{"id":6650,"date":"2014-10-27T08:02:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T14:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/?p=6650"},"modified":"2014-10-27T08:02:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-27T14:02:10","slug":"daring-bakers-sachertorte-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/27\/daring-bakers-sachertorte-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Daring Bakers: Sachertorte Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

The making of this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was a comedy of errors. \u00a0I can truthfully say that I laughed more than I cried through this process and I couldn’t wait to share my Sachertorte tale. \u00a0So here’s how it all went down.<\/p>\n

The October Daring Bakers\u2019 challenge was brought to us by Korena of Korena in the Kitchen<\/a>. She took us to Austria and introduced us to the wonders of the Sachertorte.<\/p>\n

\"sacher7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"sacher2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It sure is nice that to kids cake is cake no matter how it looks! \u00a0Mine enjoyed having some chocolate cake in the middle of the afternoon for no reason.<\/p>\n

I’ve never wanted to make or eat Sachertorte. \u00a0Sorry. \u00a0But I typically don’t like fruit with my chocolate. \u00a0I do like raspberry, maybe strawberry, but other fruit and chocolate pairings are not hard for me to turn down. \u00a0A Sachertorte is chocolate cake glazed with apricot and then dark chocolate. \u00a0I 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. \u00a0Also, this was an opportunity to broaden my baking horizons, and that’s always a good thing.<\/p>\n

I had everything I needed and planned to whip this up on a Friday. \u00a0Since 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. \u00a0My kids typically have about an hour of nap time that overlaps. \u00a0And it’s not like I’m not used to juggling kitchen and kid duties. \u00a0I thought I had this thing under control. \u00a0That’s when you know you don’t.<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0He is a happy baby who can deal with being put in the bouncer in the kitchen and being content while I cook. \u00a0Typically. \u00a0Today was not typical. \u00a0He hardly napped all day. \u00a0I’d just get him to sleep, get back downstairs to try to bake and he’d start crying again. \u00a0Did I mention we also had a Halloween event that night? \u00a0I needed to get the kids fed early and in their costumes by the time my husband got home. \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n

You don’t need me to tell you that the opportunities for disaster were countless. \u00a0While 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. \u00a0Take 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. \u00a0I should’ve given up right then. \u00a0But I soldiered on. \u00a0And amazingly the cake itself was fine.<\/p>\n

Cake got baked, cooled and sliced ready for glaze.<\/p>\n

\"sacher10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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. \u00a0But the apricot glazing went well. \u00a0(Note: put parchment or wax paper under your rack when glazing.) \u00a0Right about then my older son woke up.<\/p>\n

\"sacher11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The baby\u00a0seemed ok after eating and I really needed to get this cake done. \u00a0I’d read the directions for the glaze, knowing it to be both temperature and time sensitive. \u00a0I decided I’d go for it. \u00a0Curious George Halloween special on the TV and kids on the couch with snacks and drinks. \u00a0Baby on the mat playing with toys. \u00a0This would be fine…<\/p>\n

Once you start the glaze you have to finish. \u00a0No stopping points. \u00a0You have to cook the sugar to 234\u00b0F, mix in the chocolate, pour it on the cake and smooth it all without taking a second to neglect your duties. \u00a0My sugar was at about 215\u00b0F when sweet baby boy started to scream. \u00a0I tried putting him in the bouncer in the kitchen and making silly faces and noises at him while I tended to the boiling sugar. \u00a0He wasn’t fooled. \u00a0He knew he wasn’t number 1 in my book at that moment. \u00a0But I had to keep going. \u00a0He screamed for about 5 minutes, then discovered one of the toys in front of him and settled down. \u00a0I whisked in the chocolate and my glaze was thick and clumpy. \u00a0The 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. \u00a0I did that and then proceeded to glaze the cake. \u00a0I went on nice at first. \u00a0I had my offset spatula at the ready and was spreading as I poured. \u00a0I 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. \u00a0So this is what I had on my hands.<\/p>\n

\"sacher13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I was watching the temp of the sugar carefully and turned it off right at 234\u00b0F, but\u00a0I guess that could’ve been the problem. \u00a0Or maybe I didn’t add enough water, although it did seem pourable enough. \u00a0Regardless of what went wrong, this chocolate glaze was a bust.<\/p>\n

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. \u00a0At this point everything just had to be funny. \u00a0No point in getting upset about it. \u00a0Thankfully I wasn’t planning to serve this at a dinner party. \u00a0I 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!<\/p>\n

I completed the cake with the required “Sacher” but didn’t spend too much time worrying about how well that turned out. \u00a0Obviously. \u00a0I’m pretty sure I was snickering about this whole debacle when I took this picture.<\/p>\n

\"sacher9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, the cake itself wasn’t bad. \u00a0I liked it, actually. \u00a0The chocolate glaze also tasted fine, but I will never make it again. \u00a0I’ll look for a different chocolate glaze or ganache recipe the next time I want to try to glaze a cake. \u00a0Now the apricot. \u00a0I just can’t get on board with the apricot and chocolate together. \u00a0If I am ever in Austria I will definitely order myself a slice of Sachertorte, but I won’t be making it again. \u00a0I might try the cake with a caramel glaze and chocolate ganache. \u00a0Or maybe just keep it all chocolate. \u00a0But there will be no traditional Sachertortes coming out of this kitchen. \u00a0The end.<\/p>\n

\"sacher4\"<\/a> \"sacher3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Sachertorte<\/h3>\n

Ingredients<\/em><\/p>\n