Black Forest Cake

Serves

14

Cooks In

2 h 45 m

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake:
• 250 g self raising flour
• 400 g granulated sugar
• 65 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 g vegetable oil
• 240 ml milk
• 250 ml hot water
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
Cherry Liqueur Syrup:
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 125 g water
• 35ml Kirsch
Whipped Cream Frosting:
• 700 g whipping cream
• 30 g icing sugar
Assembly:
• 350 g Scotty Brand cherries stoned and halved
• 50 g Scotty Brand cherries
• 1 bar of dark chocolate (optional)

METHOD

1. Chocolate Cake:
   1. Preheat oven to 175 C (160 Fan or Gas mark 4), grease two 20cm round baking tins, dust with cocoa powder and cover the bottoms with greaseproof paper.
   2. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
   3. In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients (pour hot water in slowly, so the eggs don’t cook).
   4. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix together to form a thin cake mix.
   5. Pour evenly into the two tins and bake for around 45 mins.
   6. Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

2. Cherry Syrup:
   1. Place sugar and water into a pan and bring gently to a boil. Simmer for 1 min and remove from stove. Stir in the Kirsch and allow to cool completely.

3. Assembly:
   1. Whip cream and icing sugar until it forms stiff peaks.
   2. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
   3. Place one layer of cake on a plate and brush generously with cherry syrup.
   4. Spread about a quarter of the cream frosting evenly on top of the syrup. Place about a quarter of the halved cherries on top of the cream. Repeat with remaining layers and frost the outside of the cake.
   5. Decorate with whole cherries and, if you wish, shavings of the dark chocolate.

The original Schwarwälder Kirschtorte was invented (some say) by Josef Keller in 1915 in the Café Agner, Bad Godeberg near Bonn.  The traditional cake is made with sour cherries, which grow plentifully in the Black Forest area, but our version uses fresh, sweet Scotty Brand cherries.

You could make the cake (slightly!) more healthy by using Greek yoghurt in between the layers instead of the whipped cream.