Yes, yes Gerhard, I know: Sacher-style torte. No one outside the Sacher and/or Demel enterprises knows the actual recipe. However I believe this formula to be quite close. It’s certainly close to what I remember. In fact in some ways I think this is closer to what I ate in Vienna twenty five years ago […]
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READ ONOne of the chief complaints Viennese bakers have about American Sacher tortes (and believe me, they have a lot of them) is that they lack the bitter tang of their Viennese cousins. This they usually attribute to the chocolate, since we here in America tend to prefer mellower-tasting chocolates than folks on the continent, or […]
READ ONReader Peter T. wrote in overnight with the observation that most of the Sacher torte recipes he’s seen call for couverture chocolate, but the one I put up doesn’t. What’s the deal with that? he asks. It’s a good question, and he is quite correct, most of the better Sacher torte formulas do indeed call […]
READ ONReader Natasha writes: I just had to mention to you how amusing I find it that one can order an “original” Sacher torte directly from the Sacher Hotel in Vienna, from just about anywhere in the world! And the confection is quite refined and elegant as well. It comes in a nice hand made wooden […]
READ ONOne thing that I tend not to like about those big, professional pastry manuals is how formulaic they are. To make product 1, combine components A and B. To make product 2, combine components B and C. To make product 3, combine components A, B and C…and so on. It’s not that the people who […]
READ ONA good Sacher torte, I admit, can be a bit of a beast to mix. I can’t do much to simplify that. However you’ll be relieved to know that I’ve simplified the assembly somewhat with a streamlined cook-and-pour glaze, which should help. Is it completely authentic? Maybe not, but the end result is excellent. For […]
READ ONSo what are some of the ways in which pastry chefs have attempted to “improve” Sacher torte? Firstly, by adding more apricot jam. A Sacher Hotel-style Sacher torte has one layer of filling in the middle. Demel’s modification is a full glazing of jam over the entire exterior. Most of the Sacher torte recipes you […]
READ ONThe complaint that pastry lovers most often levy again Sacher torte is that it’s dry. You hear that a lot from people returning from trips to Vienna: I went to the Sacher hotel and ordered Sacher torte and I was so disappointed…it was so dry. Is that true? No and yes. Defenders of Sacher torte […]
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