Sachertorte - For Birthday and Breakfast

Can you blame me ? I could not resist the chocolate ganache and that sweet brandy-scented apricot jam filling. A dense chocolate torte - denser than I would have liked, but still pretty darn good. I brewed really strong coffee this morning and had a repeat of yesterday's birthday dessert that we knoshed for Sprout Sara's birthday lunch.

Sara popped in with her friend after partying with friends up at a vacation house on Lake Sunapee for her birthday weekend. Pretty cushy, I say! Apparently, a fine time was had by all; there was talk of good food and talk - fish tacos were raved on. And this morning when I read a Facebook comment mentioning a piñata filled with nips and the like, I had to chuckle. No wonder she was wanting water to rehydrate - ha! Guess it was a theme party. Silly kids! Anyway, the torte was the end of a very healthy lunch that included Cobb Salad, chorizo pinchos, and chicken salad cracker bites. We sat around the porch table and soaked up the sunshine and fresh air and wiled away the afternoon, had birthday cake and gave Sara her present - a running watch with all the bells and whistles.

Back to this sacher torte, though. It's super easy to make - a Wolfgang Puck recipe from his website.
Lots of eggs, very little flour, lots of chocolate, and ..... butter! The magic concoction! I've had my two pieces though. It's a darn good thing The Lodger and SB are here to make a clean sweep of the rest of this cake ... that's all I'm saying!

This recipe makes one 9-inch chocolate torte and easily serves 10 people. The baked cake gets sliced into two thin layers and spread with apricot jam that has been heated with a tablespoon of apricot or peach brandy. The cake is then chilled for a bit. A warm chocolate ganache is spread over the top and drizzled down the sides. The finished torte is chilled to set up the ganache and then it is served in very thin slivers with a small dollop of schlagsahne (whipped cream) and a strong cup of coffee  ... a true Viennese delicacy.

 

Wolfgang’s Sachertorte

a Wolfgang Puck recipe via www.foodnetwork.com

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken up

3 oz. butter
4 egg yolks
4 oz. granulated sugar, divided into two measures – 1 oz./3 oz.
5 egg whites
¼ tsp. salt
⅓ c. flour

 

Apricot Filling:

1 ½ c. apricot preserves (I only use ¾ c.)

1 tbsp. apricot brandy (I use peach brandy)

Glaze:

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, broken up

1 oz. butter
2 oz. heavy cream

 

Making the Dessert:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F and grease a 9-inch spring form pan. Lay a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom and grease that lightly as well.
2. Place 6 oz. chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler and melt over simmering water. Stir to combine thoroughly, remove from heat and cool a bit.
3. Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and 1 oz sugar in a deep mixing bowl and whip to ‘ribbon stage’.
4. Beat in the chocolate mixture.
5. In another bowl, whip the egg whites and salt to soft peaks. Slowly add the other 3 oz. sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Add ⅓ of the egg whites to the chocolate batter and fold in to make a thinner batter.
7. Add the flour and fold in gently to combine.
8. Add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in to make an airy batter.
9. Turn into the prepared pan and pop into the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes … until the cake tester comes clean at the center of the cake.
10. Remove and cool for ten minutes on a cooling rack. Then pop the outer spring form ring and let the cake finish cooling.
11. Place the cake on a turntable and use a serrated knife to cut the cake into two (or three) uniform layers.
12. Use a cardboard cake board to move the cake layers to racks.
13. Heat the apricot jam and brandy until you can smell the brandy scent. Place in a blender and whiz to a smooth puree.
14. Leaving the bottom cake layer on its rack, place the rack on a large cookie sheet that can catch drips and drizzle.
15. Spread the apricot jam syrup over the layer. Top with the second layer and if you have a third layer, repeat the apricot jam. Top with the top layer. Chill the cake for about an hour.
16. Make the glaze by melting the butter and chocolate in the top of a double boiler.
17. In another small pan, boil the cream.
18. Add the hot cream to the melted chocolate and butter, whisking to make a shiny, smooth ganache. Let the ganache cool to a thick sauce-like consistency.
19. Remove the cool cake from the fridge and spread the ganache over the top. Let it drizzle down over the sides of the cake to make a uniform coating.
20. Using a large palette knife, slide the glazed sachertorte onto a pretty platter, clean up the edges and chill for at least one hour.
21. Slice with a sharp knife and serve in thin slivers with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and strong coffee.