Sachertorte

Sachertorte ( , ; ) is a chocolate sponge cake covered with chocolate glaze, with an interior layer of apricot jam either under the glaze or in the middle of two sponge layers. The cake was invented by Franz Sacher, either in 1832 for Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich, or perhaps in the 1840s.

The cake is served at Hotel Sacher and Demel pastry shop in Vienna. In the 20th century, they battled over the cake's ownership and whether the cake should have one or two layers of sponge. Both keep their exact recipes secret, but the cake's ingredients include butter, chocolate, eggs, flour, and sugar. Hotel Sacher serves the cake with whipped cream.

History

Franz Sacher was the inventor of Sachertorte (also spelled Sacher-Torte), '' torte'' being a German word for a multi-layered cake with a filling. Sacher worked as a chef in Vienna and Pressburg for Prince Metternich, and was trained under Metternich's chef Chambellier. According to one story, he made the cake in 1832 for Metternich and his friends. However, according to an interview Sacher gave in 1906, he created the cake in the 1840s at his restaurant in Pressburg. His son, Eduard, claimed in 1888 that Sacher created the cake for Metternich. After Eduard opened Hotel Sacher in 1876, the cake made its way to the hotel's menu.

By the 1930s, the cake had become omnipresent and there were many versions of it. The cookbook author Katharina Prato also popularised the cake in her books. In the 1930s, the hotel entered a legal battle with the pastry shop Demel over the cake's ownership. The shop introduced the cake as "Eduard Sacher-Torte" in 1934, while the hotel had the cake under the name "Original Sacher-Torte". Hans Gürtler, one of the hotel's investors, took the shop to court in 1938 and won. After World War II, the dispute resurfaced in the Austrian Supreme Court. This time, there was also a dispute on whether the cake should have one layer of sponge, preferred by Demel, or two layers, preferred by the hotel. The case ended in 1963, with the court eventually siding with Hotel Sacher on the ownership and Demel on the number of layers.

After its creation, the cake became widely popular in Vienna, surpassing the popularity of Linzer torte.

Ingredients and preparation

The cake is modelled after a chocolate biscuit. The Austrian food codex () describes the cake's ingredients and preparation in detail. Sachertorte has to be a chocolate sponge cake and covered with apricot jam, chocolate glaze, and sugar. The primary ingredients must be butter, chocolate, eggs, flour, and sugar. The recipe calls for whipping the butter and melting the chocolate. The chocolate and sugar are then combined and mixed. The mixture is then thickened with egg yolks and flour before being folded with egg whites. The batter should be baked for an hour. After baking, apricot jam is placed on top of the cake, which is then coated with chocolate glaze. Nuts can be added if the name of the cake reflects their inclusion.

Demel has one layer, and puts the apricot jam below the chocolate glaze, while Hotel Sacher puts the jam in the middle of two layers. Both keep their exact recipes secret. Hotel Sacher serves the cake with whipped cream. According to Elisabeth Gürtler, the director of Hotel Sacher, the cake can also be served with champagne.

In culture

Sachertorte is a popular dish in Vienna and other regions of Austria; the food writer Michael Krondl described it as "easily hecity's most storied confection". Hotel Sacher ships its cakes worldwide. According to the food writer Felicity Cloake, it is sometimes attributed as Sigmund Freud's favourite cake. In Japan, McDonald's offered the cake for in 2015. A cinematography festival in Italy was named after the cake.

Reception

According to Krondl, Sachertorte is "almost the personification of the sweet". Roland Mischek of '' Die Welt'' described the cake as "sweet, delicate, and with a flawless surface" (). Writing for the ''BBC News'', Bethany Bell complained that the Sachertorte almost always "looks better than it tastes", unless "homemade with extra chocolate".

References

Sources

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External links

The Original Sacher Torte website

{{Portal bar, Austria, Food

1832 introductions
Austrian cakes
Chocolate cakes
Foods with jam
History of Vienna