Friday, February 18, 2011

Black Forest Cake




So, here it is. I have found it. A dessert that I do not like!!! The truth is that I don't really like cherries, except for fresh sweet cherries. And I don't really care for fruit with chocolate, except for bananas. I had an order for Black Forest Cake, and it threw me a little. But, I made it, and I think that it turned out really well.

I had never made Black Forest cake before in my life. I have a great recipe for chocolate cake, but is it appropriate for Black Forest Cake? I didn't know. Since I don't eat it, I wasn't really sure what the cake is like. Same goes for the other components as well. What kind of icing is it? I had no idea. So, I had to do a little bit of research and put together what seemed to be a delicious, traditional American version of Black Forest Cake. The chocolate cake that I decided to use was a pretty generic chocolate cake. Moist and yummy, but nothing that made it different. Of course I did not want to just buy the canned cherry pie filling. But it's not cherry season either, so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do about the cherries. I found out that you can buy canned sour cherries packed in water. I had no idea that this product existed. Perfect for this time of year when you cannot really buy fresh cherries at the market. I cooked them with a bit of the juice, some sugar and corn starch, and got a better version of the pre-made canned pie filling which doesn't actually have many cherries in it. The icing I chose to use was just a homemade whipped cream. Delicious! I would take the chocolate cake with home made whipped cream any day of the week :) Layer all these together, and you have a Black Forest Cake.

Black Forest Cake is the English name for the German dessert Schwartzwälder Kirschtorte which literally means "black forest cherry cake". In the US, this cake is most often made without the use of alcohol. Interestingly, however, in order to be true "Black Forest Cake" in Germany, Kirschwasser (a clear liquor made from distilled sour cherries) is a mandatory ingredient. If it does not include Kirschwasser, it legally cannot be marketed as Schwartzwälder Kirschtorte. The cake was not named for the Black Forest (Schwartzwald) mountain region of Germany, but rather the specialty liquor (Schwärtzwald Kirschwasser) of that region.

4 comments:

  1. looks good! I LOVE Black Forest Cake. Did you make a whipped cream frosting or just use whipped cream? I need a good recipe for whipped cream frosting....

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  2. I just made whipped cream with heavy cream and powdered sugar.

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  3. I am the guy that bought this beauty!
    When I saw these pictures I though - "I wish I could eat that cake" and then thought - "Wait, I did eat that cake".

    It was an amazing feeling!

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  4. thank you :) so glad you enjoyed it!

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