The vegan Sachertorte… rich and dark chocolate cake layers sandwiched together with the vibrant fruitiness of apricot jam – what more could you want from a chocolate cake?!?
Hi baking friends! I recently visited Vienna for the first time ever and had such a blast that I wanted to recreate the signature Sachertorte cake but vegan!
You may be asking, what is a sachertorte?! A sachertorte is a decadently rich chocolate cake from the Hotel Sacher in Vienna that contains a delicious layer of apricot jam in the middle.
If you’re here it’s because you LOVE chocolate cake! Please feel free to check out my chocolate archives or cake archives for all my other favourite vegan recipes!
Baking tips:
I have tried to stay true to the original recipe as much as possible to create a recipe that no one will notice is vegan! A traditional sachertorte has upwards of 6 eggs so we have to replicate some of that density and texture with a substitute.
In this recipe I use silken tofu. It may sound like an odd ingredient at first but trust me, it works like magic! You won’t taste it or notice it’s there throughout the process but once you leave your cake to set, the silken tofu gives the cake a similar density to the original without ruining the delicious and spongey texture!
Since we are using actual chocolate instead of cocoa powder, make sure you use good quality dark chocolate! After all, this is where all the flavour is coming from! Try to buy/make an apricot jam with no chunks of apricot in it. In the classic recipe, the jam is spread all over the cake (not just as a jam layer inside) so it’s ideal to use a smooth jam otherwise you’ll have lumps.
This recipe can be made gluten-free by substituting the plain flour with a gluten-free flour blend and adding ½ tsp xanthan gum if the flour does not already include it! I recommend Dove’s gluten-free plain flour.
For this recipe you will need:
- 1x 8-inch spring form cake tin
- 1 x cake strips (you can make your own using this tutorial)
- blender food processor
- sugar thermometer (preferable – for the glaze)
Vegan Sachertorte
Vegan Sachertorte! All the flavour and richness of the original but completely plant-based! Decadently rich layers of chocolate sponge sandwiched together with a punchy layer of sweet apricot jam.
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 280g All-purpose (plain) flour
- 150g icing sugar
- 200g dark chocolate (min 55% cocoa)
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 150ml plant milk
- 200g silken tofu
- 1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 150g vegan butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla paste (or 1 vanilla pod)
- Other:
- 200g apricot jam
- 100g caster sugar
- 150g dark chocolate, chopped
Directions
- Step 1 Cake layers: Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line an 8-inch cake tin with parchment paper.
- Step 2 Sieve together all the dry ingredients (flour, icing sugar, baking soda, and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
- Step 3 Melt the chocolate and vegan butter in the microwave (or using a bain-marie method).
- Step 4 Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk to make a “buttermilk”.
- Step 5 Add to a blender the “buttermilk”, silken tofu, vanilla paste, melted chocolate and butter. Blend until smooth.
- Step 6 Pour this wet mix into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk together until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the 8-inch cake tin and add the cake strip around the tin. (If you don’t have cake strips, you can make your own at home with foil and kitchen paper).
- Step 7 Put the cake tin in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. Use a toothpick at the 40-minute mark to see if it is cooked.
- Step 8 Take the cake out of the oven and leave to chill for 2 hours then place in the fridge to chill overnight. Once completely chilled, cut the cake in half using a bread knife and lather apricot jam across the bottom layer. Place the 2nd layer on top and place back in the fridge to chill.
- Step 9 To make the glaze, add the caster sugar and 150ml water to a saucepan and bring up to 112C (~10 minutes). Once reached, turn off the heat and leave to cool for 3 minutes. Then add 150g dark chocolate and whisk until completely smooth. Pour this glaze over the final cake. Use an offset spatula to get an even layer.
- Step 10 Serve!
Just made this over the weekend for a friend’s birthday and it absolutely exceeded expectations!! I was worried I hadn’t done a test bake first – as I’ve never used tofu in baking before and wasn’t sure how it would turn out – but in the end there was nothing to worry about. Got so many compliments and the birthday girl (not vegan) even asked for the recipe!
I used 1.5 X the quantities because my spring form is a little wider and I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be too thin to halve. Just had to add about 10-15 minutes to the baking time to get it perfect in the middle.
Thanks for this recipe!
Is this supposed to have a dry, crumbly, brownie-like consistency or did I do something wrong? 🥹 tastes good but idk feels heavy and dense
Hello, this looks like a beautiful recipe! How would you recommend adjusting if using 6″ pans or a 9″ pan? Thank you!
Hi, I really enjoyed this cake. The recipe is very balanced. It is so smart to use silken tofu to give a more moisturized and smooth texture. Although I think one can even use 1.5 or two portions of the recipe to have thicker double layer cake. It was soooo good. 🙂
5 Stars just for the recipe of a vegan Sachertorte. Haven’t seen it anywhere so far and I can’t wait to try it. This week, I’ll make the Biscoff Cheesecake, though, so it’ll have to wait 🙂
Great way to use silken tofu! The cake is moist and sweet, great textures and taste, loved it! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Thank you so much! Silken tofu is an absolute game changer! It has so so many uses. Hope you enjoyed the cake 🙂
About to make this, can’t wait to try it. I’m a little confused as to when the icing sugar is used though, can you advise please? Is it at the start when all dry ingredients are added ( does this include icing and caster sugar or just one of them) or is is at the end during the glaze process?
Thanks
Hi! Icing sugar is sieved together with the dry ingredients. Caster sugar is reserved for the glaze! Hope that helps!
I was super hesitant to make this because I never used silken tofu but it came out amazing! Thanks
Thanks for taking the leap of faith! So glad you liked it!