Sacher Torte Debrief

Not a whole heck of a lot to debrief after this week’s Sacher Torte-making escapade. The nice thing about making a “glaze” instead of a simple chocolate coating is that the candy component of the glaze (i.e. the syrup) makes it shiny regardless of how well you temper it. So you get all the fun out of playing with a big mass of chocolate without the performance anxiety. Plus there’s a bunch left over that you can save to dip strawberries in. If there’s down side to this, I don’t know what it is.

The only other step that I can think of that might be an issue for some folks is the slicing of the cake layer. Cutting horizontally can be a problem, since we’re all habituated to slicing our food vertically. Yet it’s not a difficult thing to get accustomed to, provided you have a good long bread knife (so what if the layers come out a little uneven, that’s how you know it’s home made!). A cake saw is the handiest thing of all, that being a 14-or-so-inch metal blade designed specifically for the job, but who needs a specialized tool like that when dental floss is so much cheaper?

Yes, that’s right, dental floss. Just cut yourself a 3-foot-long piece and wrap it around your cake layer in a big loop, half way up the edge. Tug on it just enough to where the floss is tight around the cake’s waist, and check to make sure it’s even all the way around (you can adjust it up or down with a toothpick). Once you’re satisfied your floss is positioned properly, just pull slowly but firmly on the ends. The loop will slowly close, slicing your cake layer into two perfect halves. Easy!