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Cooking
Sacher Torte – The Classic Viennese Chocolate Cake
· 8 servings
Prepare the tin
Prepare a springform cake tin, 26 cm in diameter. Grease the sides with butter and dust with fine plain flour. Cut a circle of baking paper slightly larger than the base of the tin.
Set up the tin
Open the springform, set the ring aside for a moment (ha!), and lay the baking paper on the base of the tin. Fit the ring back around it and close it up. Your tin is now ready to use.
Egg foam, chocolate and beaten whites
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Add the butter and mix well. Using a stand mixer, whisk the eggs with the sugar until foamy. Gently pour the egg foam into the chocolate mixture, then whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Fold everything into the chocolate mixture
Once the egg whites are whipped into a stiff snow, fold them into the chocolate mixture gently, alternating with the flour. Do this in about three additions.
Position the oven rack
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and place it in the oven, preheated to 200°C, with the rack positioned in the middle.
Getting the cake to rise evenly
Put the tin in the oven but don't close the door all the way – prop it open slightly at the top with a wooden spoon. This lets the cake rise more gradually so it doesn't dome up in the middle. After ten minutes, remove the spoon and close the oven door.
Bake
Bake at 200°C for another twenty minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and continue baking for 15–30 minutes more. Every oven bakes a little differently, so keep an eye on the cake and check for doneness with a skewer after about 45 minutes total baking time.
Turn out and weigh down if needed
Done! Turn the cake out onto a wire rack so that what was the top during baking is now facing down, and let it cool completely, ideally overnight. If the middle has domed up a little, turn it onto the rack and weigh it down – I used a wooden board topped with a pot.
Apricot glaze
Make the glaze by simmering apricot jam together with rum until it thickens slightly.
Fill and coat the cake
The next day, slice the cake horizontally once or twice. Spread the glaze between the layers, then coat the top (take your time here – any unevenness will show through the chocolate icing) and the sides as well. Let it chill again for at least a couple of hours.
Chocolate icing
You'll need a candy thermometer for this. In a saucepan, cook sugar and water into a syrup, using the thermometer to check the temperature. Stop cooking once the syrup reaches 110°C. If you're working without a thermometer, cook the syrup until it has visibly thickened.
Smooth chocolate icing
Once the sugar syrup has reached the right consistency and temperature, add the broken-up chocolate. Stir gradually but quite vigorously. You can warm it briefly on the stove if needed to get a smooth, fine, fairly runny chocolate icing. Pour it over the cake immediately.
Dip the knife while slicing
Leave the cake in a cool place until the chocolate icing has set firm. Slice with a sharp knife, dipping it in hot water before each cut so the icing doesn't crack.