Sachertorte
Sachertorte is not a light cake and is not meant to be: the crumb has to be dense and slightly damp or it will not hold the glaze. Two things decide the result. The jam goes on hot, so it sets into a film the glaze can sit on. And the glaze is cooked on syrup and poured warm in one movement — spread it with a palette knife and the shine is gone for good.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 h
- Rest
- 3 h
- Total
- 4 h 45 min
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Challenging
- Per serving
- 480 kcal
Ingredients
For the sponge
For the filling
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What to use instead
Apricot preserve works in place of jam, but push it through a sieve first — fruit pieces stop the glaze lying flat.
For the glaze
Makes: One 22 cm cake, 12 slices
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
Oven
170 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 150 °C
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Step 1: Prepare the tin
Heat the oven to 170 °C. Line the base of a 22 cm springform with baking paper and leave the sides ungreased — the batter needs to climb them. Melt the chocolate for the sponge over a water bath and let it cool a little.
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Step 2: Cream the butter
With a mixer, beat the soft butter with the icing sugar and vanilla for 4–5 minutes, until pale and creamy. Add the yolks one at a time, each fully incorporated before the next, then beat in the melted chocolate.
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Step 3: Whip the whites
With a mixer, whisk the whites with the salt to soft foam, rain in the caster sugar and whip to stiff glossy peaks. Stop while the peak still curls over on the whisk rather than snapping.
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Step 4: Fold the batter
Stir a third of the whites into the chocolate mixture firmly — it is heavy and needs loosening. Add the rest in two goes, alternating with the sifted flour, folding from the bottom up so the foam survives.
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Step 5: Bake
Spread the batter in the tin and level it. Bake for the first 10–15 minutes with the oven door propped slightly open on a wooden spoon, then close it and bake for about 50 minutes more. A skewer should come out with damp crumbs, not wet batter.
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Step 6: Split and coat
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn out onto a rack and leave until completely cold. Split in two. Warm the jam until runny, push it through a sieve and brush it hot over the cut face, sandwich the cake and coat the top and sides. Leave 20 minutes to set.
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Step 7: Cook the glaze
Bring the sugar and water to the boil and cook for 5 minutes without stirring. Take off the heat, wait a minute, then add the chocolate and stir with a spatula until smooth. It is ready when a warm drop sets on a cold plate within a minute.
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Step 8: Pour and set
Stand the cake on a rack over a tray and pour the whole glaze onto the centre in one go, tilting the rack to help it run. Do not touch it with a knife. Leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours — the fridge dulls the shine.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Cut with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry: the glaze is brittle and a cold blade cracks it.
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Swap
Apricot preserve works in place of jam, but push it through a sieve first — fruit pieces stop the glaze lying flat.
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Variation
Vienna serves it with a spoon of barely whipped unsweetened cream. That is not decoration but ballast: on its own the cake is very sweet.
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Storage
Under a cake dome at room temperature it keeps four days and is better on day two. Do not refrigerate it.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 480 kcal | 5,760 kcal |
| Protein | 7 g | 84 g |
| Fat | 25 g | 300 g |
| Carbohydrates | 58 g | 696 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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