August 04

Franz Sacher's Birthday
 
In 1832 Austria's minister of foreign affairs, Prince Metternich, ordered his court's kitchen to create a special dessert for a dinner to be attended by high-ranking guests. Dass er mir aber keine Schand' macht, heut' Abend! ("Let there be no shame on me tonight!"), he is reported to have declared. Unfortunately, on the day of the dinner the chief cook of Metternich's household was taken ill, and the task of preparing the dessert had to be passed to Franz Sacher, then in his second-year of apprenticeship at the palace. The result was the magnificent chocolate cake  In a moment of unbridled egoism over his creation the sixteen-year-old apprentice signed his name in spun sugar  over the chocolate icing.  The torte was an instantaneous hit and the following day, all Vienna was discussing the Sachertorte.
 
  
 


Franz's family was anxious to capitalize on the notoriety and popularity of ther son's creation and opened Sacher's, a pastry shop which featured the Sachertorte. However, Demel's, Vienna's most popular pastry shop. had also been featuring another version of the cake which they claimed was the original Sachertorte. Sacher's version was a three-layer chocolate cake with the layers coated with both apricot and raspberry jams. Demel's version was a single layer cake coated with apricot jam and chocolate. The legal battle over which version could be called Sachertorte lasted several years with Sacher's the victor.

The cake at Demel is now called "Demels Sachertorte" and differs from the "Original" in that there is no layer of apricot jam in the middle of the cake, but directly underneath the chocolate cover, covering the entire cake. In 1876. Franz's son, Eduard, opened the Hotel Sacher near the State Opera House in Vienna, and the Sachertorte, the secret recipe of which he had inherited, played an important role in spreading the fame of the hotel.  Because of its proximity to the Opera House, all the suites are named after operas and composers (e.g., La Traviata, Carmen, Idomeneo, The Magic Flute, Madame Butterfly, Nabucco, Rigoletto, Leonard Bernstein, etc.) The new suites on the top floor of the building feature the name of contemporary operas such as Lulu and Billy Budd.

Elisabeth Gurtler took over the reins of the Hotel Sacher group in 1990, following the death of her husband.  When asked about her secret recipe for Sachertorte, she was quoted as explaining ,  "Aside from me, only my pastry chef and his assistant know the recipe, which is kept in a safe," and said "All that I can say is that we use butter, sugar, eggs, flour, chocolate and jam," she said coyly, adding that ingredients are "all natural" and all from Austria -- except for the chocolate that comes from Belgium and Germany."

Here is what we believe is the closest approximation of the original recipe which we suggest making to celebrate Franz's birthday. Our recommended film is Hotel Sacher (1939) which is in German with no subtitles. However, you can cheat and watch a clip from the film on YouTube.

Sachertorte

 

Special Equipment

1 8" springform cakepan
parchment paper
 
Cake Ingredients
 		 Icing Ingredients
 
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2TB sugar
4 oz melted dark Belgian chocolate
1 tsp vanilla
1/2  cup vegetable oil
1/4 cp grated almonds
3/4 cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
6 eggs; separated
4 TB apricot jam
4 TB raspberry jam		 2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
13 oz finely chopped dark Belgian chocolate







 

Instructions
 

  
  1. Preheat oven to  350º F.
  2. Grease and line two 8"springform cake pan with  circles of greased parchment paper.
  3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with the water in a double boiler (over hot water).
  4. Separate egg whites and egg yolks. With an electric mixer whisk the eggs whites until forming stiff peaks, add gradually half of the sugar while mixing.
  5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar for one minute using the electric mixer. Add gradually the vegetable oil, one tablespoon at a time, whisk well between each time oil has been added.
  6. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Transfer to the bowl containing the whisked egg whites.
  7. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add almonds vanilla extract. Fold everything carefully together using a spoon or a rubber spatula.
  8. Transfer to the cake tin and bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 45 to 60 minutes.
  9. Leave the cake to cool in the tin, it is recommended to place it into a refrigerator for at least one hour before slicing. When completely cold, unmold the cake, and slice the cake through the middle to make two layers.
  10. Use the apricot jam sandwich the two layers together. Coat the torte thinly with the raspberry the jam. If possible, wrap the cake with plastic and put it into the refrigerator for 1-3 days before adding the chocolate icing.
  11. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter in a double boiler (over hot water).
  12. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, and spread it evenly over the torte.
  13. Place the torte in the refrigerator to harden the frosting.

Serves 8
 
© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes