#42 : Black Forest Cake

I had several disasters baking this cake. I was planning to bake this for my sister birthday. I decided to bake this two days before serving, you know so that the kirsch syrup could absorb in the cake and all. I bought all the ingredients and was ready to bake. It was a bit complicated though. First : bake the cake. The recipe used a devil's food cake. Devil's food cake is a moist coffee-chocolate cake and rather heavy. My pan was a bit too small so I used my new small pan for the excess. Everything went well until 30 minutes later. The recipe said to bake the cake for 15 - 20 minutes. It had been 30 minutes yet the batter was still in liquid. It needed almost an hour in the oven. I don't remember exactly how long. While doing that I made the syrup. It was kind of scary when I put the kirsch into the boiling syrup. It sounded like small explosion. But it was okay. I tasted the syrup and it was weird. I was impatient to wait for the cake to completely cool. So I tried to cut it into 3 layers. I've done it before at William Angliss and it was quite easy. I thought it should be easy too. Well I was completely wrong. The cake was so moist that when I unmold the cake from the pan, the crumbs were falling down and it cracked. First disaster. I got so annoyed and kept thinking what the hell I did wrong. Maybe it wasn't cool enough. Maybe it needed more time in the oven. Lots of maybes. I continued with the cutting and it was terrible. It was like I was assembling puzzles. Put the cake crack by crack into a round shape. It was silly. After that I made the whipped cream. It needed the cream to be boiled and I was like "huh?". I didn't know this technique before. But I did it anyway. Again, I didn't know what I did wrong but the cream turned out weird. Did I overwhip it? Second disaster.
Then it was time to assemble to cake. I really had a hard time doing this. I really did. Because the cake layers were cracking everywhere, the shapes weren't event. And the cream was really weird and everything went just fucking wrong. The worst part of it all was when icing the cake. Crumbs were everywhere and it looked like a complete shit. The small cake turned out fine though. I could cut it into 3 layers and there were no problems at all. But I still had the problem with covering the cake with the whipped cream. I was so annoyed that I threw away the big cake once it was done and continued with the small one. I left it overnight and the next morning tried the cake. Surprisingly, despite all the disasters it taste really good. So I decided to give it a try once again.

This time I used my own cream chantily cream. I used the leftover syrup that I made the day before. And I baked the oven long enough in the oven. I also waited for 3 hours for the cake to completely cool (well it wasn't completely cool though). I still had problems with cutting the cake into 3 layers. The middle layer was a disaster but I could handle it.
Well then it was time to cover the cake with the cream. AGAIN, because the middle layer was cracking, the shape of the cake was weird. It made the icing part hard. It looked ugly so I decided to cover the side of the cake with some chocolate squares. I didn't have all the tools, so I used baking papers to shape the chocolates. But I wasn't happy with the result so I decided to cover the cake with dark chocolate. I melted it and cover the cake with it using the baking paper all around the cake. Still not happy because the chocolate cracked a bit when I peeled off the baking paper. Then I was back with chocolate squares but not happy with it still. There was some white chocolate left so I decided to cover the cake, once again, with that. It was the last ingredients I had on hand. So that was it. I wasn't really happy with the decorations though. You could see the sides of chocolate cake because I used white chocolate. Not pretty. My sister told me it looked good though. When she tried the cake, she said it taste so good, but she left the cherries. She hates the cherries, she told me. Well I was happy that she enjoyed the cake. Happy birthday! :)



PS. Next time I make black forest cake, I'm gonna try with other devil's food cake recipe.

BLACK FOREST CAKE
Makes 9-inch three-layered cake

Cherries and syrup:
2 cups jarred sour cherries in light syrup, drained with 1 cup syrup reserved
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/2 cup kirsch or other cherry flavored liqueur

Whipped cream frosting:
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 recipe Devil’s Food Layer Cake, baked and cooled, but unfrosted, recipe below
Chocolate shaving (see note), for serving


FOR THE CHERRIES AND SYRUP: Reserve 8 of the prettiest cherries for garnish in a small bowl. Slice the remaining cherries in half and place in a medium bowl. Simmer the reserved cherry syrup and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until mixture is thickened and measure about 1/2 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the kirsch.

Toss 1 tbsp of the syrup with the cherries reserved for garnish. Toss 3 tbsp more syrup with the halved cherries. Poke the top of the cake layers thoroughly with a wooden skewer and brush with the remaining syrup.

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM: Whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together in a small saucepan and slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of the cream. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickened,2-3 minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, whip the remaining 2 1/2 cups cream and the vanilla together with an electric mixer on low speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue to whip the mixture until it begins to thickened, about 30 seconds. Slowly add the cooled cornstarch mixture and continue to whip until the mixture forms soft peak, 1-3 minutes.

Line the edges of a cake platter with strip of parchment paper to keep the platter clean while you assemble the cake. Place one of the cake layers on the platter. Spread 1/2 cup of the whipped cream over the top, right to the edge of the cake, then cover with half of the sliced cherries. Repeat with another cake layer, 1/2 cup more whipped cream, and the remaining sliced cherries. Place the remaining cake layer on top and press lightly to adhere. Frost the cake with the remaining whipped cream.

Refrigerate the cake until it absorbs the soaking syrup, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Before serving, let the cake sit at room temperature, 30-60 minutes, then gently press the chocolate shavings into the sides of the cake. Evenly space 8 small pile of chocolate shavings around the top of the cake and top each with a cherry. Remove the parchment strip from the platter before serving.

NOTE: Be sure to buy jarred or canned cherries packed in syrup, not water. You will need about 7 ounces of chocolate for the shavings to decorate the sides and top of the cake. Letting the cake to sit at least 2 hours before serving allows the soaking syrup to sink in and the flavors to meld; however in a pinch, you could serve it right away.

DEVIL’S FOOD LAYER CAKE


1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups boiling water
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 tsp instant espresso or instant coffee
10 tbsp (11/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 3 9-inch round cake pan, then dust with cocoa powder and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the boiling water, chocolate, 1/2 cup of the cocoa powder, and instant espresso together until smooth.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until incorporated.

Reduced the speed to low and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the chocolate mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining chocolate mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

Give the batter the final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, smooth the tops, and gently tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15-20 minutes, rotating and switching the pans halfway thorough baking

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Runs a small knife around the edge of the cakes, then flip them out onto the wire racks. Peel off parchment paper, flip the cakes side up, let cool completely before frosting, about 2 hours.