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An Alcohol-free Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte or Black Forest Gateau/ Cake

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte literally translates as Cherry Cake from the Black Forest region of Germany. I don’t think there are too many people who haven’t heard of this cake of German origin or don’t like it. I am one of those few who doesn't particularly like the Blackt Forest Gâteau/ Black Forest
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Course Dessert
Cuisine german
Servings 8 serving

Ingredients
  

For the cake:

  • 4 eggs , separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 100 gm unsalted butter
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsps cocoa unsweetened dark powder
  • 1 cup cake flour (or 2 tbsp + all-purpose flour to make up to 1 cup)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tbsps lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

For the cherry filling:

  • 1 cup cherries pitted fresh (or canned)
  • 1 cup apple juice unsweetened
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar (more or less depending on how sweet your cherries are)
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tsps cornstarch

For the soaking syrup:

  • 1 cup apple juice unsweetened
  • 1/4 cup sugar

For the whipped cream:

  • 400 ml cream (25% fat, I used Amul)
  • 5 tbsps icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

For decorating:

  • cream whipped
  • cherries fresh or canned
  • chocolate curls and shavings

Instructions
 

  • For the cherry filling : Keep aside the cherries needed for decoration and chop up the remaining cherries. Reserve about 4 tbsp of the apple juice to dissolve the corn-starch and use the rest to make the filling. Put the pitted cherries and half the apple juice/ liquid in a blender and blend till smooth.
  • Put this in a pan, with the remaining apple juice/ liquid in which the cherries were preserved, sugar (according to taste and depending on how sweet the cherries are) and the lime juice and bring to a boil. When this has reduced a bit, add the dissolved corn-starch, mixing it well first, and allow the filling to thicken. Take it off the heat, allow it to cool, and use to fill the cake.
  • For the soaking syrup : Bring the apple juice and sugar to a boil in a small pan and simmer for about 2 minutes. Take it off the heat and let it cool. Use this syrup to moisten the cake.
  • For the whipped cream : Refrigerate the cream for about 12 to 24 hours till really thick. Pour into a chilled steel bowl, add the sugar and vanilla essence, and beat with an electric mixer till it forms soft peaks. Add the cornsstarch and beat further till the cream forms stiff peaks which hold their shape. This will take between 6 to 10 minutes. Refrigerate till ready to use. Do this about an hour before you are ready to use the whipped cream.
  • For the cake : Melt the butter and cocoa powder over hot water and mix well. Cool till it is lukewarm but of pouring consistency.
  • In another bowl beat the egg yolk and sugar, using a electric beater, over hot water till it is pale, creamy and increases in volume. This will take about 2 minutes.
  • In a third clean and stainless steel bowl, beat the egg whites and salt till they form soft peaks.
  • Sift the flour and baking powder onto the egg yolks and then pour the chocolate mixture also into this bowl. Do not mix. Add one third of the beaten egg whites to the bowl and stir lightly into the batter. Then add the remaining beaten egg whites to the batter and fold carefully making sure everything is well mixed.
  • Pour into an 8u201d (20cm) round cake tin with a round of parchment paper at the bottom and well-greased sides. Bake at 180C (350F) for about 35 minutes till the top of the cake springs back when touched. Do not over-bake, or the cake will dry out.
  • Assembling the cake : After the cake has cooled a bit, remove from the tin and neatly cut it into 3 layers horizontally.
  • Place the top most layer of the cake on your serving plate, with the cut side facing up. Moisten the layer with a few tsp of syrup. Spread one half of the cherry filling on this layer. The use 1/4 of the whipped cream and spread it over this. Place the middle layer over this.
  • Moisten this layer with the syrup too, and spread the remaining cherry filling over this layer too. Spread another 1/4 of the whipped cream over this. Now place the bottom most layer on top with the underside facing up. Keep aside some of the whipped cream for decorating and spread the rest of the cream on the top and sides of the cake and smoothen it out.
  • Now decorate the sides with the chocolate curls or shavings and the top as well if you wish. Decorate with piped cream and cherries. If you live in warmer climates, it would be a good idea to refrigerate the cake till you serve it.

Notes

How was the cake? It was good, very good. I actually liked it. It was light and not too sweet. I still have those cherries in my fridge and I will try making this again. Hopefully, this time, it will look prettier and I’ll be able to get some pictures.
By the way, I found decorating the sides of the cake with chocolate shavings quite difficult and messy. Any suggestions for a neater and easier way to do this?
Eva’s recipe uses 6 eggs but I cut that down to 4 eggs, which I couldn't smell or taste in the cake. That surprised me. The cake was soft with a lovely texture, yet firm enough to cut into three layers without any difficulty. You can cut the cake into two layers if you prefer and it'll still be good. Just add a thicker layer of filling and the cream between the two layers.
And the whipped cream was just right and not too sweet. I only wish the weather was cooler and I would have had a prettier cake. But I didn’t see anyone complaining. All the guests, and my husband of course, opted for the cake and thoroughly enjoyed it. They had smaller helpings of the coconut ice-cream too.