I was looking for a chocolate recipe with a family history to share for Christmas. It took me longer than expected: we don’t have a single chocolate cake that screams “Christmas” in our family traditions. Since I took over more cooking duties from my mother, the kitchen has become a lab of continuous experiments, and chocolate is always a favourite subject.
Flipping through my recipe notebook, the very first cake I wrote down—on the first page in tidy handwriting—remains my ultimate chocolate cake: the Sacher Torte.
I remember the moment I learned this recipe: first year at university, an Italian composition class on the top floor of the Faculty of Letters. I was waiting for the lesson, leaning on the banister, when a girl introduced herself. We became instant friends and have stayed close for more than ten years. We shared passions from cinema to chocolate—how could I forget that we watched Chocolat together? It was Laura who handed me her Sacher Torte recipe.
On my page it’s called Laura’s Sacher Torte. Before Laura it belonged to Susanna, who had the recipe from her mother and passed it down. My mental journey through women’s scrapbooks and kitchen conversations—almost like a scene from an Isabel Allende novel—stops here.
Now it’s my turn to pass it on. Below is our version of the Sacher Torte so you can make and share it in your family too.
A chocolate cake dressed like a Sacher torte
Full disclosure: this is not the classical Sacher Torte. There’s no cocoa butter or elaborate procedures—this is our version. It’s the kind of cake you can measure with a yogurt pot, quick and straightforward (from “I want Sacher” to in the oven in under five minutes), and it calls for easy-to-find ingredients. Even a beginner cook can make it. We’re happy to share this family-adapted, approachable Sacher Torte with you.
Laura’s Sacher Torte
Giulia
15 mins
40 mins
55 mins
Dessert
8 -10
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cake:
- 1 jar of whole plain yogurt (125 ml — use the jar as a measuring cup)
- 1 jar of cold-pressed seed oil
- 1 jar of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 jars of caster sugar
- 3 jars of plain flour
- 3 eggs
- 10 g baking powder
Ingredients for the filling:
- 1 jar of peach or apricot jam (not too sweet)
- 4–5 tablespoons Maraschino or other liqueur (brandy works well)
Ingredients for the frosting:
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 200 ml whipping cream
Instructions
- Mix all the cake ingredients together with a whisk. Tip: sift the flour and cocoa powder together first to help them combine smoothly.
- Grease a 24–25 cm round cake tin, pour in the batter and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 40 minutes.
- Check doneness with a toothpick. When ready, remove from the oven, turn the cake out and let it cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling and the frosting.
- Warm the jam and the liqueur together in a small saucepan over low heat.
- Slice the cake in half horizontally. Spread half with the warm jam, then replace the top layer.
- Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie. Remove from heat and whisk in the cream until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cake while it rests on a wire rack so excess drips away.
- Chill in the fridge for about an hour before slicing to let the glaze set.
Tasting test. This cake evokes the Sacher Torte: deep, intense and not overly sweet. It’s excellent on a winter afternoon with a cup of tea. I like to serve it with a tea I found at my favourite shop—a blend similar to what’s served at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna: Earl Grey enriched with jasmine, which pairs beautifully with the chocolate and jam.
A Christmas idea. Consider gifting a small Sacher Torte: it keeps for a few days in the fridge. Wrap it in glossy paper with a blue ribbon and include a small bag of nice tea—like inviting someone over for tea, wrapped up and ready to give.
