Black Forest Cherry Cake or Black Forest.

The famous Black Forest cherry cake («Schwarzwald», «Black Forest», «Black Forest»; German. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte) is a cake with fragrant cherries and whipped cream, which appeared in Germany in the early 1930s. Today, it is one of the most famous cakes in the world and it deservedly received this recognition. Chocolate sponge cakes are soaked in Kirschwasser (cherry vodka), and the filling consists of fragrant cherries and whipped cream. The cake can be decorated with cherries, chocolate, etc.

Compound (for a 20-22 cm mold):

chocolate biscuit:

• egg whites - 5 pcs.
• egg yolks - 9 pieces
.
• sugar - 150 gr.
• butter, melted - 75 gr.
• cocoa powder - 40 gr.
• flour - 35 gr.
• starch - 3,5 tbsp.

flavored cherries:

• pitted cherries (can be frozen) - 170 gr.
• red wine - 125 ml
• black pepper, crushed - 2 peas
• zest of 1 lemon
• freshly squeezed orange juice - 2 tbsp.
• cinnamon - 1 stick

cream «kirsch»:

• cream 33-35% - 370 gr.
• vanilla - 1 pod
• Kirschwasser - 1-2 tbsp
.
• gelatin - 1,5 tbsp
.
• powdered sugar - 200 gr.

chocolate whipped cream:

• bitter chocolate - 65g
• sugar - 2 tbsp.
• cream 33-35% - 375 gr.

spice:

• kirsch, Baileys or cherry syrup

decoration:

• pitted cherries
• grated chocolate

Preparation of Black Forest cake («Black Forest»):

Cherries:

Pour the wine and orange juice into a small saucepan. Add the crushed black pepper, lemon zest, cinnamon stick and bring everything to a boil.

After 2-3 minutes from the start of the boil, add the cherries and keep on the heat for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the cherries.

Remove from the heat and let the cherries infuse in the syrup for at least 4 hours.

Allow the cherries to steep in the syrup for at least 4 hours.

Biscuit:

Grease the bottom of a cake mold (20-22 cm diameter) with butter.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, starch and cocoa powder several times.

Sift together the flour, starch and cocoa powder.

Beat the egg yolks with 75g of sugar for about 5 minutes - until the mixture is pale and puffy.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff, smooth foam.

Sift a quarter of the dry mixture into the bowl with the whipped yolks. Add 2 tbsp of the whites and a few tablespoons of melted and cooled butter. Do not stir!

Sift half of the remaining dry mixture again and place half of the egg whites and butter.
Again sift in the remaining cocoa and flour mixture and place all the whites and remaining butter.

Now gently mix the mixture with a cooking spatula in a bottom-up motion. This method of combining the ingredients will mix the dough better and reduce the risk of it sinking after baking.

Pour the resulting batter into the prepared mold.

Bake the biscuit in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Check the readiness with a toothpick - it should come out dry.
Remove the ready biscuit and immediately invert onto a kitchen rack and let cool completely.

Then carefully run a sharp knife along the sides of the mold, separating the biscuit from the walls, and remove the sides.
This method of cooling the biscuit reduces the risk of it sinking and will keep the biscuit in an even, lush shape.

Allow the biscuit to cool.

Cut the finished biscuit lengthwise into three equal pieces.

Place a sheet of parchment along the sides of the mold, this will allow the height of the sides to build up, as the cake will be tall.

Cream «kirsch»:

Soak the gelatin in cold water.

Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a sharp knife.
Pour 60 grams of cream into a small saucepan, add the vanilla seeds and heat until steaming. Do not boil under any circumstances.

As soon as the cream appears steamy immediately remove from the heat and dissolve the gelatin in it. Allow the gelatin to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, whisk the remaining cream with the powdered sugar until soft peak shapes.

And whisk the remaining cream with the powdered sugar until soft.

Mix with gelatin cream and kirsch.

Assembly:

Strain the cherries, save the juice for soaking.
Place the first crust in a mold with sides, soak it with a few spoons of  kirsch, Baileys or cherry-wine juice. Pour half of the cream on top and arrange half of the cherries.

Cover with the second cake and soak it as well.
Spread the remaining cream and cherries and cover with the last third cake. Soak the crust.

Place the cake in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours to allow the cream to set completely.

Chocolate cream:

Heat the cream with the sugar in a small saucepan (do not boil!) and remove from heat. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate dissolves.

Place this mixture in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

Decoration:

Remove the cake mold from the refrigerator, remove the sides, and carefully remove the parchment paper.

Whip the chocolate cream until soft peaks form.
Coat the cake completely with chocolate cream and remove to the refrigerator for another 3 hours.

After the time is up, decorate the cake with cherries and chocolate and serve.

(I was short on time and had to cut the cake early, so the chocolate buttercream leaked a bit. But after standing in the fridge for a few hours, it cools down perfectly and doesn't spread).
Enjoy!"