September Challenge: Sacher Torte

Still doing catch up for the Have the Cake baker's challenge. September's cake was Sacher torte. I've never actually even eaten this before, much less made it so this was definitely going to be a challenge. Sacher torte is a Viennese pastry invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 and is notoriously difficult to make.

Wow. OMG. First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing this particular cake for the challenge. I've never had it before and it knocked my socks off. If you're reading and thinking of trying this, go for it!!! You won't be sorry.

The recipe specified dark chocolate, so I chose something that I would willingly eat by itself.

I melted the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water since I don't have a double boiler. It just took a few minutes.

Whisk until it's all smooth and melty. Taste it to make sure it's yummy.

Whisk in the powdered sugar. Maybe it's just me, but there is something pretty about powdered sugar on chocolate...it's always been a favorite image of mine...

Gradually whisk in the egg yolks.

Egg yolks and sugar totally incorporated.

Here is where I think I made an error. The recipe didn't specify how far you were supposed to whip the sugar into the eggs. Was it just a quick whip or was it supposed to be like a meringue? I just did a quick one, but the cake didn't rise as much as I expected. Live and learn...

Whisk egg white/sugar mixture into the batter.

Whisking constantly, add the flour.

Pour into greased springform pan. And place into preheated 190 C oven. Immediately reduce to 165 C.

Just a bit of trivia: Did you know that springform pans leak? Did you also know that chocolate cake batter burning in the bottom of your oven smells really bad? The more you know...(cue PSA music)

Take cake out of oven, put on parchement lined pan and return to oven.

Baked and done. Let cool completely before messing with it. The cake will pull away from the pan as it cools.

When it's completely cool, slice in half, creating two cakes.

I had to take a close up photo of the inside of the cake...this cake is so rich looking it's hard to not dive in.

Spread the inside side of one half of the cake with Apricot jelly. Place jelly side down on the other half.

For the icing I looked at another recipe, because this one calls for coconut shortening and I don't even know what that is, and the commissary doesn't stock it. I found one that was simpler, calling for 60g butter and 250 grams chocolate. Melt chocolate in the same way as before, but by itself. When it's smooth and melty, mix in butter. This was thicker than I thought it should be...I has to spread it more like frosting than pour over. I tasted it though, and went straight to heaven, so I didn't care.

Spread all over...let sit two hours. The icing actually did solidify...it looked amazing...shiny and beautiful...and it held it's shape when you cut it. The best part is a piece of the solidified icing just MELTS on your tongue.

Oh I will be making this again. Next time maybe I'll slice through the center evenly, but that's my only complaint!

Wiener Sachertorte

Ingredients for 12 people

Batter:

• 130 grams (4.59 ounces) butter
• 130 grams (4.59 ounces) dark chocolate
• 100 grams (3.53 ounces) powdered sugar
• 6 eggs
• 80 grams (2.82 ounces) white sugar
• 130 grams (4.59 ounces) flour
• apricot marmalade

Icing:

• 150 grams (5.29 ounces) chocolate
• 75 grams (2.65 ounces) coconut shortening

Recipe
Batter:
Preheat the oven to 180-200°C.
Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over hot water (Bain Marie, "im Wasserbad"). If you do not have a double boiler you can also use a normal pan filled with water and with a smaller pan in it. Remove from heat and let the mass cool.
Add the powdered sugar and the egg yolks little by little while carefully stirring.
Beat the egg whites and add the white sugar. Mix into the batter and add the flour gradually while constantly stirring.
Pour batter into a greased spring form pan. Bake at 165°C for 50 to 60 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from pan and before icing.
Once cool remove the cake from pan then slice horizontally. Insert a filling of pureed jam between the layers.

Icing:
Melt chocolate and coconut shortening in a double boiler over hot water and cover the top and sides of the cake with the warm (not hot) icing.

September Roundup

Thanks to everyone that participated in our September challenge - Sacher Torte. Looking forward to October!

Under the Wire: Tortelicious

Well, my blog seems to have eaten the description of the sacher torte-making extravaganza that I saved yesterday, so, dear readers, you will be getting a much-abbreviated version. Thanks to Sweet & Savory for burning the heck out of her cake. Her post made me super cautious about the bake time on the epicurious recipe, which I also used. I ended up pulling the torte out of the oven at about 30 minutes, instead of the recommended 45 minutes.

