Black Forest Gateau

There she is again, la lengua francaise. Black Forest Gateau, or Black Forest Cake, is an unlikely combination for my taste buds - I hate the flavor of cherry. But a new cookbook had such an alluring picture that I decided to make it Friday night for friends and I think it turned out great (well, it only lasted 1 1/2 days. I think that means it turned out great. But sweets are sweets). Basically it is a layered chocolate cake brushed with kirsch, a cherry liqueur, and filled with fresh whipped cream and canned bing cherries (or any black cherry). I iced it in fresh whipped cream and topped it with dark chocolate and milk chocolate shavings and a few cherries on top - I didn't sweeten the cream because I thought the cake, liqueur and chocolate would offset the lack of sweetness but sometimes unsweetened cream does taste a little chalky. Andrew's advice was go for the gold and sweeten the whipped cream. Of course, he also thought bourbon would taste good (a little idea he got from my bourbon pumpkin cheesecake at Christmas) and tried to sneak some in when I put the electric mixers in his hands. Thankfully my bourbon stash was drained so no weird flavors in our Black Forest Gateau.

Recipe for Black Forest Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease deep 8" round cake pan. I like to grease pan, line bottom and sides with parchment or wax, grease again, and flour bottom and sides of pan. Your cake will never stick!

for the Cake:
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar *Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2 eggs, at room temp and lightly beaten *gradually beat in each egg, one at a time
1 t vanilla *beat into butter mixture until well incorporated - transfer to larger bowl
1/3 c. self rising flour
1 c. all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder *sift dry ingredients together and fold into butter mixture with a metal spoon, alternating with buttermilk in 3 stages
3/4 c buttermilk, room temp

Spoon cake batter into tin, smoothing the surface. Bake 50-60 minutes (my oven is on the low end) until done. Let the cake cool - probably at least half an hour - then with a serrated knife or cake leveler (best invention ever. $3 at Michael's in Wilton cake decorating products) cut into halves or thirds, whichever you prefer and without risking a demolished layer.

For the filling:
1/4 c. kirsch (kirschwasser, cherry brandy, whatever) *brush cake layers thoroughly with kirsch
3 c. whipping cream, give or take + a little sugar *whip and spread over each cake layer
2 1/4 c. pitted and canned black cherries *spread generously over each layer
some sugar for the cream

For the topping:
1-2 c. whipping cream, whipped and iced over cake
2/3 c. dark chocolate, shaved with vegetable peeler to make curls
2/3 c. milk chocolate, see above
a few stray cherries for the top

Bon appetit!