Sachertorte

The Sachertorte, it is also known as the king of chocolate cakes. No, I didn't make that up! For something as glamorous as the king, it is really quite a plain cake/torte. The decorations only consist of a shiny chocolate coating and the piped word Sacher on it. The recipe dates back to 1832 and is the signature cake of Hotel Sacher and its recipe is guarded as top security. However, many have attempted at creating their own version of the sachertorte since. 

Ingredients

• 145g + 100g plain chocolate (in separate bowls)
• 80g + 35g+ 60g caster sugar (in separate bowls)
• 140g unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g ground almond
• 40g plain flour
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 10 tbsp apricot jam
• 200ml double cream
• 10g milk chocolate
• coco powder for dusting

1. Melt 145g plain chocolate over simmering water or low power in the microwave, let it cool for 20 minutes
2. Beat butter until it is very soft
3. Cream in 80g sugar into the butter and it is very soft and fluffy
4. Grease and line a 23cm round baking tin with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C
5. Add the cooled chocolate and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix
6. Add the egg yolks and beat the mixture until it is smooth
7. Fold in the ground almond and plain flour until they have incorporated into the rest of the batter
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with electric whisk until it begins to get foamy and then add 1 tbsp of the 35g of sugar at a time until all the sugar is dissolved and the meringue forms stiff peaks
9. Add 1/4 of meringue to cake batter and beat it in to soften the batter
10. Add remaining egg white to the batter and VERY gently fold it in to avoid losing the volume
11. Pour mixture into baking tin and bake for 50-60 minutes (you may need to cover the top with foil after about 40 minutes to prevent the top from burning, but this is oven dependent)
12. Take the torte out of the oven and let it cool in the tin for 2 minutes and remove from tin and cool on a wire rack
13. Slice the torte horizontally in half
14. Heat double cream and 60g caster sugar until boiling and sugar completely dissolved
15. Take cream off the heat and let it cool for 2 minutes and add to 100g of broken plain chocolate, stir until chocolate has melted and the ganache is shiny. Let is cool for 10 minutes 
16. Microwave 5 tbsp of apricot jam to soften it and make it more spreadable
17. Spread apricot jam onto the bottom slice of torte and leave it for 5 minutes and then spread a generous amount of chocolate ganache on top of the jam
18. Put the other layer of torte on
19. Microwave the remaining apricot jam and spread it on the torte
20. Pour ganache onto the torte and spread it evenly, or tilt the torte to let the ganache run to the side to get a smooth finish on the top and the sides
21. Let the ganache to cool completely for 30 minutes
22. Melt milk chocolate over simmering water or low power in microwave and put it into a piping bag and let it cool for 20-30 minutes
23. Pipe the word "Sacher" on the torte with milk chocolate 
24. Dust coco powder into patterns you desire 

Here we are! The KING of chocolate cakes!