There are three Cs most closely associated with Vienna – Classical music, coffee and cake. For the latter, the No.1 in the cake rankings is the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake (or torte) of Austrian origin which is, denser than your usual sponge cake, with one or more layers of jam (usually apricot) and coated in dark chocolate icing on the top and sides.
The original Sachertorte
One of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties, it was originally invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich, Austria’s top diplomat, in Vienna. The court of the prince had requested an especially delicious dessert for a special occasion but, as the maître Chambellier was ill at the time, 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher filled in and the cake he created could not have been more delicious so much so that Metternich was said to have remarked “Oh, that he may not discredit me tonight!” Franz’s son, Eduard, who opened Hotel Sacher Wien in 1876, fine-tuned the recipe.
Today, Sachertorte’s fame has gone global, with Franz Sacher, on his 200th birthday in 2016, getting a Google Doodle. In the USA, December 5 is National Sachertorte Day.
A slice of sachertorte at the airport
This classic, world-famous cake is pretty much available as a staple food, in many variations on a common theme, in Viennese coffee houses, Konditoreien (confectioneries), patisseries and many restaurants (where it lurks innocently in the cake vitrine) but the two most traditional sources are Hotel Sacher Wien and Demel. The “original” Sacher Torte, of Hotel Sacher Wien, has two layers of apricot jam between the outer layer of chocolate icing and the sponge base. Demel’s “Eduard-Sacher-Torte,” on the other hand, has only one layer and is denser and smoother.
The cake’s wooden box
I tried a slice of this cake, prior to our departure back to Manila, at an F&B outlet at the Vienna International Airport. Plus, inside my luggage is a wooden box, with four golden corners, the inside of the lid with the wood engraving of the Hotel Sacher Wien as well as “Das Original” and “Hotel Sacher Wien” in writing and Bordeaux red wrapping paper, with a Biedermeier motif, enclosing the Piccolo size (12 cm. diameter,0.4 kg.) of the “original” version of Sachertorte, a take home gift from Marivic “Vicky” Dionela, our Vienna host and Grace’s first cousin. Vienna’s Hotel Sacher was opened by Franz Sacher’s son Eduard in 1876
Check out “Vienna International Airport“
The still hand-made, original Sachertorte, still using Franz Sacher’s original, closely guarded recipe to this day, is a refined, elegant combination of chocolate flavors with a simple apricot jam filling (which becomes absorbed into the cake and forms a slightly sweet moist layer in the center), a decadent bittersweet glaze complemented by a compulsory mound of Schlag.
Hotel’s Sacher’s logo at the box’s lid
Every bit of Sachertorte is supposed to be dipped with a dollop of traditional unsweetened whipped cream which is an important part of the picture as it moistens the frankly firm cake layers. Their icing is said to consist of three special types of chocolate which, for this sole purpose, are exclusively produced by different manufacturers. Sacher Hotel obtains these products from Lübeck in Germany and from Belgium. It is sold at Hotel Sacher in Vienna and Salzburg, at Cafe Sacher branches in Innsbruck and Graz, at the Sacher Shop in Bolzano, in the Duty Free area of Vienna airport, and via the Hotel Sacher’s online shop.
This chocolate cake, both light and rich at the same time was, quite simply, delicious though the layer of icing overdoes the sweetness.
Hotel Sacher: Philharmoniker Str. 4, 1010 Vienna, Austria. Tel: +43 1 514560. Website: www.sacher.com › original-sacher-torte.