Sachertorte has been listed as one of the Agriculture, food and drink good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones Date Process Result April 14, 2025 Good article nominee Listed January 12, 2026 Peer review Reviewed
	A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on May 7, 2025. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that there was a legal battle over whether Sachertorte (pictured) should have one or two layers of sponge?
Current status: Good article

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Hi Vacant0, I see the Hungarian version of this article is a FA. It has some good info and sources you don't include, and may be of use in expanding. Rollinginhisgrave (talk | contributions) 18:19, 10 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hey. I've already had a look at it and I'm unsure about the reliability of most references that is in that article. The Hungarian Wiki also uses a different system for classifiying FA articles. So, I'd rather stuck with sources we deem reliable and content that I've found in books. Cheers. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 18:26, 10 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No worries. I only really had a close look at the la Repubblica piece which appeared DUE, reliable and unused. At least that one might be useful. [1] Rollinginhisgrave (talk | contributions) 18:37, 10 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Will look at that. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 18:44, 10 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Regretting my earlier unhelpful comments. Some of the pieces I've dropped in further reading may not merit inclusion, but I think they're worth looking at. Some things I made notes of while looking:

• I was quite impressed with Austrian Newspapers Online ([2]) particularly the ability to filter searches by outlet. There is a bit of interesting academic commentary in there on what the association with Austrian national identity means.
• I mentioned de:Ingrid Haslinger in my edit summary but she does seem like the big player that needs to be engaged with. There are other Austrian food historians, and a good literature is laid out at de:Wiener Küche#Literatur and de:Österreichische Küche#Literatur.
• One interesting place to look is [3] which as I understand it is the Austrian legal database. That just means a collection of decisions, commentary in journals and newspapers. From there I came to Die Presse which had some interesting articles worth looking into.
• There was a good collection of old images of the hotel at the searchable database of the Vienna Museum ([4]).

Rollinginhisgrave (talk | edits) 16:35, 24 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Will check that out. Thanks. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 22:36, 24 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This review is transcluded from Talk:Sachertorte/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Vacant0 (talk · contribs) 21:11, 22 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: Tim riley (talk · contribs) 07:56, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Starting first read-through. Comments to follow. Tim riley talk 07:56, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• There are a couple of overlinks: we don't link capital cities; none of your readers will need a link to chocolate.
  •  Done
• The article appears to be in BrE ("popularised", "modelled", "favourite") in which case, like all good BrE prose, it should not contain numerous instances of the clunky tabloidese/AmE-style false title: "Cookbook author Katharina Prato", "pastry shop Demel", "food writer Michael Krondl", "food writer Felicity Cloake".
  • Do you have any suggestions what could replace this? Most readers do not know who Katharina Prato, Michael Krondl, and Felicity Cloake are and what Demel is.
    • I concur that readers will welcome an introductory description, but in English rather than Amerenglish, so "the cookbook author...", "the food writer...". The use of the missing definite article will do the trick. Tim riley talk 12:32, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

   Done Thanks! Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 12:34, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• It would be helpful to your readers if you explained at the start that "Torte" is the German word for gateau or cake, ("typically designates a festive, fancy, round concoction, usually multilayered and filled" according to Krondl).
  •  Done
• "Franz Sacher is the inventor" – strange choice of tenses for the verb. Perhaps "was" would be more suitable for someone who died in 1907.
  •  Done
• "according to Sacher's interview from 1906" – this reads as though we are already familiar with this interview: I suggest something on the lines of "according to an interview Sacher gave in 1906".
  •  Done
• "the cake became omnipresent and there were many versions of the cake" – lumpy repetition of "the cake": a plain "it" instead of the second would fix this.
  •  Done
• "after the World War II" – seems to be an unwanted conflation of "after the Second World War" and "after World War II.
  •  Done
• "resurfaced to the Austrian Supreme Court" – unexpected preposition: one might expect "in".
  •  Done
• "with the Court eventually siding" – capital letter really needed here?
  •  Done
• "The Codex Alimentarius Austriacus" – needs a lang template for the benefit of those who use screen readers. In this case {{lang|la|... I suppose. You should also explain the term in English. Krondl's explanation "the Austrian food codex" seems as good as any.
  •  Done
• "preperation – you need to correct the spelling.
  •  Done
• "Hotel Sacher ships their cake" – singular verb with plural pronoun.
  •  Done
• "In Japan, McDonald's offered the cake for ¥360." – when?
  •  Done
• "(süß, delikat und mit makelloser Oberfläche)" – this needs a lang template (lang|de in this case).
  •  Done
• Sources: you misattribute the authorship in the Oxford Companion: it should name Krondl as author and Goldstein as editor, thus: Krondl, Michael (2015). "Sachertorte". In Darra Goldstein (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6..
  •  Done
• The bibliographical details for Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert could do with a location.
  •  Done

