Fröhliche Weihnachten! Individual Sacher Tortes (Wheat Free)

Glücklicher Internationaler Sachertorte-Tag!

Our festive tour continues throughout central Europe, stopping off in Austria for a slice of their famous chocolate and apricot jam sponge: Sachertorte!

December the 5th is international Sachertorte day, coincidentally, so what better way to celebrate than sharing my own version of this iconic dessert. Invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 in Vienna, this cake has been an Austrian speciality ever since. Traditionally, it is made with two light and soft cocoa sponge layers, sandwiching sweet sour apricot jam, with two outer layers: one of apricot jam, and one of chocolate icing, made with sugar syrup and dark chocolate.

There is a lot of dispute over which is the definitive Sachertorte, and some recipes even include a double layer of apricot jam under the chocolate icing--which is iced on, rather than glazed on as is typical nowadays--and other versions use melted chocolate in the sponge itself, resulting in a denser, moister cake more like a brownie. But, I personally prefer a simple chocolate creamed sponge with a ganache coating made with chocolate and butter, rather than chocolate and syrup.

As you can see in the pictures, I'm not 100% amazing at glazing cakes: using pourable icing is not my forte. If I were to do this again, I'd wait until the icing is spreadable and ice it onto the cakes over the apricot layer. I also used a wax seal stamp to make individual chocolate decorations, inspired by this Honey Fondant Cakes with Chocolate Wax Seals blog by Heather Baird at Sprinkle Bakes. She explains the entire process of making chocolate wax seals, and I dusted mine with gold fondant dust.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Each step is simple, but there are a lot of steps

TIME

About 2 or 3 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

Makes roughly 8 small cakes

2 medium (US Large) eggs

4 ounces (115 grammes) butter, or baking margarine

6 ounces (170 grammes) caster sugar

5 ounces (140 grammes) flour

1 ounce (30 grammes) cocoa

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) milk, or milk alternative
 1/8 teaspoon (1 millilitre) salt

To decorate

Roughly 4 to 6 fluid ounces (115 to 170 millilitres) apricot jam

6 ounces (170 grammes) plain chocolate, or dairy free chocolate

3 ounces (85 grammes) unsalted butter, or baking margarine

4 tablespoons (60 millilitres) whole milk, or milk alternative

8 chocolate coins, or stamped chocolates (shown below)

Gold fondant dust

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

Before you begin the cakes, make the chocolate decorations

• Prepare the wax seal chocolates as instructed in Sprinkle Bakes' article, and set in the fridge. Use a soft brush to dust the chocolates with dry gold fondant dust. If you don't have the means to make chocolate seals, simply unwrap some chocolate coins and dust with gold.

Then, make the cake

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF/Gas Mk.4) and grease and flour a 4½ by 8 inch (11 by 20 centimetre) loaf tin, or you can use a silicone one which doesn't need greasing or flouring. Try to use one with fairly straight sides.
• In a mixing bowl, or food processor, cream the soft butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, making sure to beat well between each egg, and continue beating (or running the blade) until the mix is well incorporated.
• Sieve in half of the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder, fold through until mostly mixed, then add in the milk. Again, fold through until mostly mixed before adding the rest of the dry ingredients and folding through completely.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and bake on the centre shelf for 25 to 30 minutes, until the surface is springy to the touch and a cocktail stick comes out clean when stuck in the centre of the cake.
• Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.
• When cold, level the cake by cutting off the dome, then cut in half into two layers. Spread a layer of apricot jam, roughly 4 tablespoons (60 millilitres), onto the bottom layer, then sandwich on the top layer. Turn the entire cake upside down, so the flat bottom of the cake is now the top. Chill for about 30 minutes.
• Once the cake is chilled, trim the crusts off and cut into 8 small cakes. Spread a layer of apricot jam over the tops and sides of each cake. Return to the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.

Now, make the ganache glaze to finish the masterpieces!

• Break the chocolate up into small pieces, or cut up with a sharp serrated knife. Heat the butter and milk together in a jug in the microwave until the milk is hot and the butter is melted.
• Add the chocolate to the jug and allow to sit for 3 minutes before mixing with a small whisk or fork. Beat vigorously until it becomes a thick ganache. If needed, heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds to help the chocolate melt.
• Put the cakes on a wire rack and set the rack over a baking tray or large square cake tin. Pour the ganache over each cake, paying particular attention to the square corners.
• While the ganache is still wet, decorate each cake with a gold chocolate seal, or coin. Allow to set completely in the fridge before serving.

STORAGE

Keep these cakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. Alternatively, freeze for up to 3 months.