You Can Still Eat the World’s Oldest Cake Recipe in Vienna Today
In certain cafés within Vienna, you can order a dessert tied directly to a documented event from 1832. The recipe has been continuously produced in the same city for nearly two centuries. That level of culinary continuity is rare. The cake is known as Sachertorte, and versions of it are still baked and served daily using techniques and ingredient structure that trace back to its original creation.
The Royal Banquet That Created the Recipe
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Metropolitan Museum of Art
The dessert was created in 1832 when Austrian statesman Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich requested a special dessert for visiting guests. When the court chef became ill, 16-year-old apprentice Franz Sacher was asked to produce the dish instead.
The result was a chocolate sponge cake layered with apricot jam and coated in a smooth dark chocolate glaze. Historical accounts show the dessert was well-received and later adopted into elite Viennese dining circles.
Franz Sacher’s son, Eduard, later trained as a pastry chef at Demel, one of Vienna’s most famous pastry shops. During this time, the cake was refined into the structure widely recognized today.
Eduard later opened Hotel Sacher in Vienna in the late 1800s and began serving the cake there. Historical records from the period mention large-scale daily production and international shipping across major European cities.
The Famous Dispute Over the “Original” Version
In the 20th century, Hotel Sacher and Demel entered a long legal dispute over which version could be labeled the original Sachertorte. The disagreement included technical recipe differences, such as the placement of apricot jam and the fat sources used in baking.
A 1965 settlement granted Hotel Sacher exclusive rights to use the label “Original Sacher-Torte.” Demel continued selling its version under the name Eduard Sacher-Torte. Both versions are still sold today.
Sachertorte is traditionally served slightly cool with unsweetened or lightly sweetened whipped cream. Pastry experts note the cake is built for a balance between bitter chocolate, fruit acidity, and firm glaze texture.
Vienna café culture also shapes how it is eaten. Customers typically pair the cake with coffee and eat slowly in classic coffeehouse settings.
A Partially Secret Recipe
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Rizka
Hotel Sacher still keeps its exact recipe confidential. Public versions confirm core ingredients including chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, and apricot jam. The glaze is made using chocolate and sugar syrup to create the signature smooth finish.
Production scale today is massive. Estimates indicate hundreds of thousands of cakes are produced yearly, requiring millions of eggs, tens of tons of chocolate, and large industrial-scale baking operations while still maintaining traditional preparation steps.