Vienna's Iconic Chocolate Cake

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

#tastinghistory #sachertorte #vienna

[TastingHistory]

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[juanjuri]

Gotta love Max visiting Vienna and putting on his best social graces, only to return home and casually mention he cooked a better Sacher cake than the two cafes that claim the original recipe, thus unwittingly declaring war on the Republic of Austria

[stephenbradford]

Man, the photo of all the people gathered around the book and translating it is so wholesome.

[patriciasalem]

I made a Sachertorte once for my ex husband's grandfather, who was originally from Vienna and came over during the war. It was one of my greatest compliments as a cook to hear him say, "Mr. Sacher himself couldn't have made such a delicious cake!" I always think of him when I see this scrumptious treat.

[madimcdonald]

I wanted to make the recipe and transcribed it in a google doc so I decided to add it to comments to make it a bit easier if anybody else wanted to try it out too. :)

Cake:
150g (10 ½ tbsp, about 5.3oz) bittersweet chocolate (at least 60% cacao)
2 tsp vanilla
150g (10 ½ tbsp) unsalted butter
½ tsp salt
150g (¾ cup) sugar
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
150g (1 ¼ cups) sifted flour

Glaze:
80g (about 3 oz) chocolate*
150g (¾ cup) sugar
115g water (½ cup)

Other:
About 1 cup (roughly 340g) apricot jam

Directions for the cake:
1) Melt chocolate over double boiler
2) Cool slightly, beat in butter until smooth
3) Add egg yolks and beat until combined
4) Add the sugar in thirds and beat for 4-5 minutes once fully added until smooth and light
5) In a separate bowl whip egg whites to stiff peaks
6) Gently and gradually fold in the whipped egg whites until almost no streaks remain
7) Gently fold in the flour about a third at a time until just fully combined
8) Pour batter in a 9” springform pan that has been lined with parchment paper and smooth the top
9) Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit (175 degrees celsius) for 30 minutes
10) Let cake cool for 10 minutes in pan before inverting on a rack to finish cooling completely

Directions for glaze:
1) Melt chocolate the same as before
2) In a separate pot dissolve 150g sugar in ½ cup or about 115 grams of water and bring it to a simmer
3) Add the chocolate to the pot of simmering sugar water and mix until smooth (about 5 minutes). It will separate at first but will eventually come together with enough stirring

Directions for Assembly:
1) Warm the apricot jam and pass it through a sieve to ensure it is smooth and spreadable
2) Slice the cake in half and spread half the jam on one of the halves before stacking the other half on top
3) Spread the remaining jam on the top layer of the cake
4) Pour over and carefully spread the chocolate glaze on top of the layered cake after it comes together

Serve with unsweetened whipped cream and enjoy :)


* I couldn't find an equivalent for tablespoons of chocolate that made sense, so instead I opted to add ounces as many baking chocolate bars are sold in amounts listed in ounces

[CaptainRiterraSmith]

If you go to Vienna and don't order 4 pastries every meal, you are doing it wrong.

[vetteboy]

“Always have more chocolate than you think you need” -Max Miller

This is the most important life advice in history

[FVWLN]

I also heard rumours, that they kept the typical dryness until today - which could be easily be overcome with modern ingredients - was because of the worldwide shipping. Since they mostly ship der cakes, they had to make sure, they arrive well and in a similar condition as in the Cafe. By keeping it dry, it took much longer to get rotten and arrived in a more "fresh" condition.
And after living in vienna for about five years, I can say: the best Sacher cakes are the ones, that don´t claim to be the original.
Also for another austrian themed dessert-video: Salzburger Nockerl.

[samuel_m]

The best Sachertorte, I have eaten is handmade by my mother. And the cake is never dry, but deliciously soft. The combination of chocolate, apricote jam and cake is pure heaven.
Advise from an Austrian, make yourself a Sachertorte, you won’t regret it. Greetings from Vienna 🇦🇹😊

[jackoftradeshome]

OMG This is my grandmother lost recipe down to the jam. I have been looking for it for years. Thank you Max.

[Augustus_Imperator]

unsweetened whipped cream with pastries and cakes is so underrated

[rhodiamann]

I am 81years old. My grandmother was born in Vienna in 1882 and died at the age of 96. She bequeathed me her recipe for sachertorte. Ground almonds and breadcrumbs. NO FLOUR!! I tried the Sachertorte at Sacher 's in 2008. My Granny's was infinitely better!!

[Astrophysikus]

I have been living in Vienna for well over a decade now, and I learned quite a lot! Also, your German pronunciation of all the terms is pretty much spot on, with one exception: we actually do pronounce the final e in Sachertorte.

[MundoYui]

Thank you Max for having the valentry to put yourself in the line of duty and trying all those cakes for us in Vienna.

[snowstrobe]

As a poor student in uni, a colleague, who had rich parents, would come to mine once a week and bring two slices of sachertorte and I'd make some strong coffee. It was one of my rare treats which I am reminded of every time I see this in a cafe.

[the_tunez]

This is hands down the best channel about the history of food I've ever seen, I'm glad to live in a timeline where this exists. Your work is simply impecable, Max! Love it with all my heart!!

[rachicolate]

For the yolk pronunciation—I think either is fine, it just depends on your region/accent. Imo one of the hardest aspects of English is not just how inconsistent our pronunciation rules are, but how much they can vary from place to place. I imagine it’s especially tricky for a German speaker, since it’s one of those languages where every single letter gets pronounced

[anayelisoria]

My best friend, who is a professional pastry chef, made me a Sacher cake on my birthday some years ago, she knows I'm an absolute fan of chocolate and she made it all from scratch for me, it still to this day THE BEST CAKE I'VE EVER HAD, Thank you so much for remind me of it!

[guinfort]

My grandparents brought us a sacher torte one year for the holidays when I was maybe 8. The leftover box became 8 yo mes treasure box and still holds all my tiny treasures. Since then, my grandma made it every year (a version with toasted ground hazelnuts) she passed on Friday so this video was a nice little surprise.

[milicamaelissazivanovic]

Honestly - Austria deserves its own series of videos. There are so many delicious cakes and cookies, not to mention the soups and boiled dishes with meat. Amazing video, thanks for the info!