Sacher Torte – Vienna's Classic Chocolate Cake
·Prepare the tin
Prepare a springform cake tin, 26 cm in diameter. Grease the sides with butter and dust with fine plain flour. Cut out a circle of baking paper slightly larger than the base of the tin.
Assemble the tin
Open up the springform tin, set the ring aside (haha), and lay the baking paper on the base. Fit the ring back around it and close it up. The tin is now ready to use.
Egg foam, chocolate and whites
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Add the butter and mix thoroughly. In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs with the sugar until foamy. Carefully pour the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
Fold into the chocolate mixture
Once the egg whites are whisked to stiff peaks, fold them gently into the chocolate mixture, alternating with the flour. Do this in about three additions.
Position the 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 of the oven.
For an even rise
Place 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 fully.
Bake
Bake at 200°C for a further twenty minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 15–30 minutes. Every oven bakes a little differently, so keep an eye on the cake and after 45 minutes in total, check with a skewer to see if it's done.
Turn out and weigh down if needed
Done! Turn the cake out onto a wire rack so that the top (from baking) is now facing down, and let it cool completely until the next day. If it did dome up in the middle, turn it out onto the rack and weigh it down. I weighed mine down with a wooden board and a pot.
Apricot glaze
Make the glaze by simmering the apricot jam together with rum until it thickens slightly.
Filling and coating the cake
The next day, slice the cake horizontally once or twice. Spread the filling between the layers. Coat the top of the cake (take your time here, as any unevenness will show through the chocolate icing) and the sides too. Let it cool again for at least a few hours.
Icing
You'll need a candy thermometer for this. In a saucepan, make a sugar syrup from sugar and water, using the thermometer to guide you. Stop cooking once the syrup reaches 110°C. If you're doing this without a thermometer, cook the sugar until it thickens noticeably.
Smooth chocolate icing
Once the sugar syrup has reached the right consistency and temperature, add the broken-up chocolate. Stir gradually but thoroughly. You can warm it slightly over low heat to get a smooth, fine, fairly runny chocolate icing. Pour it over the cake immediately.
Dip the knife when slicing
Leave the cake in a cool place until the chocolate icing has set. Slice with a sharp knife, dipping it in hot water before each cut so the icing doesn't crack.