My Sacher Pictures + Question

collectively

It looks good to me. I'm not sure what you mean by seams in the frosting unless you're talking about the marks in the frosting made by the spatula. To get rid of those you need to dip your spatula in hot water. Hold it flat against the cake and very lightly run it over the icing to smooth it out. You shouldn't have to press into the icing at all when you're smoothing it out. The spatula should just barely touch the surface of the icing. If the icing tears it means you're pressing too hard.

Hey, thanks for the pictures! It's so nice when people come back with their results :)

Another poster suggests dipping your spatula (and don't you just love your offset spatula? I do mine) in hot water to smooth -- very good idea, that, and one that's worked for me when I've needed a smoother finish. Be careful about getting any drips on the cake itself; some chocolate frostings will spot.

I'd be curious to see your recipe, if you're willing to type it up, and see how it compares with the couple that I have (I find myself a bit nonplussed this morning, having discovered a Sachertorte recipe in my copy of Bo Friedberg's _The Professional Pastry Chef_ -- I wasn't expecting it :)).

-j

Boy, I sure wish I were that friend. Your cake looks simply yummy and I know that your friend will enjoy sharing it with you.

Your trouble with the frosting may come from what you use to make it. In Austria it is made of only sugar, chocolate and water, a glaze really, not a frosting. It is poured over the cake, so no spatula is needed, as the glaze is not touched after it is poured over the Sachertorte and is very shiny. That step, BTW, is considered to be the most difficult of all.

If I were you, I would just sit back and be really proud and pleased with how the Sachertorte turned out. :o) To me, it looks like a real masterpiece. Thank you for the pictures.

Thanks for the tip! The frosting has already set in the fridge, but I will definitely try this tip out on my next attempt.

I am in love with my offset spatula! I prefer it more than my regular icing spatula.

As I mentioned about, the frosting is already set in the fridge, so I'll leave it as is. Would you suggest the dipping in hot water method even after the frosting has already hardened? I suppose I can always blow-dry it with a hairdryer to bring it back to life.

I'm off to work, but I will type the recipe up later tonight. The instructions will have to be abbreviated as they are rather long, but I'll detail the ingredients. :)

I've done the dipping a cake-in-a-batter-of-frosting before, and I found it very wasteful! One has to make much more frosting than what will eventually cover the cake. The results are worth it, though. I found the consistency of this frosting to be thicker, more like a ganache, than the glaze typically associated with the famous Sachertorte.

It looks just scrumcious to me!

Try using a hot wet knife.

On Wed 20 Apr 2005 07:14:29a, Her Subj. wrote in rec.food.baking:

It would not be a problem for me to eat this cake just the way it is!

Thanks for the support, everyone! Here's a new picture of the Sachertorte, decorated in a rather untraditional way, but nevertheless makes the cake look better, methinks.

friend and I are to try it out tomorrow --hopefully it will taste asdecent as it looks (if I do say so meself!). I made it Tuesday nightand it shall be devoured on Thursday morning/afternoon after having hadbeen in the refrigerator the entire time inbetween. Should the cakestill taste relatively "fresh?" Also, the glaze set on the cake and israther hard (for example, if I tap on the top of the cake, I can hear a"knock"/solid noise). Is this typical of this type of glaze? (1/2cream, 1/2 chocolate, some butter as I did not have the suggested cornsyrup.)

The cake needs to be transported to my friend's work which is about 40 minutes from my residence. I hope the cake doesn't start to sweat/develop condensation!

On Thu 21 Apr 2005 01:15:14a, Her Subj. wrote in rec.food.baking:

Very pretty! I'm sure your friend will enjoy it. Can't really answer your questions about the glaze/frosting.

Please do post pictures of it when it's cut.

It looks even more beautiful then before. Is that powdered sugar on top?

If you ever want the recipe for the sugar - water - chocolate glaze, let me know and I will copy it for you from my Viennese cook book.

I still wish I could taste that lovely cake. M

Here are the ingredients for this Sachertorte:

chocolate genoise cake:

4 T unsalted butter 3.75 oz unbleached a/p flour 1.25 oz dutch-processed cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt 6 large eggs 7 ounces granulated sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract

frosting:

1/2 C heavy cream 2 T light corn syrup 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. melt butter on low heat and set aside. sift flour, cocoa powder, and salt onto parchment paper.

1. whisk eggs and sugar in bowl until blended
2. put the mix over a water bath (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch water) and mix until fluffy, and mixture is at around 110F. mixture should be able to stream down a ribbon when whisk is held 4-5 inches above the bowl.
3. take 1 cup of the mixture and mix with the melted butter.
4. take flour, cocoa, and salt blend and gently fold into the egg and sugar mixture. fold the 1 cup of sugar, eggs, and butter gently into the mixture making sure not to allow the mixture to collapse.
5. bake at 350f for about 35 minutes until cake spring backs up when touched with finger

Oh, that does look delicious!