Over to you. Tim riley talk 08:59, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 12:35, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose quality:

   B. MoS compliance:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. References to sources:

   Well referenced

   B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:

   Well referenced

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:

   Adequately illustrated

   B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:

   Adequately illustrated

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

I found this an interesting and instructive article to review (and it made me hungry!). It gives me much pleasure to affirm its GA-status. – Tim riley talk 13:52, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Darth Stabro talk 02:07, 3 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sachertorte

• ... that there was a legal battle over whether Sachertorte should have one or two layers? Source: Krondl, Michael (2015). Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 588–589. ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6.
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/2025 Belgrade stampede

Improved to Good Article status by Vacant0 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 18 past nominations.

Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 15:11, 14 April 2025 (UTC).[reply]

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Nice work on the expansion/improvements, Vacant0! Do I get a slice for completing this review? = paul2520 💬 02:00, 15 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. You can have as many slices as you want! Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 08:44, 15 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Vacant0 and Paul2520: I found the hook a bit confusing, would it be better to say

• Alt0a ... that there was a legal battle over whether Sachertorte should have one or two layers of sponge?

TSventon (talk) 10:29, 15 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• That sounds better. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 10:34, 15 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Vacant0:, according to this article Demel puts apricot jam below the chocolate glaze, while Hotel Sacher puts it between the two layers (reference National Geographic 2022), is this correct? The de article says Until the end of 2020, however, "Demel's Sachertorte" had only one layer of jam underneath the couverture; since a recipe change, a layer of apricot jam in the middle of the cake is now also part of it [translated by Google translate] (reference Demel's Instagram account). I can't see the Instagram post, but Demel's website now offers Sachertorte with two layers of jam. TSventon (talk) 16:08, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There could have been a change in the recipe, but this does not seem to be covered in reliable sources that I've read. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 16:12, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for confirming that, possibly something will turn up as the article goes through DYK. TSventon (talk) 17:47, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hopefully. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 18:37, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I've listed this article for peer review because I plan on nominating this article for FAC status and I'm looking for feedback on whether the article is comprehensive enough.

Thanks, Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 16:09, 25 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

At a first glance, the article seems fairly short for an FA – at 1045 words of readable prose, it would be in the shortest 1% of FAs at time of writing (joint 67th shortest by word count and 61st shortest by readable prose byte count). I haven't looked in-depth at the sources, so this may be really all there is to say – but it's short enough that as an FA reviewer I would be checking sources to see if it really is comprehensive. Some specific queries follow:

• The cake was introduced in the Austrian food codex in 1894: "introduced to", surely?
  •  Done
• The cake was first published in Die Süddeutsche Kirche of Katharina Prato: I don't read German, so I may be wrong here, but does "als einer der ersten" in the source not mean "one of the first" rather than "the first"? (And is there a reason this is discussed after the 1894 publication in the Austrian food codex?)
  •  Done The book was published in 1903, hence it is mentioned after the Austrian food codex.
    • Considering she died in 1897, and Tasting History gives a date of 1857, I think this is an issue with editions. On that note, I see the Internet Archive has at least a 1913 copy, which is firmly in the public domain and has the recipe on page 546. You may want to add an image? Tasting History's translation should be fine if the recipe is the same. Rollinginhisgrave (talk | edits) 16:43, 4 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I've also found this edition on p479 from 1890 which mentions the recipe, even stating "A Chocolate Cake. A La Sacher" in German. Can I add that recipe? Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 16:58, 4 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• In the 1930s, the hotel entered a legal battle with the pastry shop Demel over the cake's ownership: what exactly was the dispute here actually? Different sources say that it was over: 1) ownership of the Sacher trademark (e.g. Krondl 2015), 2) the right to call their version "original" (e.g. Krondl 2011), 3) the right to call their version "genuine" (e.g. Iaia 1988).
  •  Done I at least think so.
• took the shop to court in 1938 and won: very nitpicky, but while the cited source says that the Hotel Sacher won the case in 1938, it does not explicitly say that this is the year that Gurtler sued; Krondl 2011 says that it happened "even as the country was collapsing around them and the Nazis were marching into Vienna" which implies 1938, but it would be good to have a source which makes this explicit.
  •  Done
• the court eventually siding with Hotel Sacher on the ownership and Demel on the number of layers While this is supported by the source, the BBC article also cited in this paragraph says that this was an out-of-court settlement, not a judgement by the court. On the whole I trust Krondl over the BBC here, but it might be worth checking other sources
  •  Done DW also mentions it as an out-of-court agreement. I'll include both.
• In response to the court ruling, Demel had to change the name of its Sachertorte to Ur-Sachertorte: more nitpicking: the source said that in response to the ruling, Demel announced that they would change the name to "ur-Sachertorte"; it doesn't say that they "had to" (presumably they could have changed it to something entirely different which did not use Sacher's name) and I can't find a source which actually says that they did ever call it that (their website today certainly does not). If Krondl 2011 is correct that the dispute was over who had the right to call their version the original, it seems unlikely that they even would have been permitted to use this name!
  •  Done The Oxford Companion to Food also mentions the same.
• The cake spread outside of Austria, such as in Massachusetts in the United States: the source mentions a single restaurant in Massachusetts which served Sachertorte in the 1950s, and explicitly notes that at the time sachertorte would have been "hard to find" in the area; it seems misleading to suggest on this basis that the cake spread to MA generally (and it's not clear to me that Massachusetts has any particular connection with Sachertorte which would justify it being the only example of a place mentioned which isn't directly connected to Eduard Sacher).
  •  Done Removed.
• a Želiezovce café in Slovakia: probably clearer and more natural to write "a café in Želiezovce, Slovakia".
  •  Done
• Demel has one layer: it's clear what is meant here, but to be nitpicky it's not Demel that has one layer but their version of the cake.
  •  Done
• it is sometimes attributed as Sigmund Freud's favourite cake strikes me as clunky wording
  •  Not done I see that RIHG has mentioned something similar below so I'll address that issue then.
• A cinematography festival in Italy was named after the cake, including the book The Sachertorte Algorithm. This doesn't seem to make sense as written - is there a clause missing?
  •  Not done Same as above.
• Eduard claims that Metternich liked the cake: MOS:TENSE always trips me up, but as I understand it this should be in the past tense – Eduard Sacher is over a century dead!
  •  Done Oops!
• In the section on reception, it might be worth noting Felicity Cloake's comment that In the course of my research, I received many complaints that Sachertorte is dry and boring; as Nigel Slater has noted, many people find the “elegant simplicity” of “the world’s most famous, grown-up chocolate cake” a bit of a disappointment, in contrast to the praise currently given in that section
  •  Done

