How to make black forest cake

My advice is to divide the preparation into 2 days: day 1 to dedicate yourself to the basics; on day 2 for assembly.

Day 1 (or to be done very early in the morning if you want to do everything in 1 day)

First of all, make the base following the procedure found in CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE

Then, once cooked and unmolded, set aside to cool and only once cold, seal it in cling film and place it in the fridge for 2 – 3 hours (this way it will be easier to cut it)

While the base is cooking, wash the fruit (except for about 10 pieces which you will need for decoration, whole and wash them and dry them at the end) and pit the cherries. If you don’t have the appropriate tool, you can easily use a stiff straw. :

Finally, insert the pitted cherries into a pan together with the sugar, stir well and caramelise over a low heat for 5 minutes, then add the Kirsch liqueur and leave to simmer over a low heat for around 5 minutes.

The result must be juicy caramelized cherries full of syrup, not crumbled but whole:

Finally, filter the juice that will become the Kirsch syrup and set aside the cherries that will be the filling for the black forest cake:

Seal both bowls with cling film and after allowing them to cool to room temperature, place them in the fridge for 2 – 3 hours.

Day 2 (or to be made in the middle of the day after having respected at least 3 hours of rest between sponge cake in the fridge / syrup and cherries)

Assembling the black forest cake (useful tips and tricks)

First of all, take all the bases out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before proceeding: the chocolate sponge cake, the cherries and the syrup.

In the meantime, whip the cream with the sugar until stiff, be careful not to overdo it otherwise it will curdle.

Finally, my advice is to insert the whipped cream directly into a piping bag for a better filling.

Then divide the sponge cake into 3 discs of the same thickness, approximately 2 cm, mark the lines with a cut, so as not to make mistakes and proceed with a sharp knife.

At this point, place the base of the chocolate sponge cake directly on a serving plate on which you will serve the dessert.

Then proceed to wet, using a kitchen brush, starting from the edge and then lightly wet the inside as well.

Attention! Don’t wet this first base too much otherwise you risk breaking the cake.

Then add a generous layer of whipped cream and a handful of caramelized cherries:

Finally, add another disc of chocolate sponge cake on top of the freshly made filling and proceed by repeating the operation: wet the sponge cake starting from the edges, add the whipped cream and finally the caramelized cherries.

Finally, add the last disc of chocolate sponge cake, last soaked in syrup.

Then cover the entire black forest cake with the rest of the whipped cream starting from the surface, and then moving to the side edges:

Then return to the surface and flatten well.

At this point, place the cake in the fridge to harden and also place the cream you will need to complete the decoration in the fridge.

Black forest cake decoration

While the dessert is in the fridge you can quickly create the chocolate decoration.

First of all, scrape about 2 tablespoons of flakes from the whole chocolate which will serve as decoration on the surface.

Then melt the rest in a bain-marie, finally temper quickly with two knives or two spoons or turn and literally cut the melted chocolate with the steel to avoid creating white streaks.

then immediately roll it out to a thickness of 2 mm on baking paper with a spatula and roll it up slowly, not too tightly:

Roll everything up to the end, place in the freezer for 30 – 40 seconds to harden

Warning! Do not leave it in the freezer otherwise it will harden and you will have difficulty obtaining long pieces.

When you unroll after the indicated time, the chocolate will be solid but still tender, so as you unroll you can gradually cut strips that will act as a black forest!

At this point we are there!

First of all, take the cake out of the fridge, wash and dry the rest of the cherries perfectly.

Then insert the rest of the whipped cream into a piping bag with a star nozzle and make tufts, one next to the other.

Then insert the chocolate flakes in the center and finally add the long chocolate decorations on the edge, alternating longer pieces with smaller ones.

At this point, add a cherry to each tuft of cream.

Here’s yours ready Black forest cake

My advice is to leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving, or even better 1 hour.

Here’s what the inside of the car looks like slice of black forest cake:

Tips and Variations

Self you don’t have fresh cherries you can make the black forest cake with black cherries or even with them candied cherries or syrupin a jar

What to use instead of Kirsch? you can use rum or a liqueur of your choice.

If you want to make one instead Non-alcoholic black forest cake therefore without liqueur, I recommend you make my Vanilla Bagna which you can insert directly into the cherries to be caramelized just as the procedure indicates instead of the Kirsch

Finally for those who want to make a Black Forest Cake super easyyou can simply replace the fruit and skip the whole caramelization step and alternate layers of cream and cherry jam!

storage

In the fridge for about 2 days, then I recommend freezing!

Are you looking for other creative ideas? Look at my entire collection of decorated cakes