Sacher Torte is a unique Austrian chocolate cake famous all over the world.
If you would like to prepare this world-famous cake for you and your guests, your search for this fantastic Austrian recipe has ended!
In a few simple steps, you will find here prepared for you a wonderful Sacher cake recipe in two versions!
Our Sacher Torte impresses with its beautiful dark shiny icing and wonderfully moist dough infused with apricot jam.
Serve a delicious slice of Sacher cake with a dollop of whipped cream; this cake makes for a perfect ensemble in terms of looks and taste!
As a true Austrian, I love to compile wonderful original Austrian recipes for you and prepare them in simple steps. So with our recipes, you always have a piece of Austria at home!
PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS CAKE IN THE WORLD
"But don't let him disgrace me tonight!" - With this warning from Prince Metternich in 1832, the success story of the original Sacher Torte began. When a dessert was to be created at the prince's court, 16-year-old chef Franz Sacher stepped in for the sick chef. And he made a creation that could not have been more delicious - the Original Sacher-Torte. To this day, the Original Sacher-Torte is still made by hand in the Original Sacher-Torten Manufaktur according to Franz Sacher's original recipe and tastes best with a serving of unsweetened whipped cream - or as it is called in Austria, Schlagobers!
Source: Sacher.com
An absolute plus of this cake is that it keeps for a very long time (up to two weeks) and loses none of its juiciness and excellent taste in that time.
This cake is perfectly suitable as a gift for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day!
You can find more authentic and delicious Austrian recipes in our "Austrian food recipes" category.
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🥘 Ingredients
Ingredients
Dough
- Butter - soft
- Chocolate couverture with high cocoa content
- Fine granulated sugar
- Salt
- Eggs
- Flour
- Optional: Vanilla bean
Filling
- Apricot jam sieved - pairs incredibly well with this chocolate dough.
Chocolate Glaze
Chocolate glaze unsweetened
- Chocolate glaze - dark chocolate couverture with high cocoa content works best.
- Whipped cream
Or chocolate glaze a la Sacher (note: makes the Sacher Torte much sweeter)
- Sugar
- Chocolate glaze - dark chocolate couverture with high cocoa content works best.
- Water
- Optional: apricot jam primer, also called apricot glaze primer (note: makes the Sacher Torte much sweeter)
Garnish
- Whipped cream, unsweetened
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Step 1 - Preliminary Steps
Preparing, start by separating the seven eggs and melting the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate in a water bath or tempering device, if available.
Preheat the oven to 338 °F (about 170 °C).
Step 2 - Making the Cake Dough
In a mixing bowl (preferably the one in your food processor), add the softened butter, melted chocolate, 5 oz // 140 g of refined granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt.
Optionally, you can add the pulp of a scraped vanilla bean to the dough.
Beat these ingredients with the whisk attachment until very fluffy.
Gradually add the egg yolks, and in the meantime, whip the egg whites with ⅜ cup (60 g) refined granulated sugar until very stiff.
Then carefully fold the very stiffly whipped egg whites into the mixture.
Finally, sift the flour over the cake batter and fold it in.
Step 3 - Baking the Sacher Torte
Line the springform pan with parchment paper and fill it with the batter. Before baking, smooth it out with a spatula and bake for 15 minutes with the oven door slightly open.
Here it is advisable to clamp a wooden spoon in the oven door opening simply, preventing the door from accidentally falling shut.
Then close the door of your oven and continue baking for 60 minutes.
After the total baking time, test to see if the dough is well-done. The dough is ready if no more dough sticks to a wooden skewer after being inserted and pulled out. Turn it out onto a cake rack and let it cool.
Step 4 - Assemble the Sacher Torte
After cooling, cut the cake horizontally in half. A long, sharp knife works best here. It is long enough and cuts the dough without tearing it.
Now comes the apricot filling. Heat the jam here in a saucepan or microwave to make it more spreadable.
Then spread the apricot mixture on the bottom cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top.
Step 5 - The chocolate icing
We opted for a simple chocolate icing with no sugar to let the flavor of the high-quality chocolate dominate and reduce the sweetness.
Put the chocolate glaze and whipping cream in a saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil briefly and then immediately remove from the heat.
Now spread the warm chocolate glaze on the top of the cake first and then pull it down over the sides to have the entire cake covered in gorgeous dark chocolate icing.
Step 6 - Serve
Serve a piece of Sachertorte with a large dollop of unsweetened, stiffly whipped cream, and enjoy with a cup of coffee.
🍑 Variations
Chocolate glaze a la Sacher
Bring fine granulated sugar (1 ½ cups), chocolate glaze (1 ½ cups), and water (½ cup) to a boil in a saucepan, stirring constantly.
Keep running the glaze over the wooden spoon to see if it has reached its ideal consistency.
