Original Black Forest Cake

(Rezept Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, Recette Gâteau Forêt Noire)

Baking a Black Forest cake is not as difficult as it may seem. Best is to bake the layers and to cook the cherry filling on the evening before so they can cool down before the whipped cream is added. When the cake is finished, it should be put into the fridge for about an hour so the liquor can soak the cake.

Bottom layer

Ingredients:
    4 ounces / 120 gram wheat flour
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    2 tablespoons sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
    2 ounces / 60 gram butter
    1 egg white

Preparation:
This is a thin cake which is used as the bottom layer.
Form with the cool ingredients a dough with your hands. To get a soft cake, the dough should be knead as short as possible. Then let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll the dough onto a greased 9 inch round cake pan and bake it in a preheated 350 degree F. / 175 degree C. oven for about 10 minutes.

Chocolate biscuit cake

Ingredients:
    6 egg yolk
    3 tablespoons warm water
    7 ounces / 200 gram sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
    6 egg white
    5 ounces / 150 gram wheat flour
    2 ounces / 60 gram corn starch or potato starch
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    2 ounces / 50 gram cocoa powder

For sprinkling the baked biscuit cake:
    5 tablespoons kirsch
    5 tablespoons water
    1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation:
Beat the egg yolk and the warm water for 3 minutes. Add about two thirds of the sugar and the vanilla sugar. Beat this again for 5 minutes.

Beat the egg white separately until it is stiff, then add the rest of the sugar slowly and continue beating for one more minute.

Add the egg white to the egg yolk. Mix the flour, potato starch, baking powder and the cocoa powder in a separate bowl and put this on top of the egg mass. Mix this gently with a spoon. Fill the dough carefully into an 9-inch round cake pan and bake it in a preheated 360 degree F / 180 degree C. oven for about 30 minutes.

Cherry filling

Ingredients:
    1 lb / 500 gram canned sour cherries
    7 ounces / 250 gram cherry juice (reserved from the drained cherries)
    1 ounce / 30 gram sugar
    3 tablespoons corn starch or potato starch
    5 tablespoons kirsch

Preparation:
Drain the cherries and put 12 cherries aside for the decoration. Mix the starch with two tablespoons of juice, then add the rest of the juice and the sugar and boil it. Add the cherries and wait until this boils again. When the cherries have cooled, add the kirsch.

Whipped cream with kirsch

Ingredients:
    30 ounces / 800 gram whipping cream
    2 ounces / 60 gram sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
    stabilizer for whipped cream
    4 tablespoons kirsch

Preparation:
Mix the sugar and the stabilizer. Beat the cream for some seconds and then add the sugar and stabilizer slowly while continuing beating the cream until it ist quite stiff. Then mix the kirsch and the cream.

Decoration

    12 cherries
    3 ounces / 100 gram chocolate bar

Assembling

Cut the cooled biscuit cake two times horizontally to make three layers. Mix the kirsch, water and sugar and sprinkle this over the biscuit layers.

Put 2 tablespoons of the cherry sauce (without cherries) evenly on the bottom layer. Place the first biscuit layer on top and cover this with the cherry filling. Spread one quarter of the whipped cream on the top, then the second biscuit layer, then again one quarter of the whipped cream, and then the third biscuit layer.

Place 3 tablespoons of the whipped cream in a pastry bag. Spread the remaining cream on the top and the sides of the cake. Garnish the top and the sides with chocolate curls (made by shaving the chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler). Pipe 12 rosettes of whipped cream around the top edge. Top the rosettes with the cherries.

Enjoy the cake!

Pictures of the assembling

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Here you find a recipe for Linzer Cookies.