The famous Viennese Sacher Torte, a dense chocolate cake, made low carb and grain-free. Come explore Vienna and The Wachau Valley with me aboard a Viking long ship.
Gliding quietly up the Danube on a Viking Longship, you’d barely know you were moving if you didn’t see the landscape on either side slowly slipping by. We crossed the border into Austria sometime during the night, but the green banks of the river seemed much the same as they had in Hungary. I was only sure we were in a new country because my phone sent me a text message that my data plan would now be subject to Austrian charges. That and the fact that the Viking Jarl had lowered the Hungarian flag and raised the Austrian one. While my husband lay sleeping, I watched the boat enter one of the many locks along the Danube and then quietly glide into a remarkably modern-looking Vienna. I am not sure quite what I expected…women in dirndls and men in lederhosen, greeting us with songs from The Sound of Music, maybe? But the port where the ship docked was all glass and steel, and I could have been just about anywhere.
Vienna State Opera
Vienna
Thankfully, a short walk and a subway ride brought us into the area encircled by the Ringstrasse, and that was more like the Vienna of my overactive imagination. There were indeed women in dirndls and men in lederhosen, as well as many people dressed in 18th century fancy dress, all trying to sell us tickets to various shows, operas, and concerts. Our walking tour came up out of the subway right under the Vienna State Opera, a building so gloriously intricate and so large, I couldn’t get far enough away from it to take a decent picture with my zoom lens. I found this to be true of much of Vienna. Impressive large building after impressive large building, monument after monument, so crowded on top of one another that I could hardly get much sense of them. And our tour went through the heart of the city with such dizzying speed (I guess our boat had arrived a little late) that I couldn’t really keep much of it straight. I take this to mean I need to go again. Soon.
We had free time in the afternoon, and this made seeing Vienna a little more enjoyable for me. Tim and I wandered about, not really sure where we were headed, and came across parts of the city that weren’t included in our hurried tour. And then we sat at the elegant and famous Cafe Landtmann and ordered traditional Viennese coffee in German. We’d had a mini lesson the day prior on the boat, so I was able to say “Großer Brauner, bitte” with only a modicum of embarrassment over my terrible accent. That evening, we were treated to an abridged version of The Marriage of Figaro, put on just for Viking Cruises. How can you be in Vienna and not see Mozart performed?
We were very struck by these handprints on the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial.
The Wachau Valley
In spite of, or perhaps because of, the grandiosity of Vienna, this was not my favourite part of the trip. That honour goes, without question, to the amazing scenery of the Wachau Valley. After leaving Vienna late at night, we entered this picturesque green valley early in the morning, and I am convinced that there is no better way to see it than from the deck of a longship. From there you can see all the wonderful sights approaching slowly, you can take in the hills and peaks and quaint villages in panoramic style, and you can take photo after photo from the perfect vantage point. I was not alone in this sentiment as many of my fellow travellers were above board, sipping their morning coffees and marvelling at the landscape.
Sweet, colourful towns with church steeples and steep rows of vineyards behind? Check. Castles perched on distant hilltops? Check. Ruins where King Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned? Check. Goats clambering up the steep cliffs to eat? Check. This truly felt like Austria now, and the stunning show went on for several hours before we arrived at the beautiful town of Melk to tour the Abbey. I feel that neither my photos nor my words do it justice. But the river cruise is worth it, if only for this one day of sheer beauty.
Ruins of Durnstein Castle, where Richard 1 of England was imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria.
Oh yes, those are goats on the side of the hill!
Melk is a lovely little place with winding cobblestone streets leading up to the Melk Abbey. If I were to head back to Austria sometime, I would make a point of visiting again and possibly even staying there. It had lovely shops and cafes, with far fewer of the cheap souvenir stores you might find in other areas. The beautiful Abbey looms over the surrounding landscape from a rocky outcrop and is impressive not only for its sheer size but for its long history as a Benedictine monastery and children’s school. And it is still fully functional as both to this day.
The stunning Melk Abbey rising above the town of Melk.