Piper has stretched her feeding times to every three hours instead of every two, but that still wasn't enough time to both make the cake (using every bowl in the kitchen) and the two glazes, so I split this into a two-day process. First, we had to have photo shoot with Piper and the ingredients:

The torte itself took quite a long time to make what with all the chocolate melting, egg separating, egg-white beating, etc. And, does anyone else hate cleaning up melted chocolate? Two years of working at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in college and I'm still grossed out by the slippery, slimy feel of cleaning out of pot of melted chocolate. But, I love beating egg whites - the finished product is so satisfying. And, I love my grandma's 1960s mixer I inherited, the MixMaster (there is a Beastie Boys joke in here somewhere, but I haven't the energy to find it-Rena, a little help?):

Of course, there is the list of things that may have gone wrong (I'm guaranteed to have such a list during every project):

I may have used seven eggs instead of six.

I don't have a candy thermometer, so had to guess on the chocolate glaze temperature (burned the hell out of my tongue, too!).

I don't have a wire cooling rack, so both apricot and chocolate glaze pooled on the serving plate.

I eschewed the use of parchment paper (too much work!) and had to pry the cake off the bottom of the pan, losing a bit in the process.

But overall, it was a fun cake to bake. We'll test it out tonight when Kelly comes for dinner.

Late Post - Sacher Torte

Posted by - Gerri

I made the Sacher Torte on 12 October but didn't have time to post. Work has been very busy. This snowstorm is good excuse to get caught up on a few things - Have the Cake was near the top of my list. I used the recipe from epicurious.com. I had to read through it four times to really understand all the steps. In addition, Epicurious did not list the recipe for the glaze with the sacher torte. I had to go back and search for it on their website. In the end, it turned out better than expected and my Kitchen Wench (Tom) loved it.

Hunk of chocolate from Fairway.

Definitely needed a standing mixer for this cake.

In need of a trim.

Finished product all dressed in chocolate/rum glaze.

From My Blog - Sachertorte the Hard Way

Sachertorte- What a story.

In our baking group, Have the Cake, we were a bit more ambitious than the month before. That is what makes the group so much fun. Hey, if you have not visited us, come on over and if you like to bake, please join in the fun.It was decided, we would make a sachertorte, a delicious cake, chocolate with apricot filling and a chocolate ganache. A dream cake. It was not difficult although it did use a number of bowls. All actually went well. I made the cake and put it into a spring form pan, just like we are supposed to do. I put it, in the oven, on the center rack, like everyone says to do. I timed it and baked it. Took it out at exactly the right time to find something different than I expected.
Burnt and it looks as if it is burnt to the crisp but aha, I called upon my super power, positive thinking, determined to save this sachertorte and if you look at the photos, at the bottom you will see that I kind of did do that.
At this point, remember, I am the one who showed you my charcoal brownies that started a fire in the oven. So, you know I am honest and I don't want to be laughed at or considered a failure. I want support and gee, a little praise would go far, right now. You are now prepared for the rest of the story.
To find out what I did to save this poor burnt cake, go to the bottom of the page. First read about Joanne.
First the recipe copied by Joanne from Epicurious. Thanks Joanne. Joanne actually spurred me on to conquer the cake. You see, she is a runner, a real runner, marathons and miles kind of runner, one who does not give up. I don't give up either. Would she stop in the middle of a marathon because she tripped and start all over? No, of course not, she would go on. I did that too. I did not make another cake. I almost saved this one.

