Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sacher Torte
"A little too much chocolate is just about right".
I have no idea who said this, but it just about sums up my version of the Sacher Torte. The Original Sachertorte (and this is a registered trademark!) was made way back in 1832 in Austria and the recipe is a closely guarded secret. Sold exclusively in Vienna and Salzburg, I have never tasted it and so I have no way of telling whether the recipe I followed mirrors the original in taste and texture.
That said, believe me, this was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever made (and eaten). Dense, moist and very chocolatey, this cake is pure indulgence!
I have no idea who said this, but it just about sums up my version of the Sacher Torte. The Original Sachertorte (and this is a registered trademark!) was made way back in 1832 in Austria and the recipe is a closely guarded secret. Sold exclusively in Vienna and Salzburg, I have never tasted it and so I have no way of telling whether the recipe I followed mirrors the original in taste and texture.
That said, believe me, this was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever made (and eaten). Dense, moist and very chocolatey, this cake is pure indulgence!
Sacher Torte
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate - 100 gms (I used Varlhona feve Equatorial 55%)
Water - 225 ml
Butter - 125 gms
Dark brown sugar - 250 gms
Eggs - 3, separated
Self raising flour - 150 gms
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Cocoa - 25 gms
Powdered almonds - 60 gms
Method:
Mix the chocolate and water and heat till the chocolate melts. set aside and cool. Sift the flour, baking powder and the cocoa.
Cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the chocolate mixture; then add the powdered almonds.
Beat the eggs white till soft peaks form and fold into the batter.
Pre-heat the oven to 160 deg C for ten minutes, grease and line a 9" cake pan with baking paper and bake the cake for an hour and 1o mins - oven temperatures vary, mine took only 50 mins, so do check when the aroma gets irrestible!
The recipe (adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly) like the Original Sachertorte calls for apricot jam to sandwich the two cake layers. But apparently, I wanted more chocolate and so I sandwiched the layers with Eggless Chocolate Mousse.
Eggless chocolate mousse:
Dark chocolate - 100 gms (I used Varlhona feve Equatorial 55%)
Water - 225 ml
Butter - 125 gms
Dark brown sugar - 250 gms
Eggs - 3, separated
Self raising flour - 150 gms
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Cocoa - 25 gms
Powdered almonds - 60 gms
Method:
Mix the chocolate and water and heat till the chocolate melts. set aside and cool. Sift the flour, baking powder and the cocoa.
Cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the chocolate mixture; then add the powdered almonds.
Beat the eggs white till soft peaks form and fold into the batter.
Pre-heat the oven to 160 deg C for ten minutes, grease and line a 9" cake pan with baking paper and bake the cake for an hour and 1o mins - oven temperatures vary, mine took only 50 mins, so do check when the aroma gets irrestible!
The recipe (adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly) like the Original Sachertorte calls for apricot jam to sandwich the two cake layers. But apparently, I wanted more chocolate and so I sandwiched the layers with Eggless Chocolate Mousse.
Eggless chocolate mousse:
Dark chocolate - 75 gms
Cocoa Powder/Coffee powder - 1 tbsp, sifted
Fresh cream - 175 ml
Icing sugar - 5 tbsp
Gelatine powder - 1 1/4 tsp
Water* - 3 tbsps
Vanilla Essence or Rum essence - 11/2 tsp
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, set aside and cool. Mix the gelatine with water and let it bloom, then melt it over a double boiler.
Beat the cream and icing sugar till stiff peaks form. Add the cooled, melted chocolate, the cocoa powder, the gelatine and the essence. Beat till the mixture starts to thicken. Transfer into the fridge for about an hour.
You can really play around with this mousse - use orange juice in place of water and also add some orange rind for a chocolate orange mousse. Or add any liqueur of your choice. Or replace coffee powder with cocoa powder - just blend it with some milk.
Wait..there is some more chocolate coming your way....the topping! Move over chocolate ganache..this truffle icing is truly decadent and leaves a lovely sheen on top.
