Rachel Roddy’s recipe for a not-sachertorte | A kitchen in Rome

A chocolate cake inspired by the Sacher hotel in Vienna’s trademark creation and emulated by a local Roman pasticceria This column began two years ago, almost to the day, when I made a birthday cake for a friend. “I don’t mind,” was her reply when I first asked what sort of cake she would like.

But then, a few minutes later, she said: “Hang on, I mean chocolate with glossy icing. Like the mini ones they make at Barberini . ” Barberini is a local bar and cake shop, and the mini cakes she was referring to are their sacher (inspired by sachertorte , of course) – chocolate sponge cakes with a heart of apricot jam and a glossy, chocolate glaze. At Barberini, each one is the size of a…