This gateau is the most German of all cakes: Black Forest Cake! With layers of chocolate sponge with cherries and cream, you’ll love that it’s not too sweet so you can actually taste all the elements rather than just a pile of sugar!! To our dear German readers – how do you rate my efforts??
I’ve never been completely happy with Black Forest Cake recipes I’ve tried in the past, whether it be traditional German cookbooks, recipes by notable bakers, or online sources. Niggly shortcomings seem to plague recipes for this cake. Often the cake layers are too dry (a very common offender). Other times it isn’t constructed right. Or the wrong type of cherries are used.
Or – and the biggest issue for me – the cake is just far too sweet and the nuclear sugar levels obliterate everything.
So I gathered the best features that I want in a Black Forest Cake and constructed what I think is The Perfect Black Forest Cake. Here’s what makes it so!
If all this sounds pretty good to you, then I dare say this might also just be YOUR idea of a perfect Black Forest Cake too!
No, Black Forest cake is not meant to taste bitter. Traditionally, Black Forest cake is a rich and indulgent dessert that features layers of chocolate sponge cake filled with whipped cream and cherries. The cake is usually soaked in cherry liqueur or syrup, which adds a sweet and fruity flavor to the dessert.
Cherry syrup and cherries
While the cake is baking / cooling, prepare the cherries and syrup for sandwiching.
- Drain cherries: Drain jar of cherries, reserving the liquid;
- Measure out 1/4 cup (60ml) of the reserved cherry juice to make a cornflour slurry;
- Cherry cornflour slurry: Mix the reserved 1/4 cup of juice with cornflour to make the slurry;
- Make cherry syrup: Place a medium pot over medium low heat, add the sugar and another 1/3 cup of remaining reserved juice. Bring to a gentle simmer to dissolve the sugar. Then add the cornflour slurry and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute or until it thickens into a thin syrup. We want the syrup to be quite thin so it soaks the cake layers all the way through rather than settling on top;
- Add kirsch (cherry liquor): Remove from the heat and stir in the kirsch;
- Soak cherries, cool: Now pour the syrup over the drained cherries and allow to cool completely before using. In this step, the cherries get soaked with the extra flavour from the kirsch.
How to make Black Forest Cake
- Sift flour and cocoa: Sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl to remove any pesky lumps. This is important for this cake batter so you can minimise the amount of mixing required when you fold the flour into the aerated eggs. I hate sifting too, so I promise I only do it when essential!!
- Beat eggs: Beat eggs briefly to combine, then slowly add the sugar in over 45 seconds while beating. Now beat the eggs for a whole 7 minutes on speed 8 until it’s pale in colour and tripled in volume. Don’t shortcut this step – this is what makes the cake rise (remember, there’s no baking powder used);
- Fold in flour: Gently fold in the flour and cocoa powder until most of it is incorporated (see video for folding technique). A few flour streaks are fine, we will mix them through in the next step. Use a rubber spatula or a large metal spoon to make short work of this. The less you mix, the better your cake will rise!
- Fold in butter: Add butter and gently fold that through as well, until you have a smooth batter;
- Bake: Divide the batter between 3 x 20cm (8”)cake pans. The batter should be thin enough to be pourable into the cake pans, rather than having to scoop and dollop. You will still need to scrape the bowl out though. Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).If your oven is not large enough to fit 3 cake pans on one shelf, do as I do: Put 2 pans in the middle shelf, and one on a lower shelf right underneath. Take the top 2 pans out at 25 min, and leave the bottom cake pan in for an extra 2 minutes;
- Cool: Check to ensure the cakes are cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre and ensuring it comes out clean. If there is batter on the skewers, it means the cake needs to be cooked more so just return it to the oven.Then turn the cake out onto cooling racks, and allow to cool fully before assembling!
A taste of the traditional Black Forest cake | DW English
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