Black Forest Cake

The word "Baking" sounds so complicated and difficult. But it's one of the most easily acquired skills if you have an appetite for it. As a kid I always assisted my mom in making our most awaited home made cakes during every vacation and I loved the process. But growing up I left it somewhere behind. Years later my senses got intrigued again when my cousin baked me a chocolate-orange cheesecake for my birthday and it just looked and tasted absolutely delicious. That's when I decided to start baking again. Living in the western part of the world makes easy availability of ingredients , hence the process more fun, enjoyable and cherish-able.

Baking is fun. It can be an amazing way to spend quality time with friends and family. I personally love the aroma of baking in house and it is a big stress buster for me. Hence, baking for me has become a way to make my family and friends feel special.

My husband and my best friend has been telling me for a while to put my recipes together but I never gave it a serious thought. But now with inflow of requests from friends for the recipe from my most recent baking expedition I finally decided to put the recipes together and spread the baking fever. Hereon I start this blog with the recipe in demand "Black Forest Cake"

I had made this cake for my husband's birthday this year. Every year I bake him a cake that he requests and this year it was the most famous German recipe the Black Forest but not the true German version. The one I made it is the way we get it back in India - moist chocolate cake with cherry and cream filling. I made it for 12 people but here I am downsizing the recipe for 4 people.

Ingredient For Cake:

• 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (or self raising flour or Indian Maida)
• 3 tablespoons and 1-3/4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons shortening (shortening is a form of fat most commonly known as vegetable shortening. Famous brand in US is Crisco)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2/3 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (you can make it by taking 1TBSP of yogurt and add water to it in a cup and whisk it)

For inside icing layer:

• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons kirschwasser (you can find kirshwasser in cocktail mix section in grocery stores. It is a cherry liquor)
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 cup and 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon strong brewed coffee
• 2/3 (14 ounce) can Marschino cherries / pitted bing cherries, drained and chopped(or any red color sweet/tangy canned or fresh cherry that is easily available)

For top layer icing:

• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kirschwasser
• 1/3 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of the baking pan and sprinkle some flour and dust away. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
2. Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, until combined. Pour into round 8 inch pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper from the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 3 layers total. Sprinkle layers with the 1/2 cup kirshwasser.
4. In a medium bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, pinch of salt, and coffee; beat until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add a couple teaspoons of cherry juice or milk or heavy cream. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling. Top with 1/3 of the chopped cherries. Repeat with the remaining layers.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon kirshwasser. Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate. 
6. Save some cherries for garnishing later. Once you are done with icing the cake make circles on top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Place the cherries on top of the circles for a grand look

TIPS:

1. For cake you can also buy pre mixed ready to make moist chocolate cake mix (like Betty Crockers / Pillsbury). This will make the process further easier.
2. I always bake the cake a night before. It makes it easier to cut and layer it later also helps the cake to cool down completely. But after baking do remember to take it out of the oven, cover with a foil so that the cake does not pick up odors or become hard.
3. I also soak the cherries in kirshwasser a night before to get the strong flavor. In case you don't want to use any alcoholic content or if your are making it for kids then simply skip using kirshwasser wherever it is mentioned.
4. Make the cake in one baking dish then cool it completely. After cooling turn it out of the baking dish on a plate. To cut layers if you don't have a cake cutter then simply take a thread and wrap it around the cake exactly on the portion from where you wish to cut the layer and then slowly pull the thread towards yourself.
5. Cut the cake in 3 layers

MISHAPS - LOL

Every baking expedition is a new experience. Do not get demotivated or thrown off by the mishaps. They are infact the fun part. How you do damage control shows of your skills of managing a bad situation I guess or rather I would say trains me that way. So this time after I baked the cake (which was a night before) I went out partying LOL. Partied all night, next morning went out again forgetting all about the cake (thankfully I had taken it out of the oven and covered it). Finally next day evening I remembered that I had to finish making the cake before guests came in. Now when I turned the cake out of the baking dish OMG it was too late and the cake had started to stick to the baking dish. Oops that's a bad sign specially when you know you have to cut the cake. Thankfully I had baked it in a spring form pan so I could open it up and started cutting the layers. The first two layers were fine and eeks here comes the last layer which is at the bottom. It was a nightmare. Taking it out of the sticky bottom and then putting it carefully on the serving dish for icing was a torture.

Statuary Warnings:

1. Take the cake out of the baking dish as soon as it cools down. Don't leave it for too long especially the ones you know you have to layer.
2. Get more cherries than required. Good amount of cherries feels good in the cake.
3. Use as less sugar as possible for the inside icing or it may become too sweet. 
4. Uuse either confectioners sugar or grind sugar to get the fine powder.
5. Last but not the least alway keep your cakes covered as they tend to pick up odor and air very fast which ruins it completely.