Black Forest Cherry Torte is my selection for this months Cake Slice bakers. My sons birthday was approaching and thought I suggest this cake for his birthday, I figured I kill to birds with one stone. He went for it! I made sure I presented the recipe with website photos of what it looked like and what it would taste like, his mouth I think watered, he was petty easy to convince!
So off I went on my hunt for Dutch cocoa. Not a easy task let me tell you! I looked on line and was super confused. Plus it was pricy! One of my Cake Slice friends suggested Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa. I had seen this in varies stores from time to time, so I knew it would be no problem to find. Wrong! I hit three supermarkets before I found it at a high end grocery store, but tis is what happens when you procrastinate and wait till the day before you need it!
This cake had many steps and I was quite nervous, I must have read the entire recipe five times! I was quite stressed when it came to making the clarified butter. Holly from "Love to whisk it" gave me the confidence I needed to proceed. Thank you Holly for rooting me on!
May I mention one other thing? Don't taste the foam you skim off the top of the butter during the clarification process. I was bitter, not sure what made me taste it, it looked creamy I guess.
The aroma the butter made was heavenly! I didn't have a cheese cloth so I opted for a paper towel to use in the strainer, it worked fine.
I just wished I had some waffles right at that moment to pour this liquid gold on!
Happy and confident I moved on to my next step!
I sifted my dry ingredients and set them aside.
I warmed the eggs on a double broiler watching them carefully!
My beating time was way longer than mentioned in the book. About double the time.
I carefully incorporated the flour mixture.
I opted for three pans, I didn't want to take the chance of my cake crumbling when slicing and assembling the layers.
The filling was next.
I strained the cherries and used the reserved juice to start the filling.
The Kirschwasser made the filling delicious, it was totally worth the expense! Don't make this cake without it!
Believe it or not, the chocolate curls were the hardest part of the cake! My first attempt was a disaster! I scraped all the chocolate up and re melted it, then dropped the stupid bowl when I removed it from the microwave! I was pretty mad at this point, plus my bowl broke, and I'm still making payments on this dinnerware, so a broken bowl is upsetting!
My second attempt was way better! I could actually see some curls in the shavings!
I layered my cake the next morning after I made my simple syrup, also flavored with Kirschwasser. Heavenly!
First layer, syrup, filling...
Second layer, more syrup and only whip cream...
Third layer more syrup and cake completely frosted in whip cream. Chocolate shavings and maraschino cherries gave this cake a finishing touch!
We quickly sang Happy Birthday to my son after dinner and sliced the cake!
Ladies I cant even find the words to describe this cake. Can I say we finished it before we went to bed, there was only five of us! My son was very pleased, he thanked me again the next day for making this for him.
Loved, loved, loved, this cake! The Kirschwasser must not be left out, don't skimp and get the imitation stuff. My budget was limited and only got the mini bottle, but I plan on investing on the full sized bottle! This cake moves up to first place in this book! I urge you to take the time to make it, you won't be sorry.
