How can I forget this rich chocolate cake from Wien! Wien was the first city I visited in Europe. It was Christmas time. And of course I dropped by Hotel Sacher to taste this famous cake with coffee. I loved tasting Sachertorte at the bright hotel bar with friendly hotel staff.

Enjoy this lovely combination of chocolate cake, dark chocolate glazing, and apricot jam at home. It has a German name but making it at home is easier than you think! ;-)

Wiener Sacher Torte Recipe

Serving 8 persons
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Assembling time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

90 g unsalted butter, softened
70 g confectioner’s sugar
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
90 g dark chocolate, melted in bain-marie
90 g all-purpose flour, sifted
70 g caster sugar

For filling:
140 g apricot jam

For glazing:
100 g dark chocolate
20 g butter
30 g confectioner’s sugar

To serve:
Whipped cream, optional

Method

Preparation Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper.

Make cake batter In a mixing bowl mix the butter and confectioner’s sugar with spatula until homogeneously combined. Stir in egg yolks one by one and melted dark chocolate. When well-combined, pour in sifted flour and fold just until moistened; set aside.

Make French meringue In another bowl beat the egg whites and caster sugar until they form soft and shiny peaks.

Combine the two mixtures above Vigorously stir in one-third of egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Very gently fold in the whole chocolate mixture into egg white mixture not to break meringue.

Bake Fill the pan with the batter and level the surface with spatula. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake domes in the center. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed with fingers.

Cool Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then invert the cake on the rack and remove the parchment paper. Let it cool completely.

Assembly With a long serrated knife, trim the top of the cake to make it level. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Spread apricot jam on the bottom layer and place the other layer on top.

Make the glaze For glazing, melt the dark chocolate and butter in bain-marie (or in double boiler) stirring delicately until homogeneous. Be careful not to incorporate air. Add in confectioner’s sugar and mix well. On a wire rack, pour the warm chocolate glaze over the center of the cake. Spread it over the top evenly with a spatula and let cool until the glaze is set. Serve with whipped cream, optional.

 

Notes

Sacher is the name of inventor, Austrian confectioner. Torte means cake in German. Sachertorte was invented in 1832 for Austrian Prince Wenzel von Metternich.

More personal stories

I didn’t know Hotel Sacher was one of the best hotels in Wien. A friend of mine told me that   her husband stayed at that hotel whenever he visits Wien. Then I just realized the hotel was the best because his company always offered him the very best things in life. Anyway  I loved Wien very much and I saw many Asian girls carrying a violin, a viola, or a cello on the main strasses there. So I called my mom and shouted “I want to study in Wien!” on the phone. But later I chose France and Switzerland instead of Austria!