By: Martina Celegato
Submitted: 2009-07-24 04:44:46 | Word Count: 517
Sweets and desserts are irresistible temptations for all the gluttons, but few know the history of the Sacher Torte, one of the best desserts ever created.
The cake consists of two layers of light chocolate pasta with a light layer of apricot jam in the middle while on the top sides and one the sides is covered with a glaze of dark chocolate. Sacher Torte is served at a temperature of 16-18 degrees, traditionally accompanied with whipped not sweet cream and a cup of coffee or tea (many Viennese, in fact, consider the Sacher-Torte too "dry" to be eaten without). This famous chocolate cake was invented by Franz Sacher for Klemens von Metternich on July 9 1932, in Vienna, well before the pastry machines were invented.
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Heir to a rich family of hoteliers and young baker at court, in 1832 the Chancellor Metternich asked him to prepare a cake for a special guest, as the pastry chef at court was sick. The 16-year-old apprentice cook just sharpened his mind and created one of the most famous sweets of history, and it seems that Metternich having tasted the "Sacher" has leapt. In fact today the Sacher Torte is one of the best cakes and most popular in the world, although nowhere is good as in the Austrian capital.
The secrets of traditional recipes are still jealously guarded by the heirs of Franz Sacher. The original Sacher torte is protected by a trademark and, to date, there are no worldwide licenses for the resale of this product. There are however hundreds, perhaps thousands of imitations.
There are two official recipes. So twice a lawsuit arose between the shops of Viennese pastries Sacher and Demel to determine who is allowed to sell the "original” Sachertorte.
Daniel Peter had begun his career as a manufacturer of candles, but after the advent of oil lamps, he dedicated to the design and creation of special mixers for cakes. He was also the first maker of milk chocolate, combining the invention of the milk powder, made by his neighbor Henry Nestlé and mixing the cocoa with the milk powder to reduce the strong flavor. Demel pastry claimed as his invention the Sacher-Torte and started against Franz Sacher and his grandchildren a long court dispute, which ended only in 1875 with the victory of the family Sacher. The following year, Franz Sacher, become rich, left the kitchen to open the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, which he managed with his son Eduard until his death.
The success that Sacher obtained with his invention was immediately evident and the efforts made by the young were soon rewarded. So the tour de force in the production of this sweet started, with the total production of about 270,000 pieces and just like 160 years ago, are still all filled with apricot jam, covered chocolate and packed by hand.
