • Preheat the oven at 160°C
  • Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, and let it cool down a little bit
  • Dans un bol, ajoutez :
    • the flour
    • the salt,
    • the cinnamon,
    • the baking powder
  • Stir everything together with a whisk
  • Separate the egg yolks from the whites
  • In a bowl, beat with an electric hand mixer the butter at first, and then add the sieved confectioner’s sugar in batches
  • Add the egg yolks one-by-one, and continue to beat after each addition
  • Add the slightly chilled chocolate, and continue to beat
  • Add the flour (passed over a sieve) by batches, and continue to beat after each addition
  • In another bowl, add the egg whites and just a little bit of fine salt
  • Start beating the egg whites, and when they start to getting stiff, add the caster sugar slowly by batches, and continue to beat
  • Stop beating when a fine stiff meringue is formed
  • Take a little bit of this meringue and add in the chocolate mix
  • Stir with a rubber spatula to soften the mix
  • Add the rest of the meringue by batches, and by stirring gently into the chocolate mix
  • Take some parchment paper and crush it in your hands to form a ball
  • Open it and cover the mold all over (**), take care to have a smooth surface over the sides of the mold
  • Pour the mix into the mold
  • Bake for 30’
  • Take the cake out of the oven, and let it cool for 20’; after that time place it in a place upside down and gently remove the parchment paper
  • The cake onto the plate should be in a way that the top will be downsides

for the syrup

  • While the cake is in the oven, prepare the syrup
  • In a small pan, add the water and the sugar
  • Heat-up the pan until the sugar has dissolved while stirring with a whisk
  • Remove from heat and let it cool
  • Add the rum, and stir

to bring everything together

  • Use a sharp knife to slice the cake in two
  • Place the upper part into a plate in a way that the upper part looks down
  • Pour the syrup onto both sides of the cake
  • Spread the jam on top of the part of the cake that did not change sides
  • Take the other part and place it above the part with the jam
  • Place the cake in the refrigerator for 20’
  • Take it out of the refrigerator and spread the ganache all over its surface
  • Place it in the refrigerator again for another 10’ to fix everything together
  • Delicious!

for the ganache

  • While the cake is in the refrigerator (around 10’), start preparing the ganache
  • Melt the chocolate in a double-boiler with the butter cut in pieces
  • Stir
  • Heat-up the heavy cream and pour it on the melted chocolate
  • Let it rest for 1’-2’
  • Use a stick blender to mix everything or use a rubber spatula to stir
  • Cover-up the cake with the ganache when out of the refrigerator

What’s the story behind this recipe?

Everybody hates Prince Metternich in Greece because he did not want the revolution against the Turks to succeed and did everything in his power in that direction. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful dessert and one thing it’s sure, you should not miss the opportunity to make it! Really!

Inspiration

The recipe of the Sachertorte as I found it in the American site food52

(*) the confectioner’s sugar should be weighted before being sieved 

(**) if some parts of the mold are not covered with parchment paper, cover them with som butter 

o-o C'est si bon ! o-o

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