Caeciliusinhorto-public (talk) 15:18, 1 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review. I agree that the article is short–this would be my shortest FA to date. But I don't think that's our fault, considering that there does not seem to be a lot of sources about this article. RIHG and I have looked as deep as we could in finding sources for this article. I will address your comments. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 21:09, 6 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if any of these are useful (they mostly seem like more recipies), but HathiTrust has a bunch of sources: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Sachertorte&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft RoySmith (talk) 03:16, 21 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Will check that out. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 11:52, 21 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The biggest issue I see is the choppy writing style in places. For example, this section

Several food writers have indicated that the cake was created in 1832.[5] His son, Eduard, claimed in 1888 that Sacher created the cake for Metternich.[6] After Eduard opened Hotel Sacher in 1876,[7][8] the cake made its way to the hotel's menu.[3] After its creation, the cake became widely popular in Vienna, surpassing the popularity of Linzer torte.[9]

is a sequences of short declarative sentences with no real flow from one to the next. An example of a better style is right before it:

According to one story, he made the cake in 1832 for Metternich and his friends. However, according to an interview Sacher gave in 1906, he created the cake in the 1840s at his restaurant in Pressburg.

Starting the second sentence with "However" is a hint to the reader that this sentence presents an opposing viewpoint to the previous one and thus carries the reader's attention along.

Another problem here is that the topic changes in the middle of this. You start out with four theories about where the cake was invented. Then, with "After Eduard opened Hotel Sacher..." you jump into talking about where it was served. That sounds like a good place for a paragraph break. You've also got some bits that talk about vocabulary scattered about, which might profitably be coalesced. So, maybe something like (assuming I haven't messed up the citations):

The Sachertorte was invented by Franz Sacher who worked as a chef in Vienna and Pressburg for Prince Metternich,[3] and was trained under Metternich's chef Chambellier.[4] It is unclear, however, exactly when he did so. One story says he made the cake in 1832 for Metternich and his friends. However, according to an interview Sacher gave in 1906, he created the cake in the 1840s at his restaurant in Pressburg.[3] Several food writers have indicated that the cake was created in 1832.[5] and his son, Eduard, claimed in 1888 that Sacher created the cake for Metternich.[6]

Regardless of the exact origin, after Eduard opened Hotel Sacher in 1876,[7][8] the cake made its way to the hotel's menu.[3] and became widely popular in Vienna, surpassing the popularity of Linzer torte.[9] It also became popular in other cities in Europe, such as Paris, Berlin, and London, and was even shipped over the ocean, such as to the United States, India, and Japan.[10] Spelling variations include Sacher-Torte and Sacher Torte),[1] torte(*) being a German word for a multi-layered cake with a filling.[2] The cake was introduced in the Austrian food codex (Latin: Codex Alimentarius Austriacus) in 1894[11] and in the English vocabulary in the early 20th century.[12]

(*) There's some template that should be used to indicate a foriegn-language word, but I can't remember what it is at the moment.

