WHO COOKED THAT UP?

  J. J. Schnebel wonders...

For more than a hundred and fifty years it has been considered by many as the world's most sophisticated chocolate pastry, and the man who cooked it up was named Franz Sacher (pronounced "ZAHker") when he was 16 years old and working as an apprentice in a pastry shop in Vienna.   At the time Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859), a famous and powerful European diplomat, had tired of the usual whipped cream creations called "tortes" that were often served in Vienna, and in 1832 he gave word for his favorite pastry chef to come up with something different for a special occasion.   Unfortunately, the chef had fallen ill on the day the pastry was needed, and the task fell to Franz Sacher (1816-1907) to fulfill the request.   With the daring and enthusiasm of youth, he came up with a totally new taste in pastry -- two layers of a slightly bitter chocolate cake with a puree of apricot jam connecting them, and completely covered in a shiny dark chocolate glaze.   For traditionalists, he added a dollop of the ubiquitous whipped cream Austrians call "schlagober" to the side of the cake, and that's the proper way to serve the pastry even today

The cake was an immediate success and the Sacher Torte became popular throughout Vienna, where Franz Sacher continued making it.  In 1876 his son Eduard Sacher opened the Hotel Sacher across from the Opera House in Vienna and continued the tradition of serving the torte his father created. Today pastry chefs all over the world know and serve the Sacher torte, but in Vienna, although the cake is made in countless cafes and bake shops,  there are only two places where, by law, they are permitted to write the name "Sacher" on the cake (in chocolate of course) ---  at the Cafe Sacher in the Hotel Sacher and at Demel's Coffee house, where they serve a slightly different version of the recipe created and sold to them by Franz Sacher.

Now, here's the surprise.  Countless number of people have been to Vienna, sampled the Sacher torte there, and report that "it's dry --  it tastes like sawdust."  Recently,  that comment has been echoed several times over in a  Fodor forum on the subject.  Nevertheless, despite the fact that the original may well be an acquired taste, there are many adaptations and imitations that are delicious and give the torte an enviable worldwide reputation.

It has been said that there are 32 steps in the preparation of an authentic Sacher torte, but in preparation for this page I managed to cut the number of steps to a little more than half that amount.   I also substituted semi sweet chocolate for the bitter variety used in most European recipes.  For the glaze, I was delighted to find the extra-rich Scharffen Berger brand available locally as well as on the internet.  It may not be quite like the one you'd get in Vienna, but, provided you like dark chocolate, I think you'll like it.

For the Filling
1/2 cup apricot jam
2 teaspoons water

For the Glaze
4/5 of a bar of Scharffen Berger Semisweet Baking Chocolate
(about 7 3/4 ounces)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

For Garnish
Additional 1 cup whipping cream
powdered (confectioners) sugar (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Bring egg whites to room temperature.

Butter a 9 inch round cake pan.  Cut out a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom, and then butter that too. (You can use a greased springform pan if you have one.)
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place about an inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler and place it over low heat.  With a large knife chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top portion of the double boiler.  Add the butter to the chocolate.  Do not let the top portion of the double boiler touch the water, but let the mixture melt together gently, stirring occasionally.  Set aside to cool.

Gently whisk the egg yolks and stir them into the cooled chocolate mixture.
Add the vanilla flavoring.  Set this aside.

In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium to high speed until they form soft peaks.  Gradually add the sugar -- about a Tablespoon at a time -- to the egg whites and beat at high speed for about 4 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold one cup of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining egg white mixture.  Do not overfold.

Sift flour over mixture and gently fold it in.  Do not stir, just gently fold it all in.

Pour and spread mixture into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean (about 30-35 minutes).

Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Cover a cooky sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.
Remove cake from pan by reversing it onto rack.  Remove the parchment paper from the bottom and place cake on rack in the center of the foil-covered cooky sheet or pan.  Allow cake to cool completely.

Add water to apricot jam and puree in a blender or stir and push through a sieve to remove lumps.

With a serrated knife cut the completely cooled cake horizontally, forming two layers.
(Place top portion just to side of bottom portion so that you can reassemble cake easily).

Spread pureed apricot jam over bottom layer of cake; replace top layer.

Chop baking chocolate and place in top of double boiler over water at low heat.
In a heavy saucepan heat cream just to simmering.  Allow both pans to cool and when chocolate and cream read 115-220 degrees F on a candy thermometer,  whisk the chocolate into the cream until thoroughly blended.   Pour the chocolate glaze (icing, or "ganache") over the cake.  Let it drip down the sides and onto the foil below the rack.  With a cake spatula smooth the icing across the top and down the sides.  [Note: the drippings can be refrigerated, rolled into balls and covered with cocoa powder to serve as"'truffles."]

Place the cake on a plate and let it cool completely.  Refrigerate it covered with a dome or bowl, but remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving.

For garnish (schlagobers), whip additional cream with or without powdered sugar   (depending on how sweet you like it).

Cut cake into wedges and serve with whipped cream along side.  Serves 8-10.

Who Cooked That Up? is copyrighted 2005 by J.J. Schnebel
all rights reserved for your pleasure and enlightenment

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