It always takes me a minute to “catch up” on these, so if you’re keeping track (don’t), we’re now up to Thanksgiving of last year (2020) with 16-5: Sacher Torte. Sachertorte is a real thing, and Simply Delicious actually has a pretty decent take on it.
The Wikipedia link above gives a pretty close approximation of the origin story Simply Delicious mentions on their card above, so they’re hitting near the mark. Sometimes the best Simply Delicious recipes are the ones they DON’T make up for themselves.
Side note: My dad ended up LOVING this one (and he’s been eating the dishes from this book for 30+ years), so it comes highly recommended.
Freezing the cake and saving it for later is not a bad idea–let’s just hope you have the freezer space for it.
Ingredients. You can do all the work of blanching/peeling/grinding almonds, or you can remember that it’s 2021 and we have almond flour readily available at the store now. I also included my favorite brand of jam/jelly/preserves, Bonne Maman. Their stuff is always super tasty, and I use those jars for EVERYTHING.
Don’t be afraid to splurge on some good chocolate for this one–Guittard and Ghirardelli are the more reputable ones around here (Northern California), but everyone’s got their opinions on the matter. Just don’t settle for the Hershey’s/Nestle, unless that’s all you can find.
I had mentioned at the top that this was a dessert I was making for Thanksgiving, so there’s more going on in the kitchen than just this recipe. In 2019 (our first meatless Thanksgiving that didn’t end up with everyone at Denny’s), I tried the store-bought option (and tired cliche) of a Tofurky roast, which was…not good. You can see some of the pictures of that experience as part of 6-42: Turkey Pot Roast.
For this year (2020), I decided to make my own “holiday roast” using a recipe from The Gentle Chef, my favorite meatless cookbook–I’ve included an action shot of that process as well.
After baking (but before finishing). It actually yielded enough for two roasts, so the second one (the one on the left) is currently in my freezer, awaiting Thanksgiving 2021. If you happen to need a recipe for real Thanksgiving turkey, you can’t go wrong with 6-29: Stuffed Turkey.
OK, back to the actual recipe at hand. First task: melting the chocolate in a “double boiler”.
Separating eggs.
I only have one stand mixer (and no hand mixer), so I’ll need to move the batter out of the bowl and clean up/reset to make the meringue.
Testing my stiff peaks by holding my bowl upside down. No movement, so we’re good.
Folding my meringue into my batter.
This is folded, but not completely incorporated.
Much better. I’ve also put it into my greased/floured springform pan.
After baking–it’s got an okay lift to it, but I would have liked a little more height. Now it’s time to spread on the apricot preserves.
Double boiler, double vision.
Glaze is ready, and I’ve got the cake set up on a rack with a sheet pan underneath to catch any extra drips.
Starting the glazing process. I like to work from the middle out towards the sides.
Not as smooth as I would have liked–it’s tough to get it even over the preserves and the contours of the cake.
I whipped up another batch of glaze and did another layer–I’m not sure if that was the BEST idea, but it’s definitely covered now.
Had you forgotten about my little turk’y roast? Here it is all finished–looks much different than how it came out of the oven. I plated this early and covered it in foil for a quick reheat right before serving time.
Slicing up the torte for our Thanksgiving dessert, accompanied with the traditional pumpkin pie (courtesy of my mom). It was very delicious and I would definitely make it again.
Grade: A+
