Apricot

Daring Bakers: Sachertorte Fail

The making of this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was a comedy of errors.  I can truthfully say that I laughed more than I cried through this process and I couldn’t wait to share my Sachertorte tale.  So here’s how it all went down.

The October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Korena of Korena in the Kitchen. She took us to Austria and introduced us to the wonders of the Sachertorte.

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It sure is nice that to kids cake is cake no matter how it looks!  Mine enjoyed having some chocolate cake in the middle of the afternoon for no reason.

I’ve never wanted to make or eat Sachertorte.  Sorry.  But I typically don’t like fruit with my chocolate.  I do like raspberry, maybe strawberry, but other fruit and chocolate pairings are not hard for me to turn down.  A Sachertorte is chocolate cake glazed with apricot and then dark chocolate.  I wasn’t thrilled at this month’s challenge, but I’m only 3 challenges away from completing a full year of The Daring Bakers, so I couldn’t turn it down.  Also, this was an opportunity to broaden my baking horizons, and that’s always a good thing.

I had everything I needed and planned to whip this up on a Friday.  Since the cake can be made ahead I had what I thought was a good plan of getting that done in the morning, letting it cool, and then tackling both the apricot and chocolate glazes and the assembly during afternoon naps.  My kids typically have about an hour of nap time that overlaps.  And it’s not like I’m not used to juggling kitchen and kid duties.  I thought I had this thing under control.  That’s when you know you don’t.

My youngest had a couple of vaccines given at his 4 month well check the day before and while I’m not confident that his fussiness was due to the shots I am confident that something was not right with him.  He is a happy baby who can deal with being put in the bouncer in the kitchen and being content while I cook.  Typically.  Today was not typical.  He hardly napped all day.  I’d just get him to sleep, get back downstairs to try to bake and he’d start crying again.  Did I mention we also had a Halloween event that night?  I needed to get the kids fed early and in their costumes by the time my husband got home.  I felt like a crazy person going from the kitchen to the crying baby upstairs, to the kids, to the kitchen, to the crying baby in the bouncer, to the sink full of dirty dishes, to the pirate costumes, to the crying baby on his exercise mat to the Sachertorte.

You don’t need me to tell you that the opportunities for disaster were countless.  While whipping egg whites with my hand mixer (something that seemed to take forever) my two boys were crying because they didn’t like the noise.  Take a moment now and try to imagine a 4 year old crying and tugging at you, a 4 month old screaming, and the metal beaters hitting the sides of your glass bowl as the little motor on your mixer whirs.  I should’ve given up right then.  But I soldiered on.  And amazingly the cake itself was fine.

Cake got baked, cooled and sliced ready for glaze.

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Glaze got made and right when I got ready to use it my sweet baby woke up from his 30 minute nap and I had to feed him.  But the apricot glazing went well.  (Note: put parchment or wax paper under your rack when glazing.)  Right about then my older son woke up.

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The baby seemed ok after eating and I really needed to get this cake done.  I’d read the directions for the glaze, knowing it to be both temperature and time sensitive.  I decided I’d go for it.  Curious George Halloween special on the TV and kids on the couch with snacks and drinks.  Baby on the mat playing with toys.  This would be fine…

Once you start the glaze you have to finish.  No stopping points.  You have to cook the sugar to 234°F, mix in the chocolate, pour it on the cake and smooth it all without taking a second to neglect your duties.  My sugar was at about 215°F when sweet baby boy started to scream.  I tried putting him in the bouncer in the kitchen and making silly faces and noises at him while I tended to the boiling sugar.  He wasn’t fooled.  He knew he wasn’t number 1 in my book at that moment.  But I had to keep going.  He screamed for about 5 minutes, then discovered one of the toys in front of him and settled down.  I whisked in the chocolate and my glaze was thick and clumpy.  The recipe says that you can return the pan to the heat and add “a few drops” of water to get it to a pour-able consistency.  I did that and then proceeded to glaze the cake.  I went on nice at first.  I had my offset spatula at the ready and was spreading as I poured.  I got to the other side of the cake and it basically hardened up and became not only not spreadable but clumpy and when I tried to fix it it started pulling up cake with it.  So this is what I had on my hands.