Sachertorte
Makes 1 double-layer, 9-inch round cake, adapted from Epicurious.com
For the cake:
4 1/2 oz high-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp butter, at RT
1 cup confectioner's sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
For the apricot filling:
1 1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 tbsp rum extract
For the chocolate icing:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1. Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 400.
Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
Microwave the chocolate to melt it.
Remove from the heat and let stand until cool, stirring often.
Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute.
On low speed, beat in the confectioner's sugar.
Return the speed to medium-high and beat until light in color and texture, about 2 minutes.
Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.
Beat in the vanilla and chocolate.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and granulated sugar on high speed until soft peaks form.
Stir 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture to lighten it and then fold in the rest.
Sift half of the flour over the mixture and then fold in.
Repeat with the second half.
Spread evenly in the springform pan and then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Remove from pan and cool completely.
2. Make the apricot filling.
Bring the preserves and rum to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cook, stirring often, until the last drops that stick to the spoon are very stick, about 2-3 minutes.
Strain through a wire sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on the solids.
Use while warm.
3. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into two equal layers.
Brush the top of the cake layer with the apricot glaze.
Place the second cake layer on top.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool until glaze is set.
4. Make the chocolate glaze. In a heavy-bottomed small saucepan over high heat, bring the water, sugar, and chocolate to a boil.
Attach a candy thermometer to the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium and, stirring often, cook uncovered until the temperature reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove from the heat and stir to cool and thicken slightly, about 1 minute. Immediately pour this over the cake and use a metal offset spatula to spoon it
over the top and sides.
Cool until the glaze is barely set, then transfer to a serving plate and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Remove from the refrigerator at least one hour before serving.
Does my cake look edible? Remember the rah rahs.
I could not cut the cake in half to make to layers so being creative, I did gut it in half, just down the middle vertically. I even layered the two halves so we now have a half a cake layered with layers are not straight and are not shaped properly.
Nothing was going to stop me and I forgot to scrape off the burnt top. The inside is just fine. I was now in a hurry so I did not push the apricot jelly through the sieve and used after boiling it to a good thickness. Delicious.
I then let the whole thing set while the apricot oozed out.
I came back in an hour, made the chocolate ganache and poured it over the cake. My goal was to hide my mistake and I think I did. Although, I admit there is a light burnt taste, only when you eat the edges, the rest is yummy. I had a piece and I want more. It is a great combination and I would try it again. Yes, I would. I do not take defeat easily.

My attempt at the Sacher Torte

This was a challenge for sure. For some reason it did not come out at cakey as I wanted, or as it should have been. It was more like a brownie texture and it was way thinner than it should been.
Something went wrong with how it looked. Maybe I missed a step or mixed the flour too much and made it go flat? I did make an error when doing the egg yolks, mixing sugar in first before the salt, it could have been that. As an amateur baker, I don't know.

It did taste great and was so smooth and choclately.

I was so upset but somehow made the best of it. Made it look so nice here too. :)


Wolfgang's Sachertorte

Ingredients
Cake:

* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces (I used Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips)
* 3 ounces butter
* 4 egg yolks
* 1 ounce sugar, plus 3 ounces
* 5 egg whites
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup flour, sifted

Apricot Filling:

* 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
* 1 tablespoon Rum

Glaze:

* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
* 1 ounce butter
* 2 ounces heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 by 2-inch cake pan.

In a bowl, combine the chocolate and butter and melt over a double boiler. Set aside to cool. In a mixer, using a wire whisk, whip the egg yolks with 1 ounce sugar until light and ribbony. Beat in the chocolate mixture.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 3 ounces of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Fold in the flour and then fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining egg whites, gently but thoroughly. Pour into prepared cake pan.

Bake for 40 minutes or until done. To check for doneness, insert a paring knife in center of cake. It should come out dry. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

To make the apricot filling: puree the apricot preserves. Stir in brandy.

Slice the cake into 3 equal layers. Spread half of the apricot filling on the bottom layer. Top with a second layer of cake. Spread the remaining apricot filling and top with the last layer of cake. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the glaze: in a bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Melt over a double-boiler. Bring the cream to a boil. Stir into the melted chocolate. Cool until it reaches glazing consistency. Spread over and around the cake. Chill for another 30 minutes before serving.



pre-dated as 9/28/09

Wow with the chocolate!

Yay!! I didn't have a blizzard in my kitchen this month! :)

I used the recipe from epicurious. Jeezus! What a faff!!!!! I did everything in stages, or I wouldn't have had enough bowls in my kitchen, or room on my counters!

I think the recipes for the apricot glaze and the chocolate glaze don't exactly synch up. There wasn't nearly enough apricot, and I threw out a TON of chocolate! None of this was helped by the fact that my favorite cooking measurement conversion site was accidentally wiped from my favorites, so I used a different (random google find) one and very nearly put in about 1/3 the required butter because everything here is sold in grams so I have to figure out the conversions! eek!