Chocolate Truffle icing
Dark chocolate - 125 gms
Butter - 60 gms
Fresh cream - 4 tbsps
Vanilla/Rum essence - 1 tsp (use the same flavouring that you use for the mousse)
Melt the chocolate over a doulble boiler, add the butter and stir till the butter melts. Let it cool, then add the cream and the essence and stir vigorously. Set it aside for about 30 mins (longer if you live in a hot humid place like Singapore) to let the icing thicken.
Assembling the cake :
Sandwich the cake with the mousse and coat the top and sides with the icing. Decorate as you wish.
Serve with unsweetened whipped cream or with vanilla ice - cream.
This is going over to JZ who is hosting Let's Go Nuts - Almonds.
And since it is obvious I love chocolate so much, I want share it with another chocolate lover, Poornima, who is hosting For the love of chocolate.
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beautiful! Choclates and almonds, what more does one want.
ReplyDeleteWow beautifully deocrated.
ReplyDeleteSmmoth and smooth.
This is one of my favourite cake.
The best one i had is , when i was once in germany and this looks so like that one. Delicious, wish i had double portion from this cake.
lovely presentation! well decorated one!
ReplyDeleteOmg..This is so b'ful..A perfect chocolate treat!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cake Aqua..wat a lovely presentation...Am just drooling rite now here...SO beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteHow perfect is that cake. Smooth icing and wonderful rosette piped on. You could sell these cakes to others ans make loads of money. Good one! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG do u own a bakery? It is stunning!
ReplyDeleteWOW...I could kill for that:)...love sacher torte, I had it long back at a party, ur right, one couldn't ask for more chocolate. U've iced it beautifully. Thanks for the lovely entry.
ReplyDeletethatz gorgeous. Iam drooling, thaytz all I can say right now
ReplyDeleteAre they for real???Looks super scrummy Aqua..don think anything can be more choclatey..Great one..!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful execution, aqua!! its amazing....its been a while since i did any cakes, i wanna do one now!!! ;-)
ReplyDeletethanks for sending it to lets go nuts :almonds!!
That's really perfect! Lovely click and chocolatee..! do send some tomatish recipies to my FIL-Tomato by 31st..!:)
ReplyDeleteyes this is what i had been waiting for! your cakes!! just read about this in Gera's Blog.. I really amaze when i see miracles like this:-) keep it up!
ReplyDeletethe cake looks incredibly beautiful. would love to have.. who wouldn't love chocolate?
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous cake....can I grab a bite....plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
ReplyDeleteSuperb presentation...love to have one piece.
ReplyDeletewow ! u have nice blog ..
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting me and ur comment:) Thanks keep visiting
happy cooking
mangala
Yours looks lovely... And, if it's dense and moist, probably much better than the original. I've had it a few times, at the Sacher, and I thought it was rather dry.... I prefer the rival Imperial Torte. (Ooops, I see the food slander police coming my way... gotta run)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake !
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your visit to my blog (for Soma too!) and for this awesome Sacher Torte!
ReplyDeleteLove to see another great recipe that surely tastes excellent or better like the original one :)
All the best!
Gera
Gosh, how gorgeous is that!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, just perfect. This is one of professional standards. You can send it to the www.ifood.tv -baking event too.
ReplyDeleteCan't just get over this, it is lovely.
now, I would have sworn I had left my own comment here yesterday in response to all your sweet ones...wonder where that disappeared!
ReplyDeleteISG, Happy cook, Madhumati,Hema, Priya, - thank you so much!
Asha, I do take orders - but very rarely.
Cham, I dont have a bakery, wish I did, I really love doing this :)
Soma, thanks for pointing me to Gera's blog :)
Deesha, Poornima, Purva, JZ, A_N, Varsha, Mahimaa, Ann, Usha, Mangala thanks!
vandana, thanks for the info, will send it there!
katiez, i am really happy to hear that :)
gera, thanks for visiting, hope to see you often
sanghi, will certainly try and send something - I am really running late this month for some other events, but will post something soon
holy smokes, that is one beautiful looking cake.
ReplyDeletethis is so gorgeous :) and given that it has chocolate is different forms, i am sure it would be a real treat :)
ReplyDelete