Sachertorte

Hotel Sacher’s published Sachertorte approximation combines chocolate cake, apricot jam and a chocolate glaze, with unsweetened whipped cream to garnish. The hotel links its cake’s story to Franz Sacher in Austria and expressly describes this public recipe as an approximation.

Butter is beaten with icing sugar and scraped vanilla seeds, then receives egg yolks and melted dark couverture. Egg whites are beaten stiff with caster sugar and folded in with plain wheat flour.

The baked cake cools completely before it is cut horizontally. Warmed, smoothed apricot jam coats the tops of both halves and the sides of the stacked cake.

Caster sugar and water are boiled into a syrup, cooled slightly and mixed with chopped couverture for the glaze. A small addition of syrup can thin an overly thick glaze.

The lukewarm glaze is poured over the cake and quickly spread, then left to set. Whipped cream accompanies the finished cake, completing the contrast between the chocolate-and-apricot layers and the cream garnish.