Week 21 - Black Forest Gateau

Aloha cakies! How are you all? I'm so excited, I'm off to the south coast this weekend to attempt to learn to surf! I've never even so much as body boarded before & have a serious case of wet suit fear...I mean how on earth do you get yourself into one? Thankfully I'm a fairly strong swimmer so I'm hoping I won't drown myself, but I think there's probably only an outside chance of me actually getting upright on a surf board. But you never know, I might take to it like a duck to water & transform myself into a surf babe worthy of a part in Blue Crush! It's going to be a lot of fun with a packed schedule, we've got surf lessons & yoga, think I might need another holiday to recover!

So, it's been a while since I've baked what I'd call a proper cake, so I thought I'd have a crack at a 70's classic, Black Forest Gateau. It ended up being a bit of a feat of engineering to construct, but I hope you'll agree it looks impressive (if not a little hap-hazard!). I think the original recipes suggested using tinned cherries, but I really struggled to find them. Instead I made my own cherry compote, it takes a bit of time but is well worth the effort. I didn't want to buy Kirsch so sneaked in a little bit of brandy to give it a kick!

For the cakes
225g butter
225g sugar
4 eggs
225g plain flour
25g cocoa
2 tsp baking powder

For the filling
300g cherries
100g soft brown sugar
50ml brandy (optional)
50ml water
300ml whipping cream

1. Cream together the butter& sugar, then beat in the eggs until light & fluffy. Sieve in the flour, cocoa & baking powder, fold together until all combined. Grease 2 sandwich tins & divide the mixture between them. Bake in the oven at 190c/GM5 for around 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin, then tip out onto a rack.

2. Cut the cherries in half & remove the stones, this is a bit fiddly & you will end up with pink fingers! Keep a few fresh to decorate the top with. Put the stoned ones in a small pan with the sugar, water & brandy, give it a good stir. Put it on a gentle heat & bring it up to the boil. Simmer until the mixture has reduced by half & the liquid has thickened into a light syrup. Put to one side to cool.

3. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then slice each of the cakes in half, I find it easiest to use the bread knife to do this. Now starts the construction! Place a base layer of cake, drizzle a little of the syrup over the top, then add a layer of cream, a scattering of cherries & another layer of cake. Repeat this pattern until you pop on the top, then add a final topping of cream & a few more fresh cherries to decorate.

This is a delicious gooey tower of chocolate, cherry & cream. For the full effect I feel like I should be presenting it on a hostess trolley! Only problem is I'm wondering how I'm going to fit it into the fridge? Oh well, might just have to eat it instead! Maybe this could be the first in a series of Euro inspired cakes? Germany can't be the only one with a famous cake? Well for now, auf wiedersehen, wish me luck for surfing & I'll see you all next week. Take care, Rebecca x