This Sacher Torte recipe is for the original Austrian cake. This homemade cake has chocolate sponge cake, apricot jam filling, & a chocolate ganache glaze!
I love a good Sacher Torte! When I was working in Germany, I had a chance to visit Vienna for a few days.
I tried a slice of a sacher torte, and it was love at first bite! The combination of the chocolate sponge cake, apricot jam filling, and rich chocolate ganache glaze was pretty amazing.
Since I can't just grab a piece of sacher torte from my local bakery, I've learned to make the cake. Thankfully, it's a fairly easy cake to make, and now, I make it whenever the craving strikes!
What is a sacher torte?
Sacher tortes are Austrian chocolate cakes. They have layers of chocolate cake, apricot preserves, and chocolate glaze.
The chocolate sponge cake isn't too sweet, and it goes perfectly with the rich, chocolate glaze and apricot filling. This cake is more of a sponge cake than a typical American chocolate cake.
The cake is pretty light and airy. It isn't overly moist, but it isn't dry either.
How to make a sacher torte
There are a quite a few steps in this recipe. Since it's a traditional cake, the egg whites are beaten and then folded into the batter to make the cake lighter.
This sacher torte does come together pretty quickly, and it's pretty easy to make.
To make the cake, let egg whites stand at room temperature in a very large bowl for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven. Grease and lightly flour two 8-inch cake pans. Set aside.
Melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat; cool.
Stir egg yolks and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Set mixture aside.
Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).
Gradually add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating about 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight).
Fold about 1 cup of the egg white mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg white mixture.
Sift about one-third of the flour over the egg mixture; gently fold in.
Repeat twice, sifting and folding in one-third of the flour at a time.
Carefully spread batter into the prepared pans. Hold the bowl close to the pans, and avoid dropping the batter into the pans from any greater height than necessary.
Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in their pans on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes.
Remove cakes from pan. Brush crumbs from edges of cakes.
To make the apricot filling, bring the preserves, extract, and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes.
Strain through a wire sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Set aside.
To make the chocolate glaze, place butter and chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
Bring whipping cream and light corn syrup to a gentle boil in a small, heavy saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour over butter and chocolate. Let sit for 2-3 minutes, and then stir until melted and well-combined. Cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, to assemble, place the one of the cake layers upright on a large serving plate.
Spread all but ⅓ cup apricot filling on top of the cake layer on plate.
Top with the second cake layer, inverting if necessary, to give you a flat surface for the top of the cake.
Spread the remaining ⅓ cup apricot filling over the top layer. Let cake sit for 10-15 minutes to let filling soak and set.
Pour chocolate glaze over torte, spreading as necessary to glaze top and sides completely.
Let torte stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving to let the glaze set up.
Ingredient tips and substitutions
Ingredient tips and substitutions- Baking chocolate: I like to use baking chocolate in this recipe because the chocolate melts well and gives a good result.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the cake.
- Apricot preserves: Apricot fruit spread, apricot jam, or apricot preserves will work.
- Rum: Feel free to use actual rum if you prefer.
- Chocolate glaze: If you would like to make a chocolate ganache topping without corn syrup, you can use this recipe instead. I would recommend a half batch of that recipe.
Storage
This cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cake can be stored, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
More cake recipes!
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Sacher Torte Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 large eggs (separated into whites and yolks)
- 5 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate (chopped)
- ½ cup butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
Apricot Filling
- 1 ¼ cups apricot preserves
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- 1 tablespoon water
Chocolate Glaze
- 2 ounces semisweet baking chocolate (chopped)
- 2 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
Instructions
- To make the cake, let egg whites stand at room temperature in a very large bowl for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease and lightly flour two 8-inch cake pans. Set aside.
- Melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat; cool.
- Stir egg yolks and vanilla into the cooled chocolate mixture. Set mixture aside.
- Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until soft peaks form (tips curl).
- Gradually add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating about 4 minutes or until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight).
- Fold about 1 cup of the egg white mixture into chocolate mixture.
- Fold chocolate mixture into remaining egg white mixture.
- Sift about one-third of the flour over the egg mixture; gently fold in. (If the bowl is too full, transfer mixture to a larger bowl.) Repeat twice, sifting and folding in one-third of the flour at a time.
- Carefully spread batter into the prepared pans. Hold the bowl close to the pans, and avoid dropping the batter into the pans from any greater height than necessary.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in their pans on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove cakes from pan. Brush crumbs from edges of cakes.
- To make the apricot filling, bring the preserves, extract, and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often.
- Cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes.
- Strain through a wire sieve into a small bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Set aside.
- To make the chocolate glaze, place butter and chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
- Bring whipping cream and light corn syrup to a gentle boil in a small, heavy saucepan.
- Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pour over butter and chocolate.
- Let sit for 2-3 minutes, and then stir until melted and well-combined. Cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, to assemble, place the one of the cake layers upright on a large serving plate.
- Spread all but ⅓ cup apricot filling on top of the cake layer on plate.
- Top with the second cake layer, inverting if necessary, to give you a flat surface for the top of the cake.
- Spread the remaining ⅓ cup apricot filling over the top layer.
- Let cake sit for 10-15 minutes to let filling soak and set.
- Pour chocolate glaze over torte, spreading as necessary to glaze top and sides completely.
- Let torte stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving to let the glaze set up.
Notes
- Baking chocolate: I like to use baking chocolate in this recipe because the chocolate melts well and gives a good result.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the cake.
- Apricot preserves: Apricot fruit spread, apricot jam, or apricot preserves will work.
- Rum: Feel free to use actual rum if you prefer.
- Chocolate glaze: If you would like to make a chocolate ganache topping without corn syrup, you can use this recipe instead. I would recommend a half batch of that recipe.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition Information
Originally published 2/10/12. Updated with additional photos and tips 2/16/21.
Adapted from grouprecipes.com
Lynn
Happy to see a cake that is not too sweet. Only the crumbs were left. :)
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it!
Caroline
Absolutely delicious!!
Kate
Glad you liked it! Thank you!