Little Black Forest Cakes Recipes

BLACK FOREST CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Grease and flour THREE 8 inch cake pans
• In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
• Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
• In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
• Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 1/2 minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
• Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
• Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
• Drain the cherry syrup into a measuring cup...the juice/syrup will be about 1/2 cup or so. Add water to the syrup to reach the 1 cup mark. Set the cherries to the side and pour the one cup of liquid into a sauce pan.
• In a small bowl, combine two tablespoons cornstarch with a few tablespoons of the cherry syrup mixture stir until well combined. When combined add it back to the saucepan of cherry syrup and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Keep in mind that it will thicken further as it cools. Gently stir in the drained, sliced cherries and Kirsch.
• Chill a glass/metal mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 10 minutes, if using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment
• Beat the heavy cream on high speed until it begins to thicken (to around the soft peak stage), then gradually add the confectioners sugar, continuing to beat until the stiff peak stage -- this can happen quickly so keep an eye on it. (Peaks hold their shape when the mixer is pulled from the bowl). Don't over-beat or you will wind up with butter! I like to do this step with a hand mixer but if you'd prefer, you can do it with the whisk attachment of your stand mixer.

BLACK FOREST CAKE I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
• Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
• Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
• With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups Frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake. Spoon reserved frosting into pastry bag fitted with star decorator tip. Pipe around top and bottom edges of cake. Spoon remaining cherry topping onto top of cake.

LITTLE BLACK FOREST CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Butter and line a 30 x 35cm (or thereabouts) Swiss roll tin. Using an electric hand-held beater, whisk the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale and the mixture leaves a trail when the beaters are lifted. This will take about 5-6 mins.
• Sift the cocoa powder and flour over the mixture, then fold in using a large metal spoon. Drizzle over the butter, then fold this in, too. Pour the mixture into the tin and gently level and smooth out with a palette knife. Bake for 10-12 mins, until the cake feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed.
• Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and peel off the paper. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, select and reserve 6 cherries with stalks (to decorate), then stone the remainder. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape.
• Cut 12 rounds from the cake using a 7-8cm cutter or a glass, then sprinkle each with a tsp of kirsch. Set 6 cakes on a large plate or stand, spread with cream, then arrange the stoned cherries on top. Top with a second circle of sponge. Spread with the rest of the cream, sprinkle with chocolate, then set a cherry on each cake and serve.

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Steps:

