I have to be honest, when I saw that this week’s theme was ‘European Cakes’ I did have a bit of a mind blank. I mean, I’ve eaten plenty of cake whilst in European countries, but I couldn’t think of anything that was actually of distinct European origin. So, I took to Google, where this Austrian delight caught my eye above all the other European cakes I stumbled across! Chocolate and apricot isn’t something I’d have automatically paired together but, oh my, it’s a beautiful combination!
I did get more than a little carried away with this cake, and what started off as a two layer sponge very quickly snowballed into the feast you see above. I won’t beat about the bush, this cake is huge. Enormous. So, if you don’t want to be living off cake for a week (err, why not!?) then I’d suggest you halve the sponge recipe and use a 9″ cake tin to get a lovely, reasonable sized cake that will still happily give you 8 slices. But stick to the frosting proportions, because extra frosting is always a good thing…
Don’t forget to check out all the other delicious bakes using #TheGreatBloggerBakeOff hashtag on twitter!
Ingredients
- 300g butter, softened
- 300g caster sugar
- 300g dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp amaretto (optional)
- 8 eggs, separated
- 120g ground almonds
- 180g plain flour, sieved
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 80g cocoa powder (optional - for darker layered sponges)
- 300g milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 300ml double cream
- 12 tbsp apricot jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°c. Grease 4 11 inch round cake tins.
- Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla extract, amaretto & egg yolks and beat until fully incorporated. Gently fold in the ground almonds, flour and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the sponge mix.
- Divide half of the mixture between two of the cake tins. To the remaining mixture, add the cocoa powder and mix. Divide this between the remaining two cake tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- For the frosting, whip the cream until you reach a dropping consistency. Fold in the melted chocolate.
- To assemble, spread apricot jam and a small amount of frosting between each sponge layer. Once fully assembled, spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.
This looks amazing, I want a slice right now – I am actually dribbling! 😀
I could hardly wait to dig in either! x
I live in Edinburgh now, I’m coming round for a slice 😉 Just kidding! I’ve never tried a sacher torte but this does look delicious.
Hayley
Water Painted Dreams xo
You’ll be lucky if there’s any left 😉 neither had I but it caught my eye the most during my quick google of European cakes! x
My grandma used to make this and for the life of me I only knew it as torte…. She made hers in a flat pan and cut it into finger size diamonds. I cannot wait to make it again its been over 30 yrs since I had it!!! Thank u for posting it!!!