Sacher Torte

Sacher Torte is a chocolate cake which is invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties. This cake basically consists of two layers of dense, not overly sweet chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle and dark chocolate icing with shreds of chocolate on the top and sides. It is traditionally served with whipped cream without any sugar in it, as most Viennese consider the Sacher Torte is too "dry" to be eaten on its own.

I've made this torte last week for my sister's birthday dinner. Unfortunately, the chococate icing on the top and sides turned up to be too sweet. The recipe i've found uses all-purpose flour but the result of the torte is not very spongy, so you could try using cake flour instead.





Ingredients:

6 Egg(separated)
5 oz Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Butter
1-1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Cake Flour or All-purpose flour
4 Tbs Apricot jam



For Chocolate Icing:
5 oz Chocolate
4 oz. Granulated sugar
1/4 cup Water
1/4 tsp Butter(melted)



Note: I've used the mixture of dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and milk chocolate, as I don't really like the bitterness of dark chocolate. You could choose the type of chocolate according to your own preferences. If you prefer milk chocolate, don't forget to reduce the amount of sugar.



Method:

1. Let egg whites stand at room temperature in a very large bowl for 30 minutes.



2. Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.



3. Melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat; cool. Stir egg yolks and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Set mixture aside.



4. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating about 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight).



5. Fold about 1 cup of the egg white mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg white mixture. Sift about one-third of the flour over the egg mixture; gently fold in. (If the bowl is too full, transfer mixture to a larger bowl.) Repeat twice, sifting and folding in one-third of the flour at a time.



6. Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 175 degree C oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Completely cool cake in the pan on a wire rack. Remove sides of pan. Brush crumbs from edges of cake. Remove bottom of pan from cake.



7. To assemble, cut cake horizontally into two even layers. Place the bottom layer on a large serving plate. Spread the apricot jam on top of the cake layer on plate. Top with the second cake layer.



8. For chocolate icing, in a saucepan dissolve granulated sugar in water and then bring to boil.



9. Brush the sides of the saucepan with a brush dipped in cold water to prevent crystals forming.



10. Cook till the sugar mixture becomes thick or syrup form, than remove from fire and leave to cool.



11. Melt chocolate until soft but not hot. Add lukewarm sugar into melted chocolate, than add melted butter into chocolate icing and stir well.



12. Spread chocolate icing on the cake.