In a country that prides itself in its pastries, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with a touch of apricot marmalade, reigns supreme.  It even has a royal history:  In 1832, Prince Wenzel Clemens Metternich ordered his chef to create an exquisite dessert for his fastidious guests.  But the chef was very ill and the order was delegated.  The sixteen year old apprentice Franz Sacher took on this demanding task and created a specialty—the Sachertorte—which managed to delight the discriminating palates of the prince’s guests.  A few years later, Franz Sacher, having become a chef in his own right, went into business for himself in Budapest, and began offering his creation on a large, and very successful, scale.  This was the beginning of the Sachertorte’s rise to fame.

Recipe for Sachertorte (not an original recipe):

BATTER

130g butter.
110g sugar for baking
1 package vanilla sugar
6 eggs
130g baking chocolate
110g granulated sugar
130g smooth flour
Butter for the cake pan
Apricot marmalade for the filling

GLAZE

1/8 L water
300g granulated sugar
250g chocolate
Heat up the baking chocolate.  Add butter to the baking sugar and the vanilla sugar and stir till the mixture is frothy, then stir in the egg yolks.  Add the pre-warmed chocolate and mix thoroughly.  Beat the egg whites together with the granulated sugar until it becomes slushy and carefully fold it into the batter.  Finally add flour.  Generously grease the cake pan and fill in the batter.  Bake for 1 hour at 170 degrees in a pre-heated oven.  Leave the oven door cracked open for the first 15 minutes.  When ready, take the cake out of the pan and let it sit and cool off.  Heat the apricot marmalade to about 70 degrees.  Cut the cake in half horizontally, and coat the lower half with marmalade, then put the cake back together.  Coat the outside of the cake with marmalade as well, then let it dry for at least 2 hours.