Sachertorte

Oohhhh, chocolate.

OK, so I know the traditional sachertorte is layered and served with whipped cream and all that but let’s just throw tradition out the window for a second. I made this cake for my mom’s birthday the other day because she is a choc-a-holic but she ended up bailing on us at the last minute (RUDE!) which left an entire cake in the hands of my husband and children. I think we know how this story ends.

Recipe for Sachertorte after the jump

Torte:

2 oz semisweet baker’s chocolate

2 oz unsweetened baker’s chocolate

1 stick (8 tbl) butter at room temperature

4 large eggs separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup sifted cake flour

Optional topping:

1 cup apricot glaze (from jam)

chocolate frosting

whipped cream

• Position your oven rack to the middle and heat to 400 degrees F
• Lightly butter a 9inch springform pan
• Line the bottom with parchment paper (optional because I didn’t have any and my cake came out fine)
• Using a double broiler pot (or whatever you have handy) melt the chocolate
• Remove from heat and continue to stir while cooling
• In a medium mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar until fluffy
• Add egg yolks one at a time, make sure to scrape sides of bowl
• Add the melted chocolate and vanilla

The next step is very important so please follow directions carefully. Beating egg whites is serious business!

• Beat eggs whites until they form soft, shiny peaks. Do not overbeat the eggs.
• Add about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and stir
• Add the remaining eggs whites 1/4 at a time
• Add the sifted cake flour
• Mix together with a rubber spatula
• Spread evenly into the cake pan
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
• Cool on wire rack

Now, I simply sprinkled confectioner’s sugar over top of the cake and started slicing. We don’t like to wait for fancy dressings around here. But if you want to truly top it off, try this:

And then it should look like this: