Sachertorte; Austrian-style rich fluffy chocolate cake sandwiched with sweet apricot jam and drenched in smooth dark chocolate ganache.
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No chocolate cake seems to divide opinion like the sachertorte.
Some consider it: a true classic European cake; a sophisticated way to eat chocolate; and one of Austria’s finest culinary creations.
Others consider it: an overrated and underwhelming dessert; devoid of much of the chocolate and apricot flavour it contains; and dry and depressing as chocolate cake goes.
Prefer to watch rather than read? Sachertorte recipe video is available here!
It’s undoubtedly a traditional treat across continental Europe. While less famous where I’m from in Scotland, I can attest that it’s a big deal in Austria and much-loved by Italians too. Today I want to assure you that while it’s perhaps not what everyone expects when they take a bite, it deserves its place in cake history.
It’s not the sickly-sweet chocolate cake you may be used to if you’re reading this in the UK or the USA. You’ll find it darker and deeper but somehow also less-heavy.
Invented some time in the 1800s (allegedly in the Hotel Sacher, hence the name), the sachertorte has two main flavour components: chocolate and apricot. It typically consists of an egg-white leavened light chocolate cake spread with smooth apricot jam and slathered in dark chocolate glaze. You’ll find a wealth of different recipes for this cake from countries all over the world. Some add cocoa powder for deeper flavour, some prefer to keep it a one-layer cake, some debate whether butter or cream is best for the base of the dark shiny glaze.
It has a thousand iterations, but the one before you today is my preferred one of all. Having made several different versions over the past two weeks, I’ve settled on this particular sachertorte recipe. I believe it has the perfect balance of moist to fluffy, of rich to light, and of chocolate to apricot.
This sachertorte sticks somewhat to tradition while just breaking them enough to appeal to contemporary palates. It only uses the natural leavening of fluffy egg whites, in place of the baking powder or bicarbonate of soda relied upon in modern baking. Additionally, this sachertorte switches the usual patisserie-style smooth apricot jam for a chunkier and more fruit-packed variety for flavour and texture. Also, cocoa powder is added in place of the flour, as the initial cake I made without it was so lacking in chocolate flavour that I barely wanted to finish eating a single slice.
The most important ingredient, as is always the case in chocolate-heavy desserts, is good chocolate. Having used cheap supermarket chocolate for the first bash, to save waste and embarrassment upon the inevitable failure, I knew that high-quality chocolate would be an immediate improvement. It always is. If you ever want to level-up your baking without any extra effort, use good chocolate!
Thanks to the lovely team at Willie’s Cacao, I was gifted some bags of their cooking chocolate to play with. As expected, this stuff is not only delicious but ideal for baking.
In this sachertorte I used their 70% dark Chulucanas cooking chocolate drops. The chocolate has a rich, tangy, and almost fruity flavour that becomes creamy as it melts. You’ll find they come in handy resealable 1kg bags, and can be used for all kinds of sweet and savoury purposes. With this recipe, I melted it straight into the cake batter, and made it the main driver of the smooth ganache glaze too. It’s amazing how professional it can make a simple dessert taste.
I’ve loved eating chocolate from Willie’s Cacao for years now. They are frontrunners of the UK craft chocolate market, ensuring ethical environmental and labour practices in their bean-to-bar process. It’s chocolate you can truly feel good about snacking on or baking with, and it’s worlds apart from the nasty bitter dark chocolate you’ll often find in supermarkets!
If you’d like to try some of their cooking chocolate for yourself, you can find it here.
I really hope you’ll enjoy this sachertorte recipe as much as we have, and thanks as always for popping by.
Want to save this sachertorte recipe for later? You can pin the image below!
To make this sachertorte, simply follow the recipe below:
Ingredients
For the sachertorte:
- 90g (3 oz) dark chocolate (I use Willie’s Cacao 70% Chulucanas)
- 90g (6 tbsp) soft salted butter
- 4 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites
- 125g (1 cup) icing sugar
- 50g (scant ½ cup) plain flour
- 15g (1 tbsp) cocoa powder
For filling and decorating:
- 100g (6 tbsp) apricot jam, ideally with high fruit content
- 150ml (generous ½ cup) double or whipping cream
- 100g (3 ½ oz) dark chocolate, plus extra for decorating (I use Willie’s Cacao 70% Chulucanas)
Instructions
For the sachertorte:
- Preheat your oven – 160 C / 140 C fan / 320 F / gas mark 3 – and grease and line a 18cm (7 in) round springform cake tin.
- Melt your dark chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl, either over a pan of simmering water or in short blasts in the microwave. Once smooth, set aside to cool slightly.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the butter with a whisk or wooden spoon until it’s pale and fluffy.
- Add each egg yolk to the butter one at a time, beating thoroughly in between each addition until it the mixture is smooth and golden. Set aside for a moment.
- With either a regular or electric whisk, beat the egg whites vigorously in a separate large bowl until holding soft white peaks.
- One tablespoon at a time, add in your sugar. Continue whisking until the mixture holds glossy but droopy peaks.
- Add your cooled melted chocolate and one third of your egg white mixture into your butter mixture and stir thoroughly to loosen and combine.
- Add the remaining egg white mixture, and sift over the flour and cocoa.
- Gently fold all the cake ingredients together until smoothly combined into an airy chocolate cake batter. (Try not to stir too much though, as this can knock out the air and result in a heavy cake!)
- Pour the cake mixture into your prepared tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until well-risen. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should be cleanly removed once it’s ready!
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely in its tin.
For filling and decorating:
- Once your cake has cooled to room temperature, carefully use a sharp serrated knife to halve it along the centre to create two thinner cakes.
- Slather one half with the apricot jam, and sandwich it with the remaining cake half.
- In a small saucepan over a low heat, warm the cream until just hot to the touch and gently steaming.
- Pour the hot cream over your dark chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Stir the chocolate and cream mixture gently until it becomes a glossy, smooth chocolate ganache.
- Place your cake on a wire rack (or anything that will allow chocolatey drips to escape) over a wide plate.
- Pour your chocolate ganache over your cooled, sandwiched cake and allow gravity to pull the ganache evenly over the top and sides.
- Allow the cake to set for 15-20 minutes before moving to your serving plate.
- Sprinkle over some chopped chocolate, or decorate however you like.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not break tradition and try a different kind of jam in the centre, like raspberry or blackcurrant?
This sachertorte will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container or on a covered cake stand. In fact, some say it tastes better after a few days than fresh!
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