I'm pretty sure I screwed up the egg bit as well. In Mokismom's post on her torte, she uses the word meringue to describe the egg mixture. Um... yeah. Mine was never even close to a meringue texture - more just very very wet sugar that spun around for ages with the assistance of my hand mixer.


Here it is being mixed into the chocolate yumminess.

I'm going to have to ask my neighbor, Arielle, how it tastes. She just had a baby and could use the sweetness - and I've just lost a bunch of weight and there's no chance I'm putting this chocolately heavenlyness in my mouth - or I'll eat the entire thing in one sitting. :)

The finished product, all shiny and pretty! Hurrah!

Sacher Torte - September challenge

September's been a really busy month - family birthdays, 10 days of puppy-sitting, two book groups, blah, blah. All of this to explain why I've just gotten around to making the sacher torte.
I found my recipe on Cooks.com and it was almost exactly like the one from Epicurious, except that my recipe used semi-sweet chocolate instead of bittersweet, and the syrup in mine contained 2 TBS. of dark rum. I had a lot of fun making it, but I did find it pretty labor intensive. And my kitchen was a disaster from all the bowls, pans and equipment I had to use. One bowl for melting chocolate in the microwave, 2 for the separated eggs, one for the creamed butter and sugar, and another to whip the egg whites. Yikes! Add to that my mixer and my blender for pureeing the apricot jam. I think you get the picture.
My most AHA moment came when I was incorporating the egg yolks into the melted chocolate. I don't remember ever doing this before, and it was amazing to see the chocolate get shinier and thicker with the addition of each yolk. My hardest times were incorporating the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture and again, adding the flour. My biggest problem was that I used a silicone spatula to do the folding of both meringue and flour; I would have been better off using a metal spoon, thereby not deflating the meringue. And adding the flour a little at a time would have made it much easier.
The finished torte was a little dry. I may have baked it a little too long, and I ended up not using all of the syrup, because I was afraid it would be soggy. I should have followed directions! Over all, the taste was good, but not great. I doubt I'd inflict it on company without some serious tweaking.

A Race and A Recipe - Sachertorte

I have a pretty regular blogging schedule. And I am usually pretty good about keeping to it. But sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes you have to wake up at 5AM to run a half marathon in Queens. Sometimes your parents, your current roommate, your roommate from college who is visiting for the week from San Francisco, and one of your best friends get up with you and come cheer you on. Sometimes you beat your personal record by 6 minutes and come in 20th out of 220 in your age bracket. And when all of these things occur, I think it makes for a pretty good excuse to "miss" blogging. So yes. I ran the Queens Half Marathon yesterday and finished with a time of 1:42:50 according to my watch (longer according to theirs but my GPS also shows that I ran more mileage probably due to the way I took turns, etc.). That is an average pace of 7:47 minute miles, which is crazy even for me. I was so ecstatically happy.

It really is a shame, though, that I had to postpone showing you guys this recipe for the Sachertorte, which is perhaps my most daring baking undertaking yet. See, I'm part of this group called Have The Cake. As part of this group, a new recipe is posted every month that we have to bake. This month's recipe was the Sachertorte, which is a Viennese chocolate cake that is shrouded in mystery. It traditionally consists of two layers of dense, not-so-sweet chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot-rum jam in the middle and a chocolate icing on top. The original Sachertorte was made at the Hotel Sacher in 1876 and the recipe is still a well-kept and highly coveted secret.

Having never had a real Sachertorte before, I cannot attest to the authenticity of this recipe. I invited a bunch of friends over to eat it with me, however, one of whom, upon sitting down said, "You know. This looks a lot like a Soccer-torte." Though not quite spot-on with his pronunciation (according to Wikipedia), I took that as an affirmation that I had actually done something right. After a bite, he followed up his remark by saying, "All the soccertorte's I've ever had have not been very good. But this is delicious." Apparently, something very right.

As I said before, making this cake was a pretty intense, multi-step process. But it was a lot of fun and made me realize that I love baking and I love the challenge of trying something so ridiculous and new. I am really excited for the baked goods that Have the Cake will challenge me with in the future.

