One of my greatest influencers of becoming a pastry chef is my mother. Not because she is the biggest baker but with how much love and affection she is always working in the kitchen, to create a tasty dish and make the family happy. She taught cooking and baking herself at the age of 26 when she got married to my father, before that time she had never even set a foot in the kitchen. With lots of patience and big help from her mother- and sister-in-law, by simply asking them "What is your son's/brother's favourite dish?" she learned to prepare all sorts of different plates, sweet and savoury.
One time she was invited at a friend's house and as a dessert it was served a wonderfully rich and soft chocolate cake, the Sacher Torte. My mum loved the cake so much, got the recipe and now it is her go-to recipe when it comes to birthday cakes or dinner parties.
I have a special relationship with the Sacher Torte too. Shortly before moving to London I took a F&B traineeship at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna and came there in daily contact with the original Sacher cake, I learnt the story behind it and how it is originally made. The second special experience I have with this delicious cake was at the beginning of my time here in London. I was studying in pastry school and as a part-time job I started to work in an Austrian restaurant called Kipferl. I prepared and backed all sorts of Austrian pastries from Apple strudel, Linzertorte to the Original Sacher Torte. It was such an amazing experience and wonderful to have this little bit of Austrian feeling in my new hometown London.
Here I will share with you my mother's delicious recipe that I could get my hands on.
The ingredients you will need are:
8 eggs
200g good quality dark chocolate
200g caster sugar
200g soft unsalted butter
120g plain flour
4 tbsp apricot marmelade
165g dark chocolate
85g butter
First melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a hot water bath (be careful that the water is just slightly simmering and not boiling). In the meantime whisk the softened butter and sugar together until it changes into a light, fluffly consistency. Separate the egg yolk from the whites, whip up the egg whites and add the egg yolks to the butter-sugar mixture and mix. Then add the melted chocolate to the sugar mixture. Last but not least, fold in the egg whites and flour step by step, try to keep as much air bubbles as possible because those will make the cake extra fluffy later. When everything is good incorporated, fill a greased and floured baking tin with the cake mixture and bake for 34-40 minutes at 180°. To know if the cake is ready, simply stab a knife into the middle and if it comes out clean, the cake should be ready. Take it out and let it cool down completely.
Start to prepare the apricot marmelade and the chocolate glaze. Into a saucepan add the marmelade and a little bit of water. Warm it up together on a stove on low-medium heat, so the apricot marmelade gets liquid and easily to spread. Once you have the right consistency, take it off the stove. Over some simmering water, place a bowl filled with the dark chocolate and butter (make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water) and let everything melt. When the chocolate and the butter is melted, take it off the stove and mix it so both is well emulsified.
For the assembling cut the cake in half. Spread around 2/3 of the apricot marmelade over on half, then place the other half on top. Take the rest of marmelade and brush the entire cake with it. Place the cake on top of a cooling rack, fill the chocolate glaze into a jug and pour the glaze over the whole cake. Make sure the glaze is evenly spread on top and over the sides, a palet knife or spatula can help you with this. Once the cake is fully covered, place it in the fridge so the glaze sets completely. The traditional way for serving is having a slize of the cake with a well-sized dollop of whipping cream on the side.
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