BLACK FOREST CAKE
I’ve talked about my disdain for maraschino cherries before, and that feeling still holds true to this day. I have caved and used them as garnish because, I will admit, they look pretty and just go with certain desserts, but they get plucked right off before eating the cake.
I promise you, this is one of the easiest cakes you will make. It looks fancier than it is, and the chocolate bark was actually dead easy to make. The trickiest part of this cake is making sure you don’t have any lingering cherry pits in your cherries, which totally happened due to a less-than-stellar cherry pitter that broke after about 10 cherries. Needless to say, it got returned.
Black Forest Cake
This Black Forest Cake combines rich chocolate cake layers with fresh cherries, cherry liqueur, and a simple whipped cream frosting.
Course Dessert
Type Cake
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings
14
Calories 663 kcal
INGREDIENTS
Chocolate Cake:
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 buttermilk room temperature
1 cup hot water
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Cherry Liqueur Syrup:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cherry liqueur
Whipped Cream Frosting:
3 cup whipping cream cold
1/4 cup powdered sugar sifted
Chocolate Bark:
250 g good quality dark chocolate chopped
Assembly:
2 1/2 cups cherries pitted and cut in half
1 bar dark chocolate for shavings (optional)
cherries
US Customary - Metric
INSTRUCTIONS
Chocolate Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F, grease two 8" round baking pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment.
Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour hot water in slowly as not to cook the eggs).
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
Pour evenly into prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
Bake for 45 mins or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean.
Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cherry Liqueur Syrup:
Place sugar and water into a small pot. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 min then remove from heat. Stir in cherry liqueur and allow to cool completely.
Whipped Cream Frosting:
Whip cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks. Ideally in a cold bowl with a cold whisk.
Chocolate Bark:
Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in 20 second bursts in the microwave.
Using a large offset spatula, spread melted chocolate in a thin layer on a large sheet of parchment.
Roll up from the short side of the parchment. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until firm.
Unroll to create chocolate bark.
Assembly:
Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Brush generously with cherry syrup.
Top with approximately 1 cup whipped cream and spread evenly. Top with approximately 1 cup of cherries and gently press them into the whipped cream. Repeat with remaining layers and frost the outside of the cake.
Decorate with chocolate bark, chocolate shavings, rosettes, and cherries if desired.
NOTES
Chocolate Bark tutorial here and here.
source : livforcake.com