Black Forest Cake

Love is in the air! Today is Valentines Day, a day to celebrate with someone special. Let’s bake a Black Forest Cake for that special man in your life. After all the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

Typically, Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake (plain / dark chocolate cake), with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. The cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries (a preserved, sweetened cherry) and chocolate curls / shavings.

In some European traditions sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top. Traditionally, Kirschwasser / Kirsch (a clear, colorless fruit brandy) is added to the cake, though other liquors are also used (like rum).

Ingredients:

• 2 dark chocolate cakes (ingredients provided below)
• 225 gms tinned cherries
• 1 tbsp rum / kirsch (cherry brandy)

Garnishing:

• 450 gms whipping cream
• 6 tbsp powdered icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 40 gms dark chocolate (1 dark chocolate), for curls / flakes
• maraschino cherries (drained), for garnish

Ingredients for Dark Chocolate Cake (makes 2):

• 6 eggs
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 5 tbsp flour (maida)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• ½ tsp milk (optional)

Procedure:
Dark Chocolate Cake:

1. Prepare two 9 in. round cake tin, well greased with little flour on the surface and lined with a double thickness (two layers) of greaseproof paper. Keep aside.
2. Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder thrice. Keep aside.
3. Beat eggs, butter & sugar with vanilla essence in a bowl until light & fluffy.
4. Gradually add sieved flour in the beaten egg mixture and fold gently a little at a time. Do not overmix. (You may add milk if required).
5. Transfer the cake batter into 2 greased tins and hollow out the centre.
6. Bake in micro oven at 180 degree C / 350 degree F for 30 mins.
7. (Test the cake by inserting a clean knife in the centre of the cake, if the knife comes out clean, the cake is ready).
8. If the cake is not done, reduce the heat to 120 degree C / 250 degree F and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or until done.
9. Leave at least 15 minutes in the microwave before turning out on to a wire tray to cool.

Cream Icing:

1. Chill cream in a small pan in the freezer for about 30 mins.
2. When the cream and the pan are properly chilled, gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla essence.
3. Whip carefully till the cream is thick and stand in soft peaks. Keep rest of the cream in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Flakes:

1. Keep the chocolate bar with the wrapper on the outer surface of a hot oven so that it melts slightly and becomes soft.
2. Refrigerate a little so that the bar is firm but not too hard otherwise the chocolate curls with be too small.
3. With the help of a vegetable / potato peeler, peel the side of the chocolate onto a plate to have chocolate flakes.
4. Refrigerate for half an hour or until ready to serve.

To assemble the Cake:

1. Drain the cherry syrup and keep aside. Remove seeds from the cherries.
2. Add rum / kirsch to ½ cup cherry syrup.
3. Cut the dark chocolate cake into 2 halves. Soak both the layers with cherry syrup. (Put about 4-5 tbsp of syrup on each layer of the cake).
4. Spread half of the cream icing on each layer of cake.
5. Place one layer on a serving plate, put deseeded cherries on the cream and cover it with another layer of cake on top of the cherries.
6. Spread the remaining whipped cream and cover the cake on all sides including the top of the cake.
7. Level top and sides with a broad knife dipped in chilled water.
8. Put chocolate flakes on the top of the cake and also on the sides. (You can press gently the chocolate flakes with fingers on the side of the cake).
9. Decorate the border on the top edge of the cake by piping swirls of cream from the icing gun.
10. Place maraschino cherries on each swirl.
11. Refrigerate for about 30 mins. Served chilled.

Pictures courtesy: google