Black Forest Cake

I have a bit of a confession… I don’t have photographs of some of the places I’ve visited in Europe. My daddy only supplied me with about 3 sets of batteries each last for about 2 days. I bought some more while I was in Rome but even those would be enough for a day or two. Not wanting to spend an extra $60 I’ve decided to just get my friend’s pictures. Except that my friend is in NYC right now and I still don’t have the pictures for Germany, Switzerland, and Venice. I apologize L

What I do have is a recipe to share for Germany! Guess where I was driving by? The Black Forest of course! This forest used to have such tall trees that the light wouldn’t get through, so it was really dark. Hence, the Black Forest! You know what’s great about the Black Forest area? That’s where the Black Forest Cake was invested. Yes, you’ve heard me, Black Forest Cake.

In my life I’ve always had issues with this specific type of cake because the commercially prepared are crap. They’re way way way way way too sweet for my liking. Way to sweet! Just gross… I did have a small slice in Germany though… It was amazing. Rich, creamy, and not sweet at all. Exactly how I like my desert. That’s when I’ve found the recipe from Joy of Baking and my step-by-step baking cook-book and made it for my uncle’s birthday. It was a hit! My aunt loved it (she usually doesn’t like cakes) and even asked me for the recipe. YaY! So if you like rich and creamy cakes, you’ve got to try this one out.

PS: The raw batter is absolutely amazing. I licked the whole bowl, screw the raw eggs. Ok don’t do that because my tummy hurt afterwards but it was really good. No duh! There’s almost as much cocoa as flour!

Black Forest Cake
(Adapted from Joy of Baking and Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking by Caroline Bretherton)

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 1+ 1/3 cups of sugar
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 salt (omitted because I used salted butter)
• 1L of heavy whipping cream (35% cream)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 700 mL jar of Morello cherries
• 4 tbsp Kirsch or Cherry Brandy (I didn't have any so omitted)

Directions

1. Over heat (I did a water bath over the stove) vigorously whisk eggs with sugar until a lot of bubbles form 
2.  Proceed to beating the mixture with an electric mixer until meringue like state (the eggs+ sugar should stick to the mixer and be pretty much solid)
3. Remove heat
4. Sift the cocoa and cake flour
5. Gradually fold cocoa and flour into the egg and sugar mixture
6. Add in the butter and vanilla extract
7. Grease two baking tins and add in the batter 
8. Bake for 25 minutes (check using toothpick test)
9. Allow them to cool for about 30-60 minutes and cut in half
10. While cooling make the cream which is literally whipping the heavy whipping cream with sugar and vanilla using an electric mixer (make sure the cream is straight from the fridge)
11. Brush cake layers with cherry syrup and add about 1 cup of whipped cream between   each layer. Add a bunch of cherries between the layers if you wish
12. In the end you should have 4 layers of cake with tonnes of whipped cream between them
13. Decorate with cherries on top
14. Keep in the fridge overnight
15. Impress your guests