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I was watching the temp of the sugar carefully and turned it off right at 234°F, but I guess that could’ve been the problem.  Or maybe I didn’t add enough water, although it did seem pourable enough.  Regardless of what went wrong, this chocolate glaze was a bust.

My baby had started to cry again and my oldest son was now in the kitchen asking for more snacks and milk because he’d spilled his on the rug.  At this point everything just had to be funny.  No point in getting upset about it.  Thankfully I wasn’t planning to serve this at a dinner party.  I had told a friend I’d bring dessert to a casual lunch on Saturday, but thankfully she’s the kind of friend who doesn’t love you any less for bringing ugly cake!

I completed the cake with the required “Sacher” but didn’t spend too much time worrying about how well that turned out.  Obviously.  I’m pretty sure I was snickering about this whole debacle when I took this picture.

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Now, the cake itself wasn’t bad.  I liked it, actually.  The chocolate glaze also tasted fine, but I will never make it again.  I’ll look for a different chocolate glaze or ganache recipe the next time I want to try to glaze a cake.  Now the apricot.  I just can’t get on board with the apricot and chocolate together.  If I am ever in Austria I will definitely order myself a slice of Sachertorte, but I won’t be making it again.  I might try the cake with a caramel glaze and chocolate ganache.  Or maybe just keep it all chocolate.  But there will be no traditional Sachertortes coming out of this kitchen.  The end.

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 Sachertorte

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup (4 1/2 ounces) good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • pinch fine grain salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375˚F with a rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flower the sides of a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
  2. Place the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and heat over a small saucepan of barely simmering water or you can melt it in the microwave, heating in 30 second increments, stirring in between each, until just melted. Set aside to cool completely, stirring often.
  3. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or electric mixer on medium speed until very light and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar on low speed, then increase to medium speed and beat again until light and creamy.
  4. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
  5. Add the cooled chocolate and vanilla and beat until well-mixed and very light and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
  6. In a clean bowl using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with about one tablespoon of the granulated sugar on high speed until foamy. Gradually add in the rest of the granulated sugar and continue beating the whites until they form soft, shiny peaks – they should hold their shape but flop over on themselves.
  7. Vigorously stir about 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture with a spatula until just a few wisps of egg white remain. Do this carefully so as not to deflate the egg whites.
  8. Stir together the flour and salt and sift half of it over the chocolate mixture. Fold in with a spatula until almost incorporated. Sift over the remaining flour and fold to combine completely.
  9. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared springform pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The cake will crack and dome in the middle as it bakes but will flatten out as it cools.
  10. Cool completely, then slice in half.  Glaze middle, top and sides with warm apricot glaze (recipe below).  Let glaze set, then finish with your favorite chocolate ganache.

Apricot Glaze

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups apricot jam or preserves
  • 2 tablespoons water

Directions

  1. Boil the jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and drips slowly from the spoon, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Strain through a wire mesh sieve, pressing firmly on the solids. You should have about 1 cup of glaze. Use warm.

Here are some recipes for chocolate ganache that you could use.

Pourable Ganache

Sachertorte Chocolate Glaze

 

Rosemary Apricot Bars

A while back I posted that I wanted this cookbook from Baked.  So, I armed myself with a Barnes and Noble gift card and went out to fulfill my desire.  My plans went awry when they did not have the book in stock.  I bought the second cookbook from Baked instead, Baked Explorations.