The glaze reaches its perfect consistency when the glaze running over the wooden spoon makes only a few millimeters thick, thin layer. If the glaze is too thick, thin it with a few drops of sugar syrup.
Apricot jam primer - Apricot glaze primer
This jam layer helps to make the glaze shinier and more uniform. Fine granulated sugar (½ cup), water (⅓ cup), Lemon juice (1 teaspoon), Apricot jam (7.4 oz).
Bring sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil in a saucepan. While stirring constantly, add the apricot jam and bring it to a boil.
🍽 Equipment
- Springform pan (30 cm // 12 inch)
- Parchment paper
- Food processor
- Mixing bowls
- Saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Pastry spatula
- An angled palette for spreading the filling and for the chocolate icing
- Tablespoon
- Sieve
- Cake rack
🌡 Storage
Your Sachertorte will keep for up to two weeks under a cake cover.
💭 Top tip
Always beat egg whites until stiff just before using. If egg whites that have been beaten stiff with sugar stand, they lose their firmness and cannot be beaten again.
Egg whites should always be processed or baked immediately.
🙋🏻 FAQ
Two chocolate cake layers separated by a layer of apricot jam.
Butter, chocolate, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, vanilla bean, apricot jam, and dark chocolate couverture.
🇦🇹 More delicious Austrian recipes for you to try:
- Whipping Cream Bundt Cake
- Potato Flour Cake with Eggnog
- Austrian Strawberry Sponge Cake
- Chestnut Cake
- Layered Pudding Dessert
- Buchteln
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Pancakes
- Austrian Kaiserschmarrn
- Elderflower Fritters
- and more...
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📖 Recipe
Sacher Torte
Equipment
- Springform pan 30 cm // 12 inch
- Saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- Pastry spatula
- An angled palette for spreading the filling and for the chocolate icing
- Tablespoon
- Sieve
Ingredients
Dough
- 5 oz Butter soft
- 1 cup Chocolate couverture with high cocoa content
- 1 cup Fine crystal sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 7 Eggs
- 1 cup AP Flour
Filling
- 3 tablespoon Apricot jam
Glaze
- 1 ¼ cups Chocolate glaze
- ½ cup Whipped cream
Instructions
- Separate the eggs.7 Eggs
- Melt the chocolate in a water bath or tempering device, if available.1 cup Chocolate couverture
- Preheat the oven to 338 °F (about 170 °C).
- In a mixing bowl (preferably the one in your food processor), add the softened butter, melted chocolate, 140 g of granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt.5 oz Butter, 1 cup Chocolate couverture, 1 cup Fine crystal sugar, 1 pinch Salt
- Beat these ingredients with the whisk attachment until very fluffy.
- Gradually add the egg yolks, and in the meantime, whip the egg whites with ⅜ cup (60 g) refined granulated sugar until very stiff.1 cup Fine crystal sugar
- Then carefully fold the very stiffly whipped egg whites into the mixture.
- Finally, sift the flour over the cake batter and fold it in.1 cup AP Flour
- Line the springform pan with parchment paper and fill it with the batter.
- Before baking, smooth it out with a spatula and bake for 15 minutes with the oven door slightly open. Here it is advisable to clamp a cooking spoon in the oven door opening simply, preventing the door from accidentally falling shut.
- Then close the door of your oven and continue baking for 60 minutes.
- After the total baking time, test to see if the dough is well-done. The dough is ready if no more dough sticks to a wooden skewer after being inserted and pulled out.
- Turn out onto a cake rack and let cool.
- After cooling, cut the cake horizontally in half. A long, sharp knife works best here. It is long enough and cuts the dough without tearing it.
- Now comes the apricot filling. Heat the jam in a saucepan or microwave to make it more spreadable.3 tablespoon Apricot jam
- Then spread the apricot mixture on the bottom cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top.
- Put the chocolate glaze and whipping cream in a saucepan and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly. (Bring to a boil briefly and then immediately remove from the heat.)1 ¼ cups Chocolate glaze, ½ cup Whipped cream
- Now spread the warm chocolate glaze on the top of the cake first and then pull it down over the sides to have the entire cake covered in gorgeous dark chocolate icing.
- Serve a piece of Sachertorte with a large dollop of unsweetened, stiffly whipped cream, and enjoy with a cup of coffee.
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
⛑️ Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
Nancy
Ive had this Austrian chocolate cake long time ago but had no idea what it was called. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. Pinned.
Nora
Thank you, Nancy!
Audrey
Fantastic!! Love this recipe.
Kara
This was my first time trying a sacher torte and it was absolutely amazing! Will definitely be making these again!
Mitch
Chocolate lovers and couples would love to make this for Valentine's! It looks so decadent and just the perfect sweetness. yum!
Amy
Loved the chocolate with the apricot. SO good!