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Sachertorte (, , ) is a
chocolate cake Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau (from ) is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. History Chocolate cake is made with chocolate. It can also include other ingredients. These include fudge, vanilla creme, and othe ...
, or
torte A torte (from German ''Torte'' ( (in turn from Latin via Italian ''torta'')) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruit. Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garni ...
of Austrian origin, invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
.Michael Krondl, ''Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert'', , 2011, p. 290: "my best guess is that the Metternich creation story originates with Eduard Sacher" It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties.


History

According to Franz Sacher's son Eduard, Sachertorte was invented by Franz, when he was an apprentice under Chancellor Metternich's chef, one ''maître'' Chambellier. The story goes that Franz was required to create a novel cake when the chef was ill. The Metternich connection was probably invented by Eduard many years later, to appeal to "Viennese nostalgic for their imperial past". Sachertorte remains popular in Austria and worldwide.


Composition

The cake consists of a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of
apricot jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the metho ...
in between two halves, coated in dark chocolate icing on the top and sides. It is traditionally served with unsweetened
whipped cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, and ...
.


Variations

The "Original" Sacher Torte has two layers of apricot jam between the outer layer of chocolate icing and the sponge base, while Demel's "Eduard-Sacher-Torte" has only one. Demel's cake is denser and smoother. Some of the various recipes for cakes similar to the "Original" are listed below. For example, at "Graz-Kulturhauptstadt 2003", a festival marking the city of Graz being declared cultural capital that year, "Sacher-Masoch-Torte" was presented (its name alluding to
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch (; 27 January 1836 – 9 March 1895) was an Austrian nobleman, writer and journalist, who gained renown for his romantic stories of Galician life. The term ''masochism'' is derived from his name, invented by h ...
), using
redcurrant The redcurrant or red currant (''Ribes rubrum'') is a member of the genus ''Ribes'' in the gooseberry family. It is native to western Europe. The species is widely cultivated and has escaped into the wild in many regions. Description ''Ribes r ...
jam and
marzipan Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitat ...
.


Production and sale of the "Original Sacher-Torte"

Hotel Sacher's "Original Sacher Torte" is sold at the Vienna and Salzburg locations of the Hotel Sacher, at Cafe Sacher branches in
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a po ...
and
Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...
, at the Sacher Shop in
Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
, in the
Duty Free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, ...
area of Vienna airport, and via the Hotel Sacher's online shop. The recipe of the Hotel Sacher's version of the cake is a closely guarded secret. Those privy to it claim that the secret to the Sacher Torte's desirability lies not in the ingredients of the cake itself, but rather those of the chocolate icing. According to widely available information, the icing consists of three special types of chocolate, which are produced exclusively by different manufacturers for this sole purpose. The hotel obtains these products from
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the st ...
in Germany and from Belgium. The Hotel Sacher has gone to great lengths to distinguish the Original Sacher Torte from other variations. This includes four golden corners on the wooden box, the wood engraving of the Hotel Sacher Wien as well as "Das Original" and "Hotel Sacher Wien" in writing in the inside of the lid, and bordeaux red wrapping paper with a Biedermeier motif.


Legal dispute with Demel's

In 1934, the
Demel Demel (colloquially ''der Demel'') is a famous pastry shop and chocolaterie established in 1786 in Vienna, Austria. The company bears the title of a Purveyor to the Imperial and Royal Court (''k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker'') up to today. Locatio ...
pastry shop started selling "Eduard Sacher-Torte", while the Sacher Hotel sold the "Original Sacher-Torte". The hotel's owners sued Demel for
trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may ...
, and won in 1938. The lawsuit was appealed after the war, and the hotel was eventually given the exclusive right to call its version "the original".


See also

* Hotel Sacher


References


External links


The Original Sacher Torte website





Original Sacher Torte (ro)

Sachertorte - BBC Food Recipes
{{Chocolate desserts 1832 introductions Chocolate cakes History of Vienna Austrian cakes Foods with jam