I made this Black Forest Gateaux at the request of one of my good friends, Sandra. I love Sandra and she loves the combination of fruit and cake and asked me to whip this up – of course I was more than happy to oblige.
I met Sandra about 15 years ago, we worked together for a man who was more David Brent (The Office) than David Brent. Consequently we got up to a little mischief – like hiding his ‘big man’ office chair and replacing it with a standard chair and erasing/replacing one digit from the phone numbers in his pencil-scrawled little black book – amongst many other things. It probably sounds ridiculous but so were the requests of his staff – on one occasion he asked his assistant to clean the cactus in his office with a toothbrush…
So, to the gateaux! It is a divine combination of the most chocolately of cakes, a layer of luscious ganache, a cherry compote with a good dash of kirch, lashings and lashings of whipped cream and a scattering of fresh cherries – what’s not too like?
Whilst the temptation is there to make it the 4 layer deluxe version, the cake itself is very soft and I felt it would not hold the cherries and cream too well if I went any higher. I also opted for a plainer look rather than decorating with cream swirls and chocolate shavings – I like ‘plain’ and it’s more my style.
Sandra, when you visit next year I will make this for you. As for David (his real name shall remain anonymous) – he was a man of the 80’s (as his hair would attest), I met him in the late 90’s and he was crazy, so I cannot even imagine how he has evolved or how he is torturing his staff these days – a scary thought indeed!
Chocolate Cake
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350f. Grease and line the bottoms of two 9″ round springform cake tins.
In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
In the bowl of your mixer, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil, and milk. Gently mix on low for a minute then pour in the dry ingredients – continue mixing on low until well combined.
Pour the boiling water into the batter and mix until smooth and divide the batter between the two cake tins.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer (or toothpick) inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes before removing from tin, let cakes cool completely on a rack.
Dark Chocolate Ganache
113 grams/4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
85 grams/3 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoons butter
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, heat the cream and butter just until simmering. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute and then whisk the cream into the chocolate until smooth.
Spread the ganache on top of one of the cooled chocolate cakes and leave to set for a couple of hours.
Dark Cherry Filling
400 grams/14 ounces dark cherries
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch, sifted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon kirsch or brandy
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix, then let sit for at least half an hour. Spoon the mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and stir slowly until it begins to become almost jammy (it thickens) and the cherries start to break up a little (around 10 – 15 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
2 cups manufacturing cream, or heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Combine the mascarpone cheese and cream in a bowl. Whip until it thickens and holds a little shape (soft peak stage). Add the powdered sugar to the cream, continue whipping just until you reach stiff peaks. Refrigerate until required but do not leave it too long (1/2 hour maximum).
Assembly
Take the ganache topped cake and spread with a thick layer of the marscapone cream, top this with the cherry mixture and place the second layer of the cake on top.
Cover the top of the cake with the remaining cream. Decorate with fresh cherries or chocolate shavings if you wish and store in the refrigerator.
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
Oh Michelle you shouldn’t have! I am so excited and will bake your (my) Black Forest cake on the weekend. However I am sad to say I do not own a stylish heart-shaped mixing bowl. Thank you thank you for this – will try not to think of that bloke from the office who reminds us of that terrible man we worked for as I bake!
Looking forward to it – lots of love and cherries xx Sandra
the real David Brent is an angel compared to Mr JS – love and cherries back at you baby!
Oh man, that cherry filling looks so amazing. I would want that just spooned over some vanilla ice cream!
Ive never made a black forest gateaux but its something ive always really wanted to try, spesh as i know its just the sort of thing that would get me well into my mothers good books! Your recipe looks reallyreally achievable and with such stunning results! Its so elegant and im sure darn delicious, im thinking cherries need to go on the old shopping list asap!
ps the cactus thing…what on earth! haha some people are a little…kooky
yes ‘kooky’ is a good word for him – in an evil kind of way
enjoy making the black forest cake!
xx