Recipe of the Week! Black Forest Cake!

Black Forest Cake is a cake everyone remembers from their childhood as it is the fanciest looking cake available readily from your local bakeries.

The Black Forest Cake is a chocolate sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream & rich cherry filling based on the German dessert Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. It is then decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries & chocolate shavings.

Not directly named after the Black Forest mountain range but from specialty liquor made in the south western mountain range of Germany.
As complex as it looks, it is surprisingly easy to make as we will show you how.

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
• 2 large eggs or 4 regular eggs

• 3 cup whipping cream cold
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar sifted

• 1/4 cup cherry liquer
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 1/2 cups of cherries pitted and cut in half
• 1 bar of dark chocolate for shavings
• cherries for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C and grease two 8 inche round baking pans. Dust them with cocoa powder. Remember line the bottoms with parchment.
2. Now place all dry ingredients into a bowl, you can either use a stand pixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a regular handheld mixer to mix the ingredients
3. Take a medium bowl and whisk all the wet ingredients, pour hot water in slowly and gently as to avoid cooking the eggs.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix them on the medium setting for 2-3 minutes. Batter will be very thin.
5. Pour evenly into the pans prepared earlier. Use a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed into the pans.
6. Bake for about 45 mins or until a cake tester comes out mostly cleanish.
7. Let the pans cool out for about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to let it cool completely

1. Whip Cream and powdered sugar until they form stiff peaks. Ideally do this in a cold bowl with a cold whisk.

1. PLace sugar and water into a small pot, stir it nicely and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for a minute and then remove it from heat. Stir in cherry liqueur and allow it to cool completely.

1. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
2. Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving place. Brush it very generously with cherry syrup.
3. Top with approximately 1 cup of whipped cream and spread it evenly on the layer. Top with approximately with 1 cup of the sliced cherries and gently press them into the whipped cream. Then Repeat the same process with the remaining layers & then frost the outside of the cake.
4. Decorate with chocolate shavings, rosettes and cherries if desired.

• You can leave the cherry liqueur out of the recipe or use a non-alcoholic version to keep it kid-friendly.
• You can also use maraschino cherries or use cherry pie filling instead of fresh cherries.
• When making the whipped cream frosting, be sure everything is chilled as this allows the cream to whip better. In some cases people put their mixer bowls and whisk into the freezer to chill them before starting.
• It is recommended to eat this cake within 2 days and keeping it stored in the fridge as the cake won’t last long due to the whipped cream. Do not freeze the cake.