Franz's family was anxious
to capitalize on the notoriety
and popularity of ther son's creation and opened Sacher's, a pastry
shop which featured the
Sachertorte. However, Demel's, Vienna's most popular pastry shop.
had also been featuring another version of the cake which they claimed
was the original Sachertorte. Sacher's version was a three-layer
chocolate cake with the layers coated with both apricot and raspberry
jams. Demel's version was a single layer cake coated with apricot jam
and chocolate. The legal battle over which version could be called
Sachertorte lasted several
years with Sacher's the victor.
The cake at Demel is now called "Demels Sachertorte" and differs
from the "Original" in that there is no layer of apricot jam in the
middle of the cake, but directly underneath the chocolate cover,
covering the entire cake.
In 1876. Franz's son, Eduard, opened the Hotel Sacher near the State
Opera House in Vienna, and the Sachertorte, the secret recipe of
which he had inherited, played an important role in spreading the fame
of the hotel.
Because of its proximity to the
Opera House, all the suites are named after operas
and composers (e.g., La Traviata, Carmen, Idomeneo,
The Magic Flute, Madame Butterfly, Nabucco,
Rigoletto, Leonard Bernstein, etc.) The new suites on the top
floor of the building feature the name of contemporary operas such as
Lulu and Billy Budd.
Elisabeth Gurtler took over the reins of the
Hotel Sacher group in 1990, following the death of her husband.
When asked about her secret recipe for Sachertorte, she was
quoted as explaining , "Aside
from me, only my pastry chef and his assistant know the recipe, which is
kept in a safe," and said "All that I can say is that we use
butter, sugar, eggs, flour, chocolate and jam," she said coyly, adding
that ingredients are "all natural" and all from Austria -- except for
the chocolate that comes from Belgium and Germany."
Here is what we believe is the closest
approximation of the original recipe which we suggest making to
celebrate Franz's birthday. Our recommended film is Hotel Sacher
(1939) which is in German with no subtitles. However, you can cheat
and watch a clip from the film on YouTube. |