chocolate – SweetSourMoments

German Black Forest Cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte = Black Forest cherry torte) is my all time favorite cake. I made this for my birthday last year and this year and also made the cupcake version for my office on valentine day.

A. Cherry filling

1. Drain 1 can pitted black cherry, keep the syrup in a small pan. Take 3 tbsp of the syrup in a small bowl, mix with 2 tbsp of corn starch.

2. Bring to boil the remaining syrup in the small pan + 2 tbsp sugar (optional as preferred sweetness), lower the heat then slowly stir in the corn starch mixture, keep stirring to avoid lump.

3. Put the cherry into the pan, keep stirring until the liquid gets even thickness. Turn off the heat, let it cool.

B. The Cake

1. Sift 1/2 C cake flour + 1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder, set aside. Melt 3 tbsp unsalted butter, set aside. ( I forgot to take the picture of melted butter 🙂 )

2. The eggs mixture: 1. Whisk 4 eggs + 2/3 C sugar. 2. Using double boiler method, put the egg mixture over the boiling water, keep whisking until you get lukewarm mixture. 3. Stir the mixture using high speed mixer, add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. 4. The batter should be pale and very thick.

3. Gently fold in the flour and melted butter alternately, make sure to use big stroke so that the batter won’t flatten.

4. Pour into 9″ pan (layered with parchment paper + butter), tap to remove excess air bubble, bake in 350F oven, test with toothpick.

5. Let the cake cool completely before divide into half.

C. Assembly

1. Brush 3 tbsp Kirschwasser, a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries. Here I used rum since I don’t have kirschwasser. Then put the cream layer followed by cherry filling and finish with cream layer before put the second layer of cake. For the cream: whisk 3 C heavy cream + 1 C powdered sugar (or as preferred sweetness).

2. Brush the top layer of cake with 3 tbsp of Kirschwasser before decorating. As you see I am not good at cake decoration, I wish I could make it look like the cake displayed in high end bakery 🙂

3. Bon Appétit.

In my search for an ultimate chocolate cake recipe, I found this simple recipe and decided to give it a try. Well, my point is 8 out of 10 for this recipe, quite good. I did a little adjustment and added my secret ingredient which is now not so secret anymore after you read this post. If you add some frosting on the top, I think it will be yummier.

Ingredient :

– 4 eggs + 4 egg yolks

– 175 gr sugar

– 150 gr butter, melted

– 100 gr flour

– 20 gr maize flour

– 50 gr chocolate powder

– the original recipe uses ½ tbsp baking powder, I changed it to ¼ tbsp ( just a little effort to be more natural ).

secret ingredient : Loving Kindness – most of us will agree if I say “when we think chocolate, we think love ( valentine )”- so try to meditate the love you get everyday while trying this recipe. Today I dedicated the cake to the unconditional love my mom gives to me J.

My other secret ingredient is yogurt. Most of the time I will add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt to any cake recipe, makes the cake more moist. I have proved it myself.

1. Prepare the oven to 350° F.

2. Beat together eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until pale and fluffy, add yogurt and beat for another minute.

3. Sift all dry ingredients together and mix into the batter alternately with melted butter. Make sure it’s mixed well.

4. Pour into cupcake paper cup.

5. Bake, test with toothpick.

6. Enjoy!!!!