Lady Lunchalot

I received a bolt of inspiration from Kitchen Hand yesterday when a comment that mentioned Sachertorte was left on my post about Apricot and Brandy Jam. I’d come across a recipe for Sachertorte a few months ago in the November 06 issue of Gourmet Traveller. It looked amazing - like a very glamorous, grownup kind of chocolate cake - so I decided to make it as dessert for our Australia Day barbecue.

This is fairly complex to make, as far as cakes go. There are a few steps, so it’s certainly not a bung-it-all-in-the-mixer-and-hope-for-the-best kind of a cake.

I started by melting about 150g of good quality dark chocolate over a saucepan filled with water. While this was happening I creamed a heart-stopping amount of butter (which I am too embarrassed to even mention here) with a third of a cup of caster sugar. The melted chocolate and butter/sugar are then mixed together with TEN egg yolks. No, that’s not a typo, there are 10 eggs in this recipe. Dix. Dieci. Diez. Zehn.

This is not a cake for those with cholesterol problems.

Once you’ve mixed the yolks with the chocolate mix, whip the egg whites with the rest of the sugar until stiff peaks form, and then gently fold together with the chocolate mixture. Put in two springform pans and bake for about 40 minutes.

When cooled, spread the top of one cake with apricot and brandy jam and make a jam sandwich by placing the other cake on top. Make a chocolate ganache with the cream and the rest of the chocolate and ooze over the top of the cake and smooth over the sides.

Eat a large slice, with enthusiasm, as illustrated by our little friend below. He did it just right - the evidence is all over his shirt.