Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C. Grease a 18/20 cm round cake tin then line the base with parchment paper.
2. Beat the butter in a bowl until really soft, add the sugar and cream together until pale and light. Add the yolks one at a time adding spoonfuls of flour. Once you have added all the yolks and the flour fold in the ground almond.
3. Add the chocolate (melted and cooled). In a different bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff but not too much. Then add about one third to the chocolate batter and stir to loosen the mixture. Add gently the remaining whites mixing with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake into the preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool down about 10 minutes into the tin then turn out, peel off the parchment paper and transfer on a wire rack to finish cooling.
5. Once cooled cut the cake in half crosswise , spread about 200 grams of apricot jam on the base, set the other half on top and brush the remaining jam on the top and around the edges. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate until the ganache is ready.

1. Chop the chocolate and melt it gently into the microwave (or on a bain marie). Put the cream into a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring almost to the boil, turn off the heat and pour it over the chocolate, stir until the mixture comes together into a nice silky, smooth chocolate ganache. Put the cake on a wire rack placed on big plate (so you can save the extra ganache that will drip), pour the ganache over as soon as possible and spread it using a palette knife. Leave the cake to dry at room temperature. Once dried, if you'd like to write "Sacher" on the cake, put a little bit of ganache into a small piping bag fitted with a little round nozzle and use it to write.
2. If possible, do not store the Sacher torte into the fridge because it will "sweat" (because of the fridge humidity).