Black Forest Cake

How to make a Black Forest cake . Today I have prepared a classic within the pastry classics, the Black Forest cake.

It is a typical sweet from the Baden area in Germany. Its name in German, Schewarzwälder Kirschtorte , literally means cherry cake from the Black Forest , a mountain massif located in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

It is a layered cake consisting of Genoese chocolate cake dipped in syrup with Kirsch , filled and covered with whipped cream and cherries marinated in kirsch or sour cherries and decorated with chocolate shavings and cherries. But let’s go by parts, the kirsch is a cherry brandy , not liquor, that they prepare in the area of ​​the Black Forest with the cherries of the region. In this case I have used a cherry brandy of ours, you can find it in any wine and liquor store.

The whipped cream is nothing but a cream that is mounted cream and sweetened with sugar, which can also be flavored with any flavor. The Genoese cake is perfect for this type of layered cake preparations since it perfectly supports cutting it into sheets without breaking.

It is recommended to flavor it and give it juiciness with some type of syrup. And finally the cherries, the ideal will be to get fresh cherries that we can marinate ourselves in kirsch for this cake, we could also use cherries in brandy or syrup.

Although it is not a complicated recipe, it is laborious and will take some time to prepare. Ideally, we prepare both the sponge cake and the syrup and the maceration of the cherries the day before the preparation of the cake. In this way we can distribute the work, leaving only the whipped cream and the pie assembly for the following day.

Preparation of the Genoese chocolate cake

1. We separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs and place them in different bowls. First we beat the egg whites until stiff. We have to achieve the highest possible consistency. We reserve.
2. In a second bowl, beat the yolks with the sugar until creating a frothy, whitish cream. Ideally, we tie them with the rods of the mixer, this will facilitate the work. If it is not possible and we have to do the work by hand we have to be patient until the cream doubles its volume in the smoothie.
3. Add the whites and the pinch of salt. To the beaten yolks, and with a spatula and enveloping and delicate movements, we incorporate the two preparations. We have to try to get the mixture down as little as possible, since the sponginess of this cake will be achieved only with the air that the dough has inside.
4. Add the flour and cocoa in two batches, integrating with great care and trying to keep the air inside the dough.
5. We spread a removable mold with butter and line it on the base and sides with parchment paper. This makes it very easy to disassemble the cake and make sure that the edges and base are smooth.
6. We pour the cake mixture into the already lined mold and bake it with the oven previously heated to 180º C for 25 minutes. It is convenient that in the middle of the process we cover it with aluminum foil, so the surface will not be toasted too much.
7. We remove the cake from the oven when it is clean when you stick it with a stick. We place, without unmolding, on a grid and wait 10 minutes before removing the mold.
8. Once unmold we let it cool completely on the rack. It is advisable that the cake is well seated before proceeding to cut it into layers, so it is advisable that we keep it in the fridge overnight wrapped in transparent paper.

Syrup preparation

1. We prepare the syrup in advance, for example on the day we bake the cake, so it will be totally cold when we are going to use it. In a small saucepan, heat all the ingredients, the water, the sugar and the 2 tablespoons of Kirsch, cherry liqueur.
2. Let the mixture cook, stirring until all the sugar is diluted, for 5 minutes.
3. We turn off the fire and let it cool down completely before storing it in the fridge.

Preparation of Chantillí cream and filling with macerated cherries

1. We assemble the cream with the sugar with the help of a whisk. It is necessary that the cream is very cold to be successful at this point. This step can also be done the day before the cake is assembled, for this we cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge.
2. We wash the cherries and reserve 10 or 15 for the exterior decoration of the cake. The rest we cut in half and remove the inner bone.
3. In a small tupper mix the chopped cherries, the sugar and the 2 tablespoons of Kirsch.
4. We mix, close the tupper and store it in the fridge overnight. At the time of assembly, the cherries will be fully macerated and ready to be placed in the tart filling.

Assembling the Black Forest cake

1. We cut the cake in two or three levels, depending on the insurance we feel and if we have a good serrated knife or a special pastry utensil to cut biscuits in layers.
2. We discard the cake crown, since it will surely be curved and will not be useful for assembly. Although yes to eat at that time while we prepare the cake.
3. As we are going to assemble the cake on the final serving plate and we do not want it to be stained and smeared with the cream at the time of assembling the cake, I teach you a trick.
4. We line the plate with transparent paper leaving a free space in the center of the plate.
5. We place a strip of paper from just under half the plate. We go through the bottom and finish a little before reaching the middle of the plate again on the opposite side.
6. We repeat the operation in a perpendicular direction. So what we will have lined the bottom of the plate, and the top of everything except the center.
7. We place the first layer of cake in the center of the plate and with a kitchen brush we impregnate it with the syrup on all its surface.
8. We spread a first layer of whipped cream, place half of the cherries in syrup and cover with another layer of cream.
9. We repeat the operation with the next layer of sponge cake finishing with a last layer of sponge cake that we also brush with syrup. This last layer will correspond to the bottom of the cake, which was in contact with the base of the mold since it will be completely smooth and will provide us with the final finish of the cake.

Decoration and final presentation of the Black Forest cake

1. Spread the whole outer surface of the cake with chantilly cream and store in the fridge while preparing the ingredients for the rest of the decoration.
2. At this point we can decorate the cake with cherries in syrup, if we have left over, or with natural cherries.
3. The traditional thing is to sprinkle the cake with chocolate chips, so if we already have them we would only have to place them but if not, we can make some chips with a knife and a tablet of our favorite chocolate.
4. When we have the elements that we are going to use for the decoration prepared, we complete the assembly of the cake.
5. In my case I have decided to sprinkle the entire surface of the cake with chocolate shavings and decorate it with some fresh cherries, with tail and everything.

I advise you to keep the cake for a couple of hours in the fridge before eating it, it will be perfect. Little more does this sweet need than a coffee or hot chocolate, a classic tart of tart.

Be sure to enjoy all the yummy sweets in our dessert recipes.

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album.