A two-layer chocolate sponge cake split with apricot jam, enrobed in a thin, glossy chocolate glaze and served with a quenelle of unsweetened whipped cream. The most photographed Viennese dessert, and the subject of a long legal-history dispute between Hotel Sacher and Demel.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Franz Sacher invented the Sachertorte in 1832, aged 16, while filling in as the apprentice pastry chef in Prince Metternich's kitchen. The recipe was perfected by his son Eduard at Demel before the family opened Hotel Sacher in 1876. A long legal dispute between Hotel Sacher and Demel was settled in 1963: Hotel Sacher won the right to the 'Original Sachertorte' name and the round seal; Demel uses a triangular 'Eduard-Sacher-Torte' seal to this day. Both versions are still made by hand at the respective addresses.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy
Tip from the editors. The apricot jam layer is what keeps the cake moist for days; do not skip the brush over the top before glazing.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Cafe Sacher inside Hotel Sacher on Philharmoniker Strasse in Vienna serves the Original Sachertorte under chandeliers across from the State Opera, the dispute with Demel settled by the 1963 court ruling.
Signature drink: Sacher coffee
Tip: The slice with whipped cream sells out by 17:00 on busy days; arrive before the matinee crowd.
Demel on Kohlmarkt in Vienna has been a court confectioner since 1786, the Eduard-Sacher-Torte and Anna-Torte from the K. und K. Hofzuckerbaecker now served behind a working pastry kitchen window.
Signature drink: Hot chocolate
Tip: The first-floor dining room takes the queue; the ground-floor takeaway moves faster for a Sachertorte to-go.
Cafe Landtmann on Universitaetsring in Vienna has poured at the Burgtheater corner since 1873, Sigmund Freud's preferred coffeehouse with a long carte of cakes and a serious lunchtime kitchen.
Signature drink: Grosser Brauner
Tip: Open daily 07:30 to midnight; the front-room bench seats face the Burgtheater across the Ring.
Cafe Central on Herrengasse in Vienna has poured Melange in Palais Ferstel's vaulted hall since 1876, the Trotsky-Freud-Altenberg coffee house with a small pianist programme each afternoon.
Signature drink: Melange
Tip: Queue forms outside from 09:00; book a table online to skip the wait.
Kurkonditorei Oberlaa on Neuer Markt in Vienna runs the Karl Schuhmacher Konditorei from 1974, the wide carte of Torten the modern alternative to the Demel and Sacher dispute.
Tip: The Oberlaa Torte is the house signature; the Mehlspeisen counter beats the cafe for takeaway.
Worth the queue: Oberlaa Torte
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