The cookbook itself is quite wonderful.  The photos are lovely and unique with a rustic appeal.  Beautiful antique plates, platters and serving dishes display the sweet offerings of this cookbook.  Wood grains, and all shades of brown dominate the color scheme with the occasional pop of color and accents of gold and silver.  The recipes are keeping with the feel of this book, which to me feels like the cooler days of autumn.  I can’t wait for it to be cool enough for me to make the whiskey pear tart!  It’s 102° at the moment…

The first recipe I tried was the Rosemary Apricot Bars.  I had one of these from the bakery when I was in Brooklyn last summer visiting my sister.  It was such a great combination of sweet and savory, crunchy and gooey, and totally delicious.  Mine did not quite measure up to the bakery standards, but they were good.  So good that my husband asked for seconds.  This is a rare occurrence, so I know this is a keeper recipe.

I made some mistakes with these bars.  The recipe calls for a 9 inch square pan.  I used an 8 inch, which made the bottom crust a bit too thick, and the topping a bit too thick, but the filling was just right.  I skimped by 1 tablespoon on the crumb topping because that’s all I had left after the 12 tablespoons in the crust.  As a result, a lot of the topping fell off the top of the bars when I cut them.  Don’t skimp on the butter.  My timing on putting these together was also a bit off, so the apricot filling ended up getting too thick and too reduced after sitting in a warm oven for almost 2 hours.  Why?  Well…

Our house is on the market, as of last week, but we hadn’t had any showings as of Sunday.  So yesterday I struggled with myself a bit.  Do I make these bars and risk a messy kitchen when someone wants to see the house at the last minute, or do I not make them and then regret it because no one came to look at the house anyway?  I made the decision to make them.  Having my house on the market shouldn’t mean sacrificing my freedom to baked goods, right?

I’d made all the parts of the recipe…crust chilling in the fridge, filling cooked and ready to be pureed, crumb topping mixed and in the fridge.  Dirty dishes all over the place.  Carson wakes up from his nap.  I get a call from the realtors office that someone wants to come see the house as soon as I’m ready.  I said 30 minutes and the frenzy begins to get things put away.  15 minutes later there’s a knock at the door.  The dog starts barking, so Carson starts crying, so I’m trying to keep the dog from attacking the realtor as I try to get to the door.  She apologized for being early, I asked for a few minutes to at least put my sweet guard dog in the back yard, I swept Carson up and we headed out to run an errand.  I was a sweaty mess and then realized that I was holding a baby who’s diaper was just about at its breaking point.  I was so tired.

I’d stashed the cooling apricots in the oven, which was warm from the beginning of a preheat, so when I get home the apricots were a seriously sticky and overly reduced mess.  I warmed them up again with a little water and then pureed them.  It worked out ok, given the circumstances.

Despite the craziness surrounding these they turned out well.  I might play around with them in a 9×13 to get a thinner crust.  I’ve learned a valuable lesson about using my kitchen and trying to sell my home.  They do not mix.  I think I will try to bake later in the evening instead of the middle of the afternoon to avoid the chaos I experienced yesterday.

Rosemary Apricot Bars

Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Ingredients

Rosemary Short Dough

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
  • 12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Apricot Filling
  • 2 cups dried apricots
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons brandy
  • pinch of salt
Crumb Topping
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
Directions
Rosemary Short Dough
  1. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, overhanging on 2 sides.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk flour, salt and rosemary.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy.
  4. Stream in the flour and mix on low speed until flour is incorporated, then turn the dough into the pan and press into an even layer.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
  5. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack.
Apricot Filling (Make while dough is chilling)
  1. Place the apricots, sugar, honey, brandy and salt in a medium saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, or until apricots are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated and thickened.
  2. Let cool slightly, then puree in a food processor until smooth.
  3. Spread over crust while it is still warm.
Crumb Topping
  1. Combine sugar, flour salt and pecans in a bowl.
  2. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until butter is incorporated and you have a sand-like texture.  (You can store this in the fridge until ready to use.)
  3. Sprinkle crumb mixture on top of the apricot layer and bake at 350°F fr 20-25 minutes.
Let bars cool out of the oven for 30 minutes, then remove using the parchment and cut into bars.