Sacher – A teenage boy’s cake that conquered the world

Few sweets have such an exciting story as Sacher cake. The story begins in 1832 at the court of Prince Metternich. It was here that Franz Sacher, a second-year assistant pastry chef, faced a huge challenge when the head pastry chef fell ill and had to prepare the dessert to end the evening’s celebrations. The young Sacher didn’t despair: he mixed flour, butter, eggs and chocolate into a compact dough, then, after baking, he spread warm jam on it and covered the whole thing with liquid chocolate.

The cake was a huge success, and the name Sacher cake became known throughout Vienna. Franz’s son Eduard further strengthened the cult of sweets when he opened his own confectionery. After his death, his widow continued to run the confectionery, where Sacher cake remained a hit. But Son had less flair for business, went into debt, and sold the recipe to the Demel dynasty, who ran a popular restaurant in town. This move later led to a serious legal dispute. The new owners of the Sacher cake shop claimed the Sacher cake trademark for themselves, so they sued the Demel restaurant, who were no longer allowed to use the original Sacher cake name and had to change the recipe. From then on, Demel restaurant did not put the apricot jam in the middle of the cake, but on top, under the chocolate icing. The world has been conquered by the original Sacher cake and its countless variations, among which the plate dessert version stands out, which can now be tasted at Virtu restaurant, in the concept of chef Levente Lendvai.