Dec 19, 2016
Franz Sacher’s 200th Birthday
This Doodle’s Key Themes
In the world of baked goods, few cakes have the culinary status–or intriguing backstory–of the Sacher-Torte, first concocted by the Austrian confectioner, Franz Sacher, in Vienna in 1832.
Perhaps destiny had a hand in its creation. Sacher was a 16-year-old apprentice honing his craft in the court of Austrian state chancellor, Prince Metternich, when the kitchen was tasked with creating a special dessert for the prince’s fussy guests. On the day of the dinner, the chef became ill, and the tall order fell to Sacher.
The trainee whipped up a chocolate cake topped with apricot jam and bittersweet chocolate icing. It was a hit with the prince’s guests, but it wasn’t until Sacher’s son Eduard refined the recipe decades later, that the Sacher-Torte became a Viennese sensation.
Today, the dessert is a signature of Café Sacher in Vienna's Hotel Sacher (and other locations in Austria). The authentic recipe for the Original Sacher-Torte remains a deep, dark, delicious secret.
Our Doodle honors Sacher’s 200th birthday with an animation of his famous cake, illustrated Viennese style with a pot of coffee. With each “bite,” the torte slices slowly disappear, leaving barely a crumb.
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