Austrian chocolate cake.

Until I turned 18, moved out of my parents' house and went to college the most cooking and baking I had done was scrambled eggs and some rather disastrous attempts at Indian food. My college scholarship/financial aid included unlimited visits to the dining hall, so I didn't do too much cooking during the school year. In the summers I sometimes lived on rice and lentils for weeks, and considered milk and cereal a real treat.

Since graduating from college I have taken it upon myself to learn how to cook and bake. Initially it was mostly out of necessity, but it's become a fairly central part of my life. I like trying out new recipes, and I almost prefer baking over cooking. There's just something about making a meal or a dessert from scratch and eating it and watching others eat it.

Yesterday I made my first attempt at what is probably the most famous Austrian cake there is: Sachertorte. It's a little bit like Coca Cola. The recipe is in a vault, except with chocolate instead of ascorbic acid. I had to rely on various online sources for imitation recipes. I found one that looked promising, and here is the result

Here is the original, sold only in two places in Austria, at exorbitant prices:


The most exciting part was the chocolate glaze, and I'm happy to say that it's NOT fondant, nor does it contain any added sugar, granulated or powdered. It's simply half semi-sweet Baker's chocolate (54% cocoa) and half margarine/Crisco. Melts very nicely and hardens nicely too. I figured out too late that I should use a spatula of some sort to shape the chocolate, thus the lumps and bumps on my cake. The target audience for this cake didn't seem to mind though, as the entire thing was eaten and compliments were uttered. I'm not sure I'll make it again any time soon, but I'll definitely be making the chocolate glaze again, since I have about 1.5lbs of Baker's chocolate left over.