Sacher Torte

In aid of my birthday this week, I wanted to challenge myself to another bake I've never done before. Invented by Franz Sacher in 1832, this Austrian cake is one of the most delectable (and calorific) cakes imaginable.

I mean, look at the sheer amount of chocolate & eggs that go into this cake!

If you scroll down to the recipe below, it might look like there are a lot of steps to make this cake, but it's actually not too complex. I broke it down into 3 steps. First, mixing the butter, sugar, egg yolks and chocolate together.

Next was the hardest part - whisking the egg whites and folding them, along with flour, into the butter/chocolate mixture. I really struggled with getting the egg whites to turn to stiff peaks. I do not know why but I must have mixed them with an electric hand whisk for almost 30minutes but they only reached frothy/soft peak consistency. Maybe because of the volume of egg white.

I baked it (it rose a little, but not too much, so I just chopped the top off to make it evenish.)

And the last part - making the icing. I've never made glossy icing before so this was a new experience for me. Whisking in icing sugar to chocolate over hot water was the most challenging part - I got icing sugar all over our hob!

Pouring the icing all over the cake was incredibly satisfying - dropping a single drop of water onto the finished surface leaving a lighter patch was not satisfying. Also, the heart palpitations I had as my husband kept pretending to stick a finger in the setting icing was not much fun either!!

In terms of taste, it is not as rich as I expected. It is dense though so you only need a small slice (half of what I cut above.) The apricot jam really helps with the moisture level and to cut through the dense cake. Its obviously very chocolatey which went down very well at the dance studio I frequent.

Sacher torte

175g butter

175g icing sugar

6 eggs, seperated

175g plain chocolate

2-3 drops vanilla essence

150g plain flour, sifted

about 125ml apricot jam, warmed

150g plain chocolate

125g icing sugar, sifted

2 1/2 tsp glycerine

Line a 20cm loose bottom cake tin. Set oven to 180C/gas 4

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add 100g of the icing sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Melt the chocolate with 2 tbsp water in a heatproof bowl over hot water. Stir into the cake misture with the vanilla essence.

In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Beat in the remaining icing sugar and continue beating until stiff but not dry. Fold into the chocolate mixture alternately with the sifted flour, adding about a tablespoon of each at a time.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and set the tin on a baking sheet. With the back of a spoon, make a slight depression in the centre of the cake to ensure even rising. Bake for 1-1 1/4 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake in the tin for a few minutes, then leave to cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Split the cake in half and brush with the cut sides with warmed apricot jam. Sandwich the layers together again and glaze the top and sides of the cake with jam. Set aside.

Make the icing by melting the chocolate with 5 tbsp water in a heatproof bowl over hot water. Stir in the icing sugar and whisk in the glycerine, preferably using a balloon whisk.

Pour the icing over the cake, letting it run down the sides. If necessary use a metal spatula warmed in hot water to smooth the surface. Avoid touching the cake or the gloss will be lost. Serve when the icing has set. Do not chill.