• To Make the Cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan that is 3 inches deep such as a springform mold.
• Sift the 1/2 cup flour, the cocoa, and the salt together onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla at high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and is very thick, about 8 minutes. When the whisk is lifted, the batter will form a thick ribbon as it falls back into the bowl.
• Lower the speed to stir and carefully tap the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. As soon as all the flour has been added to the eggs, stop the machine. Pour in the melted butter, making sure to leave the white, milky solids behind. With a large rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible, finish folding the flour mixture and butter into the batter until evenly mixed.
• Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake until the cake feels just firm to the touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then turn the cake upside down onto a rack to cool. This will flatten the slightly domed top.
• To Make the Syrup:
• Place the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the kirsch and remove from the heat. Pour the syrup into a small cup or bowl and set it aside.
• To Assemble the Cake:
• In a large bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until it holds firm peaks. Do not overbeat; the whipped cream should be smooth and firm. Divide the cream into 4 equal portions and set them aside. (This helps prevent getting to the last bit of decorating and discovering you have run out of cream.) Drain the cherries and divide them into 2 equal piles. Reserve 8 to 12 cherries to garnish the top of the cake if you do not have fresh cherries.
• Place the cake on a work surface with its original top up. Trim off any hard crusts. With a long serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Transfer the top layer to a serving plate, arranging it top side down. Brush it liberally with the syrup. With an offset spatula or rubber spatula, smooth on a 1/2-inch layer of whipped cream. Push the cream a little beyond the edge of the cake. (This prevents gaps when you settle the next layer on top.) Nestle half of the cherries into the whipped cream, scattering them evenly over the top.
• Place the middle cake layer on top of the cherries, pressing it lightly into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup, spread with whipped cream, and scatter the remaining half of the cherries over the cream.
• Finally, add the last cake layer, cut side up, on top of the cherries, again settling it into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup. With an icing spatula or a large rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the top of the cake. Spread a thicker layer onto the sides.
• Pastry shops add a decorative scalloped edge of ground dark chocolate around the base of the cake. Fill your cupped palm with some of the ground chocolate and lift and tilt it onto the base of the cake all around the bottom edge. Rotate the cake between handfulls. It's the heel of your hand that forms the scalloped edge.
• Rotate the edge of a sharp knife against the block of chocolate to make curls or cut shavings with a vegetable peeler. Pile them on top of the cake.
• Scoop the remaining whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Pipe fat rosettes all around the top edge of the cake. Press a fresh or spirited cherry into the center of each rosette. Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. Just before serving, dust the top with powdered sugar.
• Alcohol-Free Variation
• Use about 24 ounces of preserved sour cherries in syrup. Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup and cherries separately. In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 1/3 cup espresso or strong coffee, the reserved syrup, and 3/4 cup sugar (or to taste), stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and reserve until needed.
• Bûche de Noël de Henri Variation
• For our Christmas menu in 2010, we used Black Forest flavors for our bûche de Noël. We baked the génoise as a sheet cake, soaked it with the kirsch syrup, spread it thickly with the whipped cream, and then scattered the cherries over the cream before rolling up the cake. We iced it with the traditional chocolate buttercream. This makes a lighter-than-usual bûche, and our guests cleaned their plates.

BLACK FOREST CAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• To make the chocolate cake: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Generously butter two 8-inch cake pans that are at least 2-inches high, and dust with cocoa powder, tapping the ramekins slightly to remove any excess.
• In a large bowl, place flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Mix until combined. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, oil, vanilla, buttermilk, and water (pour the water slowly so it won't cook the eggs). Whisk until smooth. Add egg mixture into flour mixture and mix until smooth. Don't overbeat - batter will be lumpy at first, but mix gently and eventually stir with a whisk just until smooth. The batter will be thin and liquid. That's ok.
• Scrape batter into prepared pans. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes (depending on your oven - this might take longer), or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before unmolding, then let cakes cool completely on a wire rack. I recommend wrapping the cakes in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze them for several hours before cutting them. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
• To make the syrup: place drained cherries in a medium bowl, and add to the bowl ¼ cup Kirsch and ½ cup cherry juice from can. Leave to soak at room temperature for 30 minutes or more, then drain cherries in a sieve over a bowl, keeping both the cherries and syrup. Add more cherry juice to the syrup to get 3/4 cup syrup (you won't need the rest of the juice, discard it or save for another use). This will be the soaking syrup for the cake layers.
• To make the whipped cream: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Read more about making perfect whipped cream here.
• Assembly: Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate and brush with 1/3 of the cherry syrup. Cover top with a thick layer of whipped cream frosting (about 1 cup) and top with 1/3 of the cherries. Repeat twice more with remaining layers and top with the last cake layer (there's no need to soak the top layer with syrup). Frost the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream. If you want, reserve some of the whipped cream, about 1½ cups, for decorating the top. Use a pastry bag with a large flower tip, and pipe rounds around the top. Top with whole cherries. Cover the sides and top with chocolate shavings, if desired. Store cake in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days.

BLACK FOREST PARFAITS

Steps:

• Pour the heavy whipping cream into a large bowl; add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar.
• Mix on low for about 30 seconds until you start to see some foam. Turn it up a little and run it about 30 seconds to a minute, gradually going up in speed until you see stiff peaks form. Don't over whip!
• Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
• Place the cubes of chocolate cake into the bottom and sides of a glass serving bowl.
• Spoon the cherry pie filling on top making sure to get down into the chocolate cake too.
• Top with a scoop of homemade whipped cream.
• Garnish with cocoa powder, nuts and a cherry.