Black Forest Gateau

Black Forest cake (American English) and Black Forest Gateau (British English) are the English names for the southern German Dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, literally "Black Forest Cherry Torte'.
Typically, Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake, with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then the cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. In some European traditions sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top.Traditionally, Kirschwasser (a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries) is added to the cake, although other liquors are also used (such as rum, which is common in Austrian recipes). In the United States, Black Forest cake is most often prepared without alcohol.' - Source, Wikipedia.

The Black Forest Gateau is a favorite of mine, among a score other cakes that is:-)  It is easy to make, in the sense, you need to make a chocolate sponge, plain whipped cream, no tricky things like folding in melted chocolate into the cream, no complicated decoration, unless you are extremely creative and artistic. If you are creatively challenged like me, you just do it the regular , boring way. And its specially convenient when the birthday boy or gal gives u the freedom to bake anything and you also happen to have an opened can of precious cherries in your freezer, waiting to be finished:-).  This one was for my brother's birthday. Made a deal with him, he babysits my kids whenever sis needs a short break and I keep passing on goodies I dish up.  Hey Srik, I hear you groaning?? Be a sport !!! More cakes and desserts coming your way!!:-))


The last couple of times I had made the Black Forest cake, it was with a different sponge, recipe here. The older sponge tastes great too, but the texture of the fat less sponge elevates the cake to a different level altogether. With the variety of recipes I have been seeing these day, loyalties towards recipes keep changing now and then. Lol!! Believe me , this is one of the best, best sponges ever!!! Thanks Deeba!! If you have not tried your hand at this yet, grab the first excuse to bake a cake, put on your apron and start baking. Compliments are sure to follow!

Here is what I did:
Chocolate Sponge
Ingredients:
Eggs -3
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Flour - 1/2 cup minus 2 tbsps
Cocoa powder- 2 tbspns
Method:

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line and grease a 9 inch round cake tin
• Sift flour and cocoa.
• Beat eggs with sugar till thick mousse like, for about 10 minutes. Fold in flour, gently, so that the beaten air is not released.
• Pour batter into a lined, greased and  floured tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes till done; lightly colored.
• Turn out to cool on rack, immediately removing the lining.
• Slice the cake horizontally into 2 slices.

Sugar Syrup
 1 Cup water
 1 1/4 tablespoon powdered sugar(adjust to taste)
 Mix both together and refrigerate till needed . (You could also use the syrup in the tin if you like, adjust the sugar to your taste, dilute the syrup if needed.)

For filling and frosting:
Whipping Cream( I use Rich's) - 1 1/2 Cups, makes approximately 3 cups of whipped cream(You could use more or less depending on how generously you want to frost, fill and decorate).
Tinned cherries. de-seed and chop up about 7-8 cherries and reserve some for the decoration.
Shaved chocolate for decoration

Chill the whipping cream for at least 10 hours in the fridge. Chill the beaters and the bowl for 2-3 hours at least. Stainless steel works best .Place over a large bowl of ice. Whip first on slow speed for a minute or so and then at medium speed for about 8-10 minutes or till the cream forms soft peaks. Add a few drops of vanilla (clear extract works best when you want the cream to remain white) Be careful not to over whip. Refrigerate the cream if using later.

Place one cake slice on the cake platter and soak well with the syrup using a spoon or a brush. (Do not over do this as the cake will become soggy). Use the bottom layer with the parchment for the top of the cake as it will be smooth and gives a neat and flat finish to the cake.
Spread some of the whipping cream evenly using an offset spatula. Spread the chopped cherries on the cream. I love the sight of the cake at this stage, the bright spots of red against the white. Place the second layer on the cream and soak with sugar syrup. Frost with the cream. Refrigerate for about an hour or so and allow the cream to set.

I like to make the cake up to this stage and refrigerate for a good 10 hours or more. This allows the flavors to mature. Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings and cherries. Sometimes the canned cherries leave a bit of color on the cream, so I save this part of the decoration for the last minute. You could use fresh maraschino cherries instead.

I piped the cream and it was like aaaahhh!! What happened here?? The piping was not defined well enough. I lifted it off using a spoon, added a pinch of milk powder( to the whipped cream) and whipped lightly again. Ah, was it satisfying to see the piping well defined this time!!

I had made two of these and they were hugely relished by the birthday boy and my family. Here comes one slice for you....

This recipe goes to  Champa's weekly Bake Off.