To Vienna, with Love

Before I took my publishing job, one that held its winter sales meeting in the first week or two of January, my husband and I often traveled to Europe around New Year’s. Most recently, we spent New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam and traveled to Vienna after that. It was then that Vienna was cemented as one of my favorite world cities, and there was a part of me that hoped, now that I no longer have a sales meeting, that we would spend New Year’s there this year. My husband’s work schedule combined with a deep freeze in Europe has prevented the trip for now, but I thought that I would do an ode to Vienna in my kitchen through the traditional Sachertorte.

Some background on Sachertorte and my childhood love of Vienna can be found in this post about our trip there. It’s an oldie, so please ignore the crazy photo sizes. What was I thinking?!

I am trying to take this week completely off of job hunting and the stress that comes with it, so I decided to spend yesterday cooking. In addition to the Sachertorte, I also made the fluffiest wheat rolls ever and some BBQ pulled chicken for sandwiches. Posts to come soon.

The Sachertorte was by far the most complicated baking venture I have ever undertaken alone, and while it turned out absolutely delicious, it is also a complete and utter mess. The recipe, which is that of Wolfgang Puck, is at the end of the post, and you can also find it by clicking here. I should introduce the photo of my Sachertorte with an apology to Wolfgang and all Austrians. . .

The whole process started out smoothly enough as I got started making this dense, chocolate-rich torte. I had all of the ingredients in the below list except for those to make the filling. Instead of apricot preserves and brandy, I used raspberry preserves and Bonny Doon Pommeau apple brandy, a combination that was a leap but ended up being a delicious one.

I followed all of the instructions; I even got my egg whites into perfect, stiff peaks.

I guess my first mistake was using the wrong size and shape cake pan. Traditional Sachertorte is round, and I used a square, due to my limited baking supplies. For some reason, my cake didn’t quite fill the pan and ended up thin. Instead of slicing the cake into three equal layers, I sliced mine into two, one that looked like a layer of cake and one that crumbled into about 20 pieces.

Despite my horror, I soldiered on and spread the raspberry filling on the first layer, then piece by piece added the top layer. The end result resembled a crumb cake more than a Sachertorte. I thought I could cover it up with the final touch, a chocolate glaze, but it was just way too bumpy. Alas, my Sachertorte is an eyesore, but an eyesore that is rich, decadent, chocolate-y and incredibly delicious, just like the real thing.

I am bookmarking this recipe and buying a circular cake pan or two. I will make a Sachertorte to rival that of the Hotel Sacher or at least one that actually looks like it should!

What is your most recent kitchen disappointment?

Ingredients

Cake:

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 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 apricot brandy

Glaze:

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
• 1 ounce butter
• 2 ounces heavy cream
• Schlagobers, or whipped 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. Serve a slice with Schlagobers or whipped cream.