The Dry Danube
There was a little drama going on with our Viking River Cruise during all of this. After a hot and unseasonably dry summer, the Danube was quite low in water, making it difficult for large ships to pass certain parts of the river without going aground. Viking was very upfront from day one about the possibility of our tour being somewhat interrupted by this problem. So we were not entirely surprised when, after our tour of Vienna, Viking broke the bad news that the hoped-for rain upriver in Germany had not come and that we were going to have to do a “ship swap”. This would entail packing up our belongings before we reached Passau, Germany, and being delivered by bus to another ship in Regensburg, Germany, thereby skipping the low water in that particular part of the Danube.
Sure looks pretty but does it have enough water?
Although no one was exactly pleased to hear this, we all recognized that it was beyond Viking’s control and everyone was rather agreeable about the matter. However, just as we arrived in Melk the following day, our program director came over the loudspeaker to tell us all that she had just received good news and we were not going to have to swap ships after all. There was much cheering on board and the matter seemed settled. We all assumed this meant that there had been rain and the Danube was in better shape.
But that’s not the end of this little drama, so you will have to stay tuned for next time when I write about the German part of our tour…
Low Carb Sacher Torte
And now, as my tribute the the loveliness that is Austria, I present you with a recipe for low carb Sacher Torte. This is a traditional and somewhat controversial Viennese dessert, with two local institutions (The Hotel Sacher and Demel Bakery) laying claim to “The Original Sacher Torte” recipe. I will leave you to look that little bit of history up yourself, but suffice it to say that the Viennese are quite proud of this chocolate cake with its thin layers of apricot jam. I tried only a small taste of my husband’s while we were in Austria, but I knew it would be easy to put together a healthier version when I got home.
There are several companies that make sugar-free apricot jam. Most of them do so with sucralose, of which I am not a fan, so I stuck with the Nature’s Hollow version that is made with xylitol. I do find that xylitol raises my blood sugar a little more than erythritol, so I counted half of the carbs in this jam in the final carb count. But you could really use any jam here you like best.
Sacher torte is traditionally served with whipped cream that is unsweetened. I love this little touch because the cake itself is plenty sweet and the two combine so nicely together. But you could sweeten yours a little if you prefer.
Low Carb Sacher Torte
Ingredients
Cake:
- 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
- 3/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 6 large eggs separated and at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1 cup almond flour sifted to remove any clumps (do not skip the sifting!)
Filling:
- 1/3 cup sugar-free apricot jam Nature's Hollow or Polaner's*
- 2 tbsp water
Chocolate Glaze:
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/3 cup confectioner's Swerve Sweetener
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch springform pan very well. Line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Beat in powdered sweetener for several minutes until well combined and smooth. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as needed. Add chocolate and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add granulated sweetener and beat on high until soft peaks form. Stir about one quarter of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites until almost combined but not quite.
- Add almond flour and fold in until just combined. Spread batter in prepared pan and bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely.
- Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan to loosen and then remove pan sides. Flip cake out onto a wire rack and carefully cut into two horizontal layers. Carefully transfer one layer to a serving platter (use two large flipping spatulas to help you move the layer without cracking).
- In a small bowl, whisk together the apricot jam and water until well combined. Spread about 2/3 of the filling over the first layer of cake. Carefully top with the second layer of cake and spread with remaining filling. Refrigerate while preparing the glaze.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together whipping cream and powdered sweetener. Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add chopped chocolate and vanilla. Let sit 5 minutes to melt and then whisk until smooth. Let cool 10 minutes to thicken.
- Pour glaze over the top of the cake, spreading to the edges. Let it drip slowly down the sides, spreading all over to cover completely.
- Refrigerate until glaze is set, about 1 hour. To cut into slices, warm a sharp knife in hot water. Serve with whipped cream (in Austria and Germany, they serve it with unsweetened whipped cream, but you can sweeten yours if you like. I love the creaminess of the unsweetened whipped cream).
Notes
Total fat: 28.61g
Calories from fat: 257
Cholesterol: 133mg
Carbohydrate: 10.70g
Total dietary fiber: 4.14g
Protein: 8.23g *you could really use any flavour of sugar-free jam you like best but apricot is traditional for sacher torte
