Sacher -Torte is a chocolate cake, or torte of Austrian origin, invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich in Vienna. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties.

Ingredients:

Cake:

130 g of dark couverture chocolate (min. 55% cocoa content)

1 Vanilla Pod

150 g softened butter

100g Icing sugar

6 Eggs

100 g Castor sugar

140 g Plain wheat flour

Other:

Fat and flour for springform

200 g apricot jam

200 g castor sugar

150 g dark couverture chocolate (min. 55% cocoa content)

Unsweetend whipped cream to garnish

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 170°C. Line the base of a springform with baking paper, grease the sides, and dust with a little flour.

Melt couverture over boiling water. Let cool slightly.

Slit vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Using a hand mixer with whisks, beat the softened butter with the icing sugar and vanilla seeds until bubbles appear.

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks into the butter mixture one by one. Now gradually add melted couverture chocolate. Beat the egg whites with the castor sugar until stiff, then place on top of the butter and chocolate mixture. Sift the flour over the mixture, then fold in the flour and beaten egg whites.

Transfer the mixture to the springform, smooth the top, and bake in the oven (middle rack) for 10–15 minutes, leaving the oven door a finger's width ajar. Then close the oven and bake for approximately 50 minutes. (The cake is done when it yields slightly to the touch.)

Remove the cake from the oven and loosen the sides of the springform. Carefully tip the cake onto a cake rack lined with baking paper and let cool for approximately 20 minutes. Then pull off the baking paper, turn the cake over, and leave on rack to cool completely.

Cut the cake in half horizontally. Warm the jam and stir until smooth. Brush the top of both cake halves with the jam and place one on top of the other. Brush the sides with the jam as well.

To make the glaze, put the castor sugar into a saucepan with 125 ml water and boil over high heat for approximately 5 minutes. Take the sugar syrup off the stove and leave to cool a little. Coarsely chop the couverture, gradually adding it to the syrup, and stir until it forms a thick liquid (see tip below).

TIPP - HOW TO TEST WHETHER THE GLAZE HAS THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY

Let a little of the glaze run over a wooden cooking spoon. It should now be covered by a layer of glaze approximately 4 mm thick. If the glaze is too thick, add a few drops of sugar syrup to dilute it (to do so, loosen any remaining sugar in the saucepan with a little hot water). Make sure the glaze does not get too hot, or it will be dull when cooked and not glossy.

Pour all the lukewarm glaze liquid at once over the top of the cake and quickly spread using a palette knife. Leave the glaze to set for a few hours. Serve garnished with whipped cream.

This recipe was courtesy from Sacher