SACHERTORTE

Last week I wanted to make a chocolate cake, so I decided to try to make the famous Sachertorte.
It was the first time I made it, 'cause we're not particularly keen on chocolate and this cake is very rich in chocolate and...calories!!!!But I gave away two pieces to friends so we've managed to finish it quickly...the result was very good.

Ingredients for a 24 cm tin:

160 g dark chocolate
150 g butter
150 g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
6 eggs
50 g cornflour
100 g plain flour
1 sprinkle of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
200 g apricot jam

Ingredients for the icing:

100 g jam
50 ml water

100 g sugar
100 ml water
200 g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the cake tin then line the base with baking paper.

Break the chocolate into pieces, melt gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally, then cool slightly.
In the meantime separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk the whites until they are stiff but not dry.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter until really soft, then gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at the time, then the cooled chocolate and the vanilla essence and beat again. Add the sieved flour, the cornflour, the baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda. Now fold in the egg whites and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake in the oven for about 30/40 minutes, or until well risen. Leave to cool in the tin for a while, then turn out and peel off the paper and cut the cake like a sandwich. Spread the apricot jam in the middle, then cover.

To make the icing, first you need to heat the other 100 g of jam in a small pan, then pass it in a sieve to eliminate pieces of fruit; then put it back again in the pan with 50 ml of water until boiling. At this point, brush evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

Make a syrup with 100 ml of water and 100 g of sugar and add the chocolate broken into pieces. Now cook on a low heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate has melted, and the mixture appears smooth (5 to 10 min). Then pour the icing on to the centre of the cake (but remember to leave a couple of spoons for the writing). Spread it gently over the top and down the sides, and leave to set.

After 10 minutes, if you want to write "Sacher" on the cake, reheat the remaining mixture, spoon into a small paper icing bag or polythene bag and snip off the corner. Pipe ‘Sacher’ across the top and leave to set for a few hours.