|Black Forest and an Old Man|

So... my Dad turned 50. He has officially earned his status as an 'ol goat' as he is so often- lovingly- referred to as. Happy Birthday Dad!

And to celebrate this momentous occasion, I made a cake. A Black Forest cake.

Let me rewind to a few days earlier and speak about my sister. She has recently rediscovered and dusted off our juicer and decided to go on a detox. Green juice consisting of celery and kale. yum. Okay, let me give her some credit, the juices aren't that bad, quite nice really, but as I have had to explain to her, the idea of a detox is a myth. The idea that, by drinking a freshly squeezed, healthy juice, all the built up toxins from the late night drinking binges and oil-oozing fast foods can be washed out your system, when you think about it is kind of ridiculous. Sorry to destroy the illusion, but if you're currently undertaking the formidible task of having to force down cucumber and celery juice, stop. Its not doing what you're wanting (and told) it to do. By all means drink up if you actually enjoy the juice though (crazy person).

Medically speaking, the toxins in your body don't float around in your stomach and colon, so while you may be gaining the benefit of the vitamins and what not in these juices, all you're really doing is, well... drinking juice and possibly speeding up the rate of bowl movement (not appropriate for a food blog? oh well). If your body didn't get rid of those toxins itself you would be in some serious need of medical intervention. Don't try mess with your body people, it works perfectly.

Okay, back to the Black Forest. This 4 layer, 9 inch monstrosity was demolished in one day. When the cake came in, the detox was kicked out the back door, and my Dad was left looking like the happiest ol' goat you ever did see. Besides the standard vanilla cupcake, which is a regular in my oven, a Black Forest cake is one of my Dads favourites and rightly so when done right.

This cake is super moist and rich, packed with cherry goodness. Did you know; a Black Forest cake in Germany is not legally allowed to be called a Black Forest cake unless Kirschwasser is used. I'd listen to the Germans. You can obviously use other alcohols, like rum, in  the making of this cake, but the boozy cherry-ness you get from the Kirsch I think is unbeatable. Seriously, listen to the Germans.
The chocolate cake I used to make this cake is Ina Garten's ultimate chocolate cake and it is the perfect base to make this fabulous cherry monster. This cake will last a good 3 days before it starts to not taste as delicious, assuming this cake lasts that long though, which I kind of doubt.

Black Forest Cake

cake:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• scant 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (shaken)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

cream filling:

• 1 1/2 cups double thick whipping cream
• 250g full fat smooth cottage cheese
• 100g powdered sugar

boozy cherries:

• large jar/tin maraschino cherries in a syrup
• 1 cup kircshwasser

italian meringue buttercream 

• 100g granulated sugar
• 30g water
• 2 egg whites
• 220g unsalted butter diced 
• leftover boozy cherries, roughly chopped

dark chocolate ganache

• 50g 75% dark chocolate
• 60g double thick whipping cream
• pinch of salt

process:

Firstly, put the tinned cherries in a bowl with the Kircshwasser. My jar of cherries had a lot of syrup, so I removed (and reserved) some of the syrup so that the liquids combined just covered the cherries. Stick that in the fridge and let sit for as long as you can. Mine soaked for about 8 hours. 

Next, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and butter and line your cake tins with baking paper. 

Sift and mix all the dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients, leaving out the coffee. Turn the mixer on slow and gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the coffee. With a rubber spatula, mix till just combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure it's homogenous. 

Evenly fill the cake tins and stick them in the oven for about 40 minutes. Let cool for a little while in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack. Poke some holes in the cakes and brush over (Don't soak) the reserved syrup from the cherries then leave to cool completely. 

To make the cream filling, cream the cottage cheese with the sifted powdered sugar until smooth and light and then add the cream. Whip that until thick and it holds its shape. Stick in the fridge until ready to assemble.

The italian meringue buttercream is made by putting the sugar, water and salt in a pot and bringing to the boil. While it is bubbling away put the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer. Continuously test the syrup passes the thread stage, start whipping the eggs. When the syrup has reached the soft ball stage the eggs should be whipped to soft peaks. If you have a candy thermometer this will be a lot easier, if not, follow the links to help you determine when the syrup is ready. Once the soft ball stage is reached, drizzle the syrup into the egg whites and beat on medium-high speed until the meringue is soft and glossy. Then slowly, piece by piece, add the butter. Whip on medium-high speed until the mixture comes together and is glossy. It may take a little time, so be patient. While the mixture is whipping add the chopped cherries (reserving enough to place in-between the 4 layers of your cake). Set aside for assembly.

For the ganache, warm the cream up in a double boiler until just too hot to touch, careful not to boil it. Once hot, add the chopped chocolate and leave to melt. Once the chocolate has melted, mix together until homogenous and shiny. 

You are now ready to assemble. Cut the cakes into two equal halves, so you have 4 equal layers of cake. Place the bottom on your stand or serving plate and spread over the cream filling. Place on top of that a portion of the soaked and halved cherries and the cover with the second layer. Continue like that until you have built your cake. Next spread over a generous layer of the buttercream and smooth over the entire cake. Decorate with piped icing as you wish, if you wish. Next drizzle the ganache however you see fit, and VOILA. Easy! ;)