![]() ![]() On Kirschwasser: Essential for this recipe, it is a clear fruit brandy distilled from cherries. If possible, look for sour varieties such as Morello or Montmorency mixed with sweet black cherries. Choose ripe drupes with green stalks attached those without tend to oxidate and lose their flavour. The most delicious jams are always made with seasonal fresh fruit. On cherries: The cherries are the highlight of this cake. So, maybe I was too harsh – lovely Aunt May wasn’t that bad after all. It might not have been the cake of my childhood, but I might have some new good memories now. When my black forest cake appeared on our dinner table, J’s face lit up like a child on Christmas Day. The sides (or any mistakes) can be covered with chocolate shavings or even more ganache. I had leftover chocolate ganache from my bid to conquer the perfect chocolate loaf (another post for another day), so it glazed the top of the cake alongside cream rosettes and fresh black cherries. With the precision of German engineering, build clear, straight layers of sponge, jam, and cream. The most difficult part of any great showstopper is the assembly. Tip: leftover crust makes for a great afternoon snack. The cocoa powder and flour miraculously seem to meld with the butter to form an easy-to-work dough. Getting the flour and butter to come together requires bravado, blind faith, and quick hands. I cannot call the crunchy layer a shortcrust pastry as it doesn’t include any form of liquid, whether water or milk to bind the dough. Enveloped with warming fires, the swollen drupes burst into a sticky soup the bejewelled shade of Beaujolais. Cherries are low in pectin, a substance that helps set juice into jam, and will need extra aid such as lemon and green apple jelly. ![]() So, I’ve done it the good old, proper way – with lemon juice, tons of sugar, and some patience. ![]() Let’s just say it was a good first attempt but I’ve decided to make a few changes to his beloved torte.Īn authentic black forest cake uses corn starch to thicken the jam but I wasn’t too keen on the gummy texture. Armed with a recipe from his youngest sister, I tried my hand to impress him on his special day. There must always be a chocolate crust at the bottom, the kirsch in the cherry jam must not be overpowering, and the exacting layers should follow a jam-first, cream-second order. He had exacting specifications as to how an authentic German black forest cake should be. ![]() For him, a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte was tied closely to presents, birthday cheer, and a sumptuous breakfast. Usually baked at home by his mother or sisters, it sat on the dining table centrestage during celebrations and special occasions. But unlike me, J had far more pleasant memories about this indulgent showstopper. I might have silently baulked ( so black forest cake is German after all!?!) or gagged ( I can’t deal with that amount of whipped cream). That was until J requested the traditional German cake for his birthday. I have no fond memories of this kitschy cake (ate too many bad ones as a child) and banished it into the catalogue of awful no-bakes. Each mouthful is an explosion of pure sugar. The towering dessert is slapped with piles of ready-made cream, garnished with syrupy emoji-like cherries, and covered with a mountain of processed chocolate sprinkles. Decked with rich chocolate sponge and sickly sweet cherry jam, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte just drips decadence in an inelegant way. Too much, most times.įor me, the black forest cake was just so much. She smoulders you with long-winded speeches, ugly hand-knitted sweaters, and baskets of freshly baked muffins. It could have been the glamourous Miranda Priestly, but really is just nice, lovely Aunt May. It straddles between the lines of being a timeless classic and a boring, old-fashioned dessert. However, there is something else about the ubiquitous cake. And cherries that resemble a cape in the captivating hue of red, right out of a Brother’s Grimm fairy tale. A ground blanketed deep with soft snow, not unlike wisps of fluffy cream. Chocolate so dark it paints a valley densely packed with pine trees, impenetrable in shadow. I can see how the Black Forest Cake got its namesake. ![]()
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