Sacher Torte and all things chocolate..

Well more time has passed and I have been doing the usual and living life and trying to keep the home fires burning for me rather than burning my food. I've been baking my usual and did a cake for work for one of the Libraries who turned 50 this year. It came out quite good...should have included a photo but they are at work and I'm not! =)

Instead I'll include a picture of a pizza I made a bit ago (although it's usually a staple in this house) using my starter as the leavening for the pizza. It is just crazy now how it bubbles away and overflows its container! I said only today that it really loves being treated badly. I keep it in the fridge for the week, take it out on the day I'm making something, use what I need, replenish the starter, let it begin to progress and then shove back in the fridge. I'm not sure that is what you are suppose to do but it seems to work. If I use it for two days in a row I'll leave it out and it just goes overboard. I usually have to leave it on the draining board because it will just overflow and make a giant mess. This stuff is also good for sticking just about anything anywhere too!
Bit blurry but you get the jist - it was and always is very yummy! I'm now trying to use the starter for pita bread instead of having to begin a starter the night before - so far so good...just trying to get the portion size down so that what I make for one meal is all I have without leftovers. Somehow the dough never keeps well and begins to go off.

So now to the Sacher Torte! This is what J wanted for his birthday and well to accommodate his wishes it's what he got. I have never made one of these (truth be told - never even heard of the dessert!) but saw it made on a show called Glamour Puds. It wasn't a difficult recipe really - somethings were however omitted from the recipe, like how much of the apricot jam is to be used - one jar can be little or a lot depending on how much you want! The other thing I found a bit weird was when making the glaze as it was called - it's really just a souped up version of a ganache if you ask me - was when it said that it would coat the back of a spoon it did this long before adding the egg so I was a bit stumped but added the mixture to the egg and then cooked it out a bit so that anyone who wants a piece of the cake won't need to worry about uncooked egg product (read more for my sanity here!). Anyway, here's the nearly finished product as I pouring the glaze over it.

I must admit - it poured lovely - much better than ganache so I might remember this for when I want something similar. Here's a piece of it cut...

Oh, need I mention that the whole cake uses 11 eggs? Yes, you read that correctly - don't attempt this one on a heart healthy diet but seeing as I won't be eating it (I don't like chocolate and fruit together so everyone I know will probably get a slice at some point!) so J is on his OWN! =P

Well that's about all on this front...hope all is well with your and yours!