Sachertorte
Makes 1 double-layer, 9-inch round cake, adapted from Epicurious.com

For the cake:
4 1/2 oz high-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp butter, at RT
1 cup confectioner's sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour

For the apricot filling:
1 1/4 cup apricot preserves (I used peach-apricot preserves from whole foods)
2 tbsp rum

For the chocolate icing:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1. Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. Microwave the chocolate to melt it. Remove from the heat and let stand until cool, stirring often. Beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. On low speed, beat in the confectioner's sugar. Return the speed to medium-high and beat until light in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla and chocolate. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and granulated sugar on high speed until soft peaks form. Stir 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture to lighten it and then fold in the rest. Sift half of the flour over the mixture and then fold in. Repeat with the second half. Spread evenly in the springform pan and then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

2. Make the apricot filling. Bring the preserves and rum to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the last drops that stick to the spoon are very stick, about 2-3 minutes. Strain through a wire sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Use while warm.

3. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into two equal layers. Brush the top of the cake layer with the apricot glaze. Place the second cake layer on top. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool until glaze is set.

4. Make the chocolate glaze. In a heavy-bottomed small saucepan over high heat, bring the water, sugar, and chocolate to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and, stirring often, cook uncovered until the temeprature reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat and stir to cool and thicken slightly, about 1 minute. Immediately pour this over the cake and use a metal offset spatula to spoon it over the top and sides. Cool until the glaze is barely set, then transfer to a serving plate and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator at least one hour before serving.

Mini Sacher Torte

September’s Have the Cake challenge was to make a Sacher Torte. I’d never heard of this cake but it looked good. The most common version is two layers of dense chocolate cake with a layer of fruit jam and covered with a chocolate ganache. As I started to search for a recipe online, I noticed that each one used anywhere from 4 to 8 eggs per cake. This didn’t appeal to me very much as I’m really baking for one, so I decided to use a recipe for chocolate cake that I’ve made before. I also wanted to make a mini version to stop myself from devouring an entire cake. I had a few mini loaf pans around so I used those. Baking didn’t take very long since they were very flat cakes.

I’m not at all a fan of fruit and chocolate so I decided to make the filling a layer of chocolate flavored with hazelnut rum that my friend brought me a few months ago. I once put the rum into a glass of coke thinking it would be tasty and it wasn’t. That rum definitely belongs in coffee or hot chocolate.

Check out my funky 70’s double boiler! I love that thing and I’m so excited I got to use it again. The ganache I made was not scientific. I just added heavy cream to melted chocolate until it got to a pourable consistency.

As you can see, the layers aren’t exactly even but they are close enough.

As an ode to the original version of the torte, I added a spoonful of raspberry jam to the whipped cream. The cake was mighty delicious and rich. Thanks Dorrie for the challenge this month!

Scroll down for the recipe I used.

Easy Chocolate Cake

recipe adapted to make 2 mini flat cakes

1/4 cup cocoa
milk (read below)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 egg yolk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a 1/2 cup measure, put cocoa powder; add a small amount of hot water and stir until cocoa dissolves. Fill remainder of measuring cup with milk to bring the measurement up to 1/2 cup total.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda, mixing well. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar, add egg yolk, beating for one minute. Stir in vanilla and remaining ingredients.

Mix for one minute. Turn batter into 2 buttered mini loaf pans.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cake tests done.

September Challenge - Sacher Torte

My apologies to anyone who does not like chocolate or who is trying to lose weight that are participating in this challenge. September is not going to be a month that will make you happy.

Chocolate lovers, on the other hand, rejoice!

This month I would like everyone to make a version of the Austrian classic, Sacher Torte. Sacher Torte was invented in 1832 by Franz Sacher, a young apprentice chef for an Austrian royal. The history of the torte can be found here at the official Sacher Torte website.

The basics of Sacher Torte are that it is a rich chocolate cake, with a layer of apricot jam in between two halves, with a chocolate glaze on the whole of the cake. Having searched for recipes for Sacher Torte on the Internet, I found a plethora of different recipes, some with apricot jam, some with raspberry jam, some with chocolate ganache, some with a chocolate glaze. Basically, recipes abound and I leave you to choose which one you would like to make.

Legend has it that my Austrian great grandmother was a pastry chef in the Austrian Alps before she immigrated to America. I assume I get my love of baking from her and my mother. Perhaps my grandmother made Sacher Torte - I'm not sure, but I have always wanted to make this decadent dessert.

Good luck and happy chocolate to you!