I found it. You want torte.

Thank you for the comments, Roy. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 11:50, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

A few comments:

• The overwhelming pronunciations in the lead likely fall afoul of MOS:PRONPLACEMENT; a footnote should be able to handle these.
  •  Done
• Without the pronounciation, the first sentence reads frenetically, like I am trying to map out the cake in my head. An intelligent rewrite would keep it in one sentence, a reasonable one could split it in two for readability.
  •  Done
• Introduce Sacher's nationality in the lede?
  •  Done
• or perhaps in the 1840s, with the court eventually siding
  •  Done
• "The cake is served at Hotel Sacher and Demel pastry shop in Vienna." but not exclusively
  •  Done
• "and whether the cake should have one or two layers of sponge" I believe they weren't arguing over whether the cake should have, but what the original had?
  •  Done
• "Both keep their exact recipes secret, but the " clumsy here, I think swapping around like "Both of their cakes were made with..., but their exact recipes were kept secret" would be an improvement.
  •  Done
• I'm not really a fan of the first sentence of History, although that may reflect pickiness rather than anything else. Stylistically I would prefer the more explicit: The name Sachertorte, sometimes Sacher-torte or Sacher torte, is a compound of torte (German for cake) and the first name of creator Franz Sacher.
  • Partly done The sentences have been rewritten, per Roy's recommendation.
• Introduce Pressburg as modern Bratislava outside of a wikilink? And that Metternich was Prince of the Austrian Empire?
  •  Done
• Consolidate the early history, e.g. "According to one story espoused/promoted by several food writers,"
  •  Done
• Agree with Roy on the prose being choppy in places.
  •  Done No longer the case.
• "The cake was introduced in... the English vocabulary" doesn't seem right to me
  •  Done
• Why are we introducing the Latin for Austrian Food Codex?
  • It seems to be the actual name.
• "The cake was first published in Die Süddeutsche Kirche of Katharina Prato" When?
  •  Done
• Haha, omnipresent may be a bit strong. You should also say where it was so prevalent/ubiquitous
  •  Done
• Introduce earlier than you do that Demel had acquired the right to produce from Eduard (and introduce how they came to do so)
• Same point as in the lead on the cake having one vs two layers
• I guess the line on "The cake spread outside of Austria, such as in Massachusetts in the United States" is redundant to your earlier note on the cake being shipped to the US.
  •  Done Removed.
• A few of the sources I added mentioned how popular the cake is in Trieste and Italy in general, even if they were mentions. Worth adding I think.
• "Želiezovce cafe" until the reader consults the link, it is unclear if this is a location or type of cafe.
  •  Done
• Linking in with the Wohlmuth, the same page in Krondl gives valuable information on preservation.
• The imperative mode in Description reads strangely in the context of an encyclopedia. You should also make clear why we care about what the Austrian Food Codex says (For white chocolate, it is a basis by which countries set their definitions of what can be legally called white chocolate. Is that the same here? Is it more important domestically?)
• Has the Codex's definition changed since 1894?
  • Seems like not.
• I'll revisit my wording for "The butter content is unusually high for a cake..."
• Given so many sources describe the cake as dry, it seems strange that the only commentary you give on moistness describes the cake as "not too dry". I recall a source or multiple describing the whipped cream as employed to counter the dryness. Reading Krondl 2011, page 289 gives good descriptions of how different cultures perceive the cake.
• "However, those without a such pan could round the edges with hot strained jam" ? not sure what this means
  •  Done Removed.
• All cakes can be served with champagne, I believe the claim is that the two pair well.
  •  Done
• If Cloake is the only one mentioning Freud's purported affection, I would consider dropping it. Otherwise, I would add "popularly" before attributed, and try to merge it into history.
• "In Japan, McDonald's offered the cake for ¥360 in 2015" reads as a dropped in the middle without context, an example of a reframing could be "The cake is sold commercially outside of Austria, in German-speaking countries particularly during festive periods, and as of 2015 in Japanese McDonald's, retailing for ¥360 (XXX in USD)".
  •  Done
• The cinematography festival and algorithm book can be omitted unless we find something relating why the name was relevant.
  •  Done
• Reception is always strange: Taste and texture would make more sense (and would be better than my "Eating experience" in chocolate 🙄), and most of the strictly reception claims can be merged out. For instance, "Eduard claims that Metternich liked the cake" could easily fit History.

Rollinginhisgrave (talk | edits) 15:29, 4 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the review RIHG, I'll go ahead and close this now so I can open a different PR. I'll address the rest of your concerns shortly. Vacant0 (talk • contribs) 12:29, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]