Schwartzwalderkirschetorte (say that 10 times fast)

We were invited to dine last night at the home of some friends, and, when I asked what we could contribute to the meal, I was told that the cuisine would be German-themed, and to go from there. I hearkened to my German classes from college, and could remember "nicht" so I decided to make a schwartzwalderkirschetorte or, literally, Black Woods Cherry Cake - Black Forest Cake. I don't know much about the history of this cake; only that I remember my mother made it for a brief period of time when I was a child. Opening the refrigerator and seeing this bohemouth shuddering there as it chilled was a close form of torture, because it was usually for a party they were having or going to, so it was hands off for me.

I got out my ingredients, and got to work yesterday morning:


In a heavy saucepan I combined 12 oz of semi-sweet chocolate morsels, 1/2 cup of milk, and 2 tbsp sugar.


Over low heat, melt the chocolate with the milk and sugar, stirring constantly. Once the chocolate has almost all melted, remove from the heat and stir until it has all melted. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt. Set aside.


In a standing mixer or, in a bowl with a hand mixer, combine 1/4 cup butter (not rock hard, but not melted either) and 2/3 cup sugar. Cream together until well mixed. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, until the eggs have been blended into the mixture. Add 1 tsp vanilla, blend.

Take 1/3rd of the flour mixture and combine with the butter & sugar mixture, mix well. Slowly add in 1/3 cup milk, mix well. Add another 1/3rd of the flour mixture, mix; then another 1/3 cup milk, mix. End with the final 1/3rd of the flour mixture (when making a cake, you always want to start with the dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, and end with the dry. In all recipes that I am familiar with, it's best to do the dry in 3rds and the wets in halves).

You may want to stop the mixture periodically and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, to make sure that all ingredients are combined. When this mixture looks pretty uniform, slowly add in the chocolate and mix well.

Take 2 9" cake pans (round, square, what have you) and butter and flour well. I've read that for chocolate cakes you can use cocoa powder to dust, and I tried that this time:


I found that the cake did not release well from the pans this time, and I think it's the cocoa because this has never happened before. It's an esthetic thing, I think: god forbid you have little bits of flour on the sides and bottom of your cake! For shame! So, I recommend that you stick with the flour - it's tried and true. My opinion.

Divide the batter into the 2 cake pans, and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. The recipe that I have says to bake for 25-30 minutes, but I found that the cakes were almost overdone, so I would say to try it for 20-22 minutes and then check for doneness.

While the cakes are cooling, take 2 cups of whipping cream and mix in a mixer until stiff. Add 1/3 cup sifted confectioners sugar and mix together. You can also add 3 tbsp brandy if that's your bag (I don't care for liquor in things other than cups, so I leave it out).

Once the cakes have cooled, remove from the pan. Take one layer and place on your cake plate.


Slice the layer carefully in half (I have a hard time with this "carefully" business: it's hard to slice them evenly)

and put 1 cup of whipped cream on the divided layer. Take 1/3rd of a can of canned cherry pie filling and spread it over the whipped cream, and try to keep everything about an inch from the edge.


Continue until all layers are completed


Finish off the top of the cake with the rest of the whipped cream. Take a bar of dark chocolate and make curls (with a vegetable peeler), and sprinkle the curls on top of the cake.


If you're not planning on eating this immediately, refrigerate to allow it to set up. You wouldn't want to keep it in the fridge for too long, though, unless you have it covered - and not with plastic wrap, because it will squash the whipped cream.

I hope you enjoy this! It has the potential to be really lovely, and it's an interesting mixture of chocolate, cream, and cherries. Let me know what you think.