Black Forest Cherry Cake

Do you see that piece of cake? Oh! so gooood! Will and I talked about wanting to make this for so long. We finally did this weekend, and it was worth the wait! It was a fun project to do together. It was a great hosting dessert. And, it was yummy!


For the cake:
- 7 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into squares
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 tbsp Kirsch (Kirsch is a cherry flavored liqueur.)
- 2/3 cup self-rising flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup ground almonds

For the filling and topping:
- 2.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 2.5 oz semi-sweet chocolate-flavored frosting
- 3 tbsp Kirsch
- 15 oz can pitted black cherries, drained and juice reserved
- 2.5 cups heavy cream, lightly whipped
- 12 fresh cherries with stalks, optional, for decorating

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with greased waxed paper. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring to mix. Remove from heat and set aside until barely warm.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until very thick, then fold in the chocolate mixture and the Kirsch. Fold in the flour wiht the ground almonds. Whisk the egg whites in a grease free bowl until stiff, then gently fold into the mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until firm to the touch.

Let the sponge cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. Use a long serrated knife to cut the cake horizontally into 3 even layers.

Meanwhile make the chocolate curls. Melt the chocolate and chocolate cake frosting in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water as before. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour onto a board to set. Use a potato peeler to shave off thin curls.

Mix the Kirsch with 6 tbsp of the reserved cherry juice. Place the bottom layer of cake on a serving plate and sprinkle with 3 tbsp of the Kirsch syrup. Spread one-third of the whipped cream on the cake layer and sprinkle on half the cherries.

Place the second layer of cake on top and repeat with another third of the Kirsch syrup and cream and the remaining cherries. Place the final cake layer on top and sprinkle the remaining Kirsch syrup over it.

Spread the remaining cream on top of the cake. Sprinkle on the chocolate curls and top with the fresh cherries.

This was so good! Our first attempt wasn't visually perfect, but it was quite yummy! We will definitely make it again!

from Russian, German, and Polish food and cooking

with contributing editor Lesley Chamberlain