December 5 is Sacher Torte Day. What is Sacher Torte? It is a very special cake that originated in Austria in the19th century. An Austrian poll shows that the Sacher-Torte is an Austrian favorite.

The story of Sacher Torte tells of how 16-year-old apprentice, Franz Sacher, created a special dessert. In 1832 he created the Sacher-Torte for Prince Metternich. The original Sacher-Torte recipe is  a secret of the Sacher Hotel and is kept in a safe.

A pastry chef noted, “A key secret is the different chocolates used in the icing. A number of dark chocolates are specially produced for us and combined here according to a special recipe. But the perfect blend of high-quality ingredients isn’t all there is to it. The ingredients have to be the right temperature, the bakery must have the proper humidity and temperature, and the 34 steps, right up to the packaging of the cake in the fine wooden boxes, must be followed in the exact order.”

Cakes baked with the original recipe are available worldwide from Sacher. Visit the website to learn more.

If you do not have patience to wait for the Original Sacher-Torte to arrive, then try the recipe on Allrecipes.com. This particular recipe uses rum. Another online recipe I discovered calls for apricot schnapps or orange juice.

Have you had a slice of Sacher Torte? Have you tried to bake a similar cake? Let me know how it was!

Cheers,
Kathy