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Photograph courtesy of Leading Hotels of the World
Swee
Hilaire Walden makes
the case for Sachertorte, a
dark shiny cake that
found itself in court
This Christmas I will be making at least
one dark, shiny, slinky chocolate
Sachertorte to serve as an alternative to
both Christmas cake and Christmas pudding.
Served on white marble, or a white plate, it
makes a stunning, understatedly elegant
contrast to the plump, fruity homeliness of the
traditional fare.
Most traditional dishes have hotly contested
backgrounds, with legions of competing recipes,
but Sachertorte beats them all. The right to
claim it was the subject of a seven-year legal
wrangle between the Hotel Sacher (built in
1876) and the pastry shop, Demel, both in
Vienna. The hotel won. It can now use the
moniker ‘Original Sachertote’ when selling the
cake. The similar cake now sold at Demel is
called Demel’s Sachertorte.
If the legend is correct it does seem likely
that the hotel had the stronger claim. According
to the story, the cake was created purely by
chance by a 16-year-old apprentice named
Franz Sacher. Apparently, one day, in 1832, the
chef to the Austrian chancellor, Prince Wensell
Metternich, suddenly fell ill. A dessert that was
fit for a prince was needed, so, for some reason,
an apprentice in the kitchen was asked to do it,
rather than the pastry chef or otherwise
experienced chef. Young Franz came up with
the cake that has made his name known to
posterity.
There is one very obvious difference
between the two cakes: the location of the layer
of apricot jam. The Sacher Hotel spreads it in
the middle of the cake, Demel spreads it under
the icing. Wherever you put it, it should be
discreet and no more than enough to provide
just a hint of contrasting tangy fruitiness.
In Vienna, Sachertorte is served with cream.
You might think this is gilding the lily, but the
cakes there have a fairly dry texture and are on
the sweet side (at least for my taste) and the
cream acts as a counterbalance. A further
enhancement is a cup of strong, dark coffee.
The original Sachertorte proudly
displayed at Hotel Sacher in Vienna