Black Forest Cake, done my way

M

marilynfl

Moderator
One of the librarians and I were discussing cakes (what else?) and he mentioned that his and his wife's favorite cake was a Sacher torte they had in Austria. I said "Oh, I've made those, but they aren't my favorite."

So I made the library a Sacher torte and confirmed, once again, that it wasn't my favorite Bavarian cake.

This is.

Black Forest Cake is typically made with 2 layers of airy chocolate cake, moistened with Kirschwasser cherry brandy, filled with bing cherries and iced. I always felt it was a bit dry and a bit bland--how that is possible with booze, chocolate and cherries is beyond me. But there it is.

That's their version. I used:
  • a double batch of "Zoe Bakes Cakes" Devil's Food recipe for the 10" cake layers
  • rather than kirschwasser, I spread the layers with Dyslexic sauce upgraded to Raspberry Chocolate sauce (added an entire strained jar French raspberry jam, a pulverized bag of freeze-dried raspberries and a serious glug of Chambord).
  • 2 cans of berry pie filling for lower layers (one per layer), with gloopy filler strained out
  • Rimmed the lower layers with Ermine frosting (I just wanted to test it out, not fill the entire middle of the cake with icing)
  • Entire bag of frozen bing cherries on top
  • whipped cream rosettes
  • one rather disgusting looking Amarena glacé cherry
Devil’s Food Cake (single batch!)
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
2 1/3 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (50g) Cocoa Powder (Dutch-processed), sift if lumpy
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (300ml) hot coffee
2 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Devil’s Food Cake (double batch!)​

4 cups (800g) granulated sugar
4 2/3 cups (560g) all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup (100g) Cocoa Powder (Dutch-processed), sift if lumpy
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups (600 ml) hot coffee
4 large eggs
2 cup (480 ml) buttermilk
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

A double batch made ~3,000 grams of batter. I put 1,000 grams in a 10" x 2" pan and 2,000 grams in a 10" x 3" pan. Worked perfectly as I ended up with three 1" layers after slicing the thick one. Oh, I put it in the freezer before slicing.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line two 10" pans.
Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk until combined, set aside.
Whisk together, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until well combined. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk, while slowly adding the coffee and rum to the batter and whisk until totally blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be quite runny.
Baked and tested. The shorter came out at around 35-40 minutes. The fuller cake pan took another 20 minutes. Tested interior should be 200-205 degrees.
Allow to cool on a cake rack completely before removing from pan.

Ermine Frosting: from King Arthur.
I've been wanting to test this recipe because I grew up with "torte" icing which is also made with flour. My mom used to let me stand on a chair in front of the stove and cook the flour mixture. BUT--big difference...our icing was used for FASTING periods during hot, muggy Pittsburgh summers and NO DAIRY was used. So instead of milk, we used water...and instead of butter, we used Crisco. Amazingly, it turns out I prefer Mom's. The KA version was a bit too buttery/rich tasting and has way too much of a vanilla taste for me. However, both pipe beautifully.

www.kingarthurbaking.com

Ermine Icing (Cooked Flour Frosting)

This old-fashioned cooked-flour frosting, often known as ermine icing, features a delightfully airy texture very similar to that of whipped cream. Make today with King Arthur.
www.kingarthurbaking.com www.kingarthurbaking.com

Whipped cream rosettes
2 C heavy cream
4 heaping TBL powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C melted butter (to increase butterfat ratio)

I run it in my food processor to thicken.

IMG_8002.JPG IMG_1436 copy.jpg
 
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I should have looked at this AFTER breakfast, but what a temptation. (I enjoy sweet bits for breakfast) And so much fruit. I may get up the guts to try it. Thanks Marilyn.
What butterfat ratio does your w/ cream have? We are at 33% on the west coast but 35% in central so perhaps I need to consider your trick of adding even more fat. Just what I need.
 
Marg, the heavy cream I can easily find is 35%, although if you can find Organic Valley Pasteurized (not ultra pasteurized) it has 40%. However that is not available in my area.

I have Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible, Pie & Pastry Bible and Rosie's Cakes. In one of those books, she goes over various whipped cream icings. In one she used a food processor (less air), one she used powdered sugar (with stabilizing cornstarch) and one she added a bit of extra butter to increase the butterfat. So, me being me, I combine all three: I used powdered sugar (easy to find because you HAVE to search for a version that DOES NOT contain cornstarch), I add 25% extra softened butter and then I run it in the food processor. I've found that it stabilizes the cream for several days that way. Since it was a large cake and I wanted it to last for several days worth of library staff changes, I went that route.
 
This looks amazing! I will definitely have to try this, though I could feel the calories adding up as I looked at it. Fascinating to think of whipping the icing in the food processor. Mine just died on me, so I have yet another reason to replace it.
 
marilynfl said:
Marg, the heavy cream I can easily find is 35%, although if you can find Organic Valley Pasteurized (not ultra pasteurized) it has 40%. However that is not available in my area.

I have Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible, Pie & Pastry Bible and Rosie's Cakes. In one of those books, she goes over various whipped cream icings. In one she used a food processor (less air), one she used powdered sugar (with stabilizing cornstarch) and one she added a bit of extra butter to increase the butterfat. So, me being me, I combine all three: I used powdered sugar (easy to find because you HAVE to search for a version that DOES NOT contain cornstarch), I add 25% extra softened butter and then I run it in the food processor. I've found that it stabilizes the cream for several days that way. Since it was a large cake and I wanted it to last for several days worth of library staff changes, I went that route.
Click to expand...
What a bunch of useful info. I didn't know that about the food processor, although I have used the stick blender and found that (not only an easy quick process) the result was more stable. I should have done more thinking about it. I almost always use icing sugar (with the cornstarch) if I am making a dessert ahead of dinner. And I am going to look around for heavier fat cream. Oh yes, just what I need. Heavier fat. Thanks Marilyn. Oh yes.
 
lana-in-fl said:
This looks amazing! I will definitely have to try this, though I could feel the calories adding up as I looked at it. Fascinating to think of whipping the icing in the food processor. Mine just died on me, so I have yet another reason to replace it.
Click to expand...
Lana, I love using the food processor, but it is VERY time-driven. At first the cream doesn't seem to be thickening, but then you can almost hear it...WATCH CAREFULLY at this point. I usually stop and test the cream by lifting a sample every 5 seconds or so...because, trust me, it will go from perfect to lumpy pre-butter before you can blink.
 
marilynfl said:
Lana, I love using the food processor, but it is VERY time-driven. At first the cream doesn't seem to be thickening, but then you can almost hear it...WATCH CAREFULLY at this point. I usually stop and test the cream by lifting a sample every 5 seconds or so...because, trust me, it will go from perfect to lumpy pre-butter before you can blink.
Click to expand...
Thank for the warning! I am very prone to getting distracted.
 
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