Just mention chocolaty cake and people think of the much
celebrated Sachertorte. The claim is the Sacher is a refined, elegant
combination of chocolate flavours. In reality it is a dense, overly rich chocolate cake,
heavily coated with chocolate glaze and served with whipped cream.
Just thinking about it gives me heartburn.
This cake is not some Sacher. The rich ganache layer
perfectly compliments the delicate texture of the cake and the half-sweet
apricot jam unifies them. The cake holds its own without enhancements, such as ice
cream, whipping cream, sauce or fruity toppings. This is my answer to the
Sacher.
Notes:
Use good quality
cocoa and pure chocolate. Use only cake flour.
*Use half-sweet apricot jam. Regular jam is overly sweet and
low sugar jams are runny. This pretty much rules out commercial jams. I made
apricot jam from CERTO Light Crystals. For 6 cups of prepared apricots only
4-1/2 cups sugar is required. From fresh or frozen apricots, you can also cook
up an old-fashioned jam with considerably less sugar.
NOT SOME SACHER
Chocolate Piskóta:
8 eggs separated
8 heaping Tbsp sugar
5 heaping Tbsp cake flour
5 heaping Tbsp cocoa
Filling:
about 1 cup half-sweet apricot jam [do NOT use commercial
jam see * notes above]
Chocolate Ganache:
3 oz pure bittersweet chocolate
6 oz pure semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup salted butter, at room temperature, cut into small
pieces
To Make The Chocolate Piskóta
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon coloured.
- Whisk in the cake flour and the cocoa.
- Stir the flour mixture into the cake batter.
- Wash the beaters and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold egg whites into the mixture.
- Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Lightly spray with cooking spray.
- Divide the batter between the prepared pans and gently level the tops.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the middle springs back.
- Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Remove cakes from cake pan and peel off the parchment paper.
- Chop the chocolate into small, matchstick-size pieces and place in a large stainless steel or heat-resistant bowl.
- Bring the cream to a rising boil and pour, all at once, over the chopped chocolate.
- Stir until the chocolate is melted and completely smooth with no lumps.
- Quickly stir in the softened butter, until completely dissolved.
- Set aside to thicken to a spreadable consistency.
To Assemble The Cake
- Piskóta is a foam cake and the top is rounded. Either trim off the top or trim off the rounded edge on the side. It is easier to trim the top flat.
- Place one cake on a platter.
- Spread the top with half-sweet apricot jam.
- Position the second cake on the top.
- Spread a thin layer of half-sweet apricot jam on the top and the sides.
- Spread the top and the sides with 1/3 of the chocolate ganache and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Spread half of the remaining ganache on the top and the sides and return to the fridge to for 15 minutes.
- Spread the remaining ganache on the cake, smoothing out the impefections.
- Chill for 15 minutes, slice and serve.
