madrid@auvax (09/13/83)
The following comes from "The Cooking of Vienna's Empire". It's one
of the "Foods of the World" series, published by Time-Life Books. The
whole series is a gastronomic and visual delight. The recipes are
well-researched and well-presented. The photography is as excellent
as one would expect from the source. Not only are the illustrative
photographs beautiful, but the descriptive ones, accompanying the
recipes, are informative. As for this particular volume.... Well,
the savoury recipes are very good, but for a pastry-fancier, it
borders on the pornographic!
"The most famous of all Torten in Vienna (though, in my opinion, not
the best) is the Sachertorte. This tasty delight has created more myths,
and still creates more arguments, than any other Viennese pastry. Many
people all over the world associated it with Vienna, though few have seen it,
and even fewer have tried a "genuine" Sachertorte.
It is not true, as one legend has it, that the Sachertorte was invented
by the notorious Frau Anna Sacher. This formidable, cigar-smoking owner
of the Hotel Sacher irritated His Majesty, the ascetic Emperor Franz Josef I,
by encouraging the frivolous goings-on between the youthful archdukes and
the lithe, lissom members of the Vienna Opera ballet. In fact, the Sachertorte
had been invented in 1832 by the founder of the Sacher line, Franz, while he wasserving as Prince Metternich's chef.
'He bothered me all the time to invent something new, as though my pastries
were not good enough,' Franz Sacher said. 'So I just threw some ingredients
together and that's it.' 'He' was Prince Metternich, and 'it' became the
Sachertorte. Fortunately the Prince didn't demand that it be called
Metternichtorte. He might have, if he had forseen its world-wide success,
but even a Metternich cannot forsee the future.
Since then there have been countless recipes for the 'Original'
Sachertorte. It is the only Torte on earth that became the issue of a
celebrated court case, which created more excitement in Vienna and consumed
more newspaper space than a minor war. The issue was: who had the right to callhis product the 'genuine' Sachertorte - the Hotel Sacher, which traded on the
family connection with the Sachertorte's creator, or Demel's, which had bought
the right to fix the 'Genuine Sachertorte' seal (in finest bittersweet
chocolate, of course) on its Torten? Demel's had acquired the right from
Edouard Sacher, the grandson of creator Franz Sacher and the last scion of
the dynasty. The recipe was published, with Edouard Sacher's permission,
in 'Die Weiner Konditorei', by Hans Skrach. It starts out with 14 egg yolks,
just to give you an idea of its scope.
Basically the Sachertorte is a chocolate sponge mixture, baked in a
buttered, flour-dusted, round cake tin. Demel's version is covered first
with hot apricot marmalade and then with bittersweet chocolate icing. The
Sacher's version is sliced in half and filled with apricot jam.
The question kept the public and the courts of Vienna busy for seven
long years. It is known in Vienna as the 'Sweet Seven Years' War.'
Eventually, Austria's highest court decided that the Hotel Sacher had the
right to make and sell the 'Genuine Sachertorte.' That was the end of
the lawsuit, but not of the popular argument. Demel's promptly announced
that they were going to sell the Ur-Sachertorte, the very first version.
Since then a great many people, including some prominent members of the
Sugar Bakers' Guild, have spoken out in favor of Demel's. Both Demel's and the
Hotel Sacher send their Sachertorten in wooden boxes all over the world, and
one can only say that both versions are light, delicate and distinctive.
Vienna's leading chefs are no help when it comes to defining the proper
recipe for the Sachertorte. A former Demel's man puts the apricot jam inside,
a method frowned on by other experts. Another famous chef diplomatically
avoids the issue and comes up with an Austrian compromise: you may or may
not fill the Torte with marmalade or whipped cream! No Sachertorte purist
would ever touch such a thing.
Note: at Demel's you are always asked whether you want whipped cream
with your Sachertorte. Informed scientific opinion in Viennese Sachertorte
circles says that a fine Sachertorte becomes even finer with a little
whipped cream served on the side."
And now, Time-Life's recipe:
"Sachertorte
SACHER CAKE
To make 1 nine-inch round cake.
6 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken or chopped in small chunks
8 egg yolks
8 tablespoons (1/4 lb. stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 egg whites
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup apricot jam, rubbed through a sieve
Preheat the oven to 350. Line two 9-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pans with
circles of wax paper.
In the top of a double boiler, heat the chocolate until it melts,
stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. In a small mixing bowl,
break up the egg yolks with a fork, then beat in the chocolate,
melted butter and vanilla extract.
With a wire whisk or a rotary or electric beater, beat the egg whites
and pinch of salt until they foam, then add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at
a time, continuing to beat until the whites form stiff, unwavering
peaks on the beater when it is lifted from the bowl.
Mix about 1/3 of the egg whites into the yolk-chocolate mixture, then
reverse the process and pour the chocolate over the remaining egg
whites. Sprinkle the flour over the top. With a rubber spatula,
using an over-and-under cutting motion instead of a mixing motion,
fold the whites and the chocolate mixture together until no trace of
the whites remains. Do not overfold.
Pour the batter into the 2 lined pans, dividing it evenly between
them. Bake in the middle of the oven until the layers are puffed
up and dry and a toothpick study in the center of a layer comes out
clean. Remove the pans from the oven and loosen the sides of the
THE GLAZE
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken or chopped in small chunks
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a small heavy saucepan, combine the chocolate, cream, sugar and
corn syrup. Stirring constantly with a heavy spoon, cook on low
heat until the chocolate and sugar are melted, then raise the heat
to medium and cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, or until
a little of the mixture dropped into a glass of cold water forms a
soft ball. In a small mixing bowl beat the egg lightly, then stir
3 tablespoons of the chocolate mixture into it. Pour this into
the remaining chocolate in the saucepan and stir it briskly. Cook
over low heat, stirring constantly, for 3 or 4 minutes, or until
the glaze coats the spoon heavily. Remove the pan from the heat
and add the vanilla. Cool the glaze to room temperature.
When the cake layers have completely cooled, spread one of them
with apricot jam and put the other layer on top. Set the rack in
a jelly-roll pan and, holding the saucepan about 2 inches away from
the cake, pour the glaze over it evenly. Smooth the glaze with a metal
spatula. Let the cake stand until the glaze stops dripping, then, using
two metal spatulas, transfer it to a plate and refrigerate it for 3
hours to harden the glaze. Remove it from the refrigerator 1/2 hour
before serving."
R.
auvax!madrid