Black Forest Cake

This is my maiden bake for the Black Forest Cake. I love to have this when I was a little girl.
This may seems difficult to make, but if you prepared ahead of time, is pretty easy to do.

Black Forest Cake  ( 8 inch cake tin)

Shortcrust Pastry:

125g plain flour

10g cocoa powder

50g sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp vanilla

75g soft butter

2 tsp Kirsch

Methods:

Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl.

Add sugar, vanilla and kirsch.

Knead the dough with hand or a mixer till you get a smooth dough.

Roll the dough out and line the bottom of the springfoam pan, prick the dough a few times with a fork.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 mins or till cooked.

Remove the pastry immdiatedly from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

Sponge Cake

4 egg yolks (large)

20g caster sugar

50g corn oil

60g milk

75g cake flour

20g cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

4 egg whites (large)

50g castor sugar

a pinch of salt

a few drops of lemon juice

Methods:

Lightly whisk egg yolk with sugar.

Add in corn oil to combine.

Add in milk, stir to combine, then add in cocoa powder and cinnamon powder, mix well.

Add in cake flour

Mix well and set aside.

Add lemon juice into egg whites and beat till foamy.

Gradually add in sugar, salt and beat till stiff peak.

Take 1/3 portion of egg white mixture to mix with egg yolk mixture till light.

Fold the balance of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture and combine well.

Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake at 170 degrees for 30 mins or till cooked.

Remove cake from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Sliced the cake to 2 layers.

Cherries Fillings

Ingredients:

Fresh Cherries

Sugar

Lemon Juice

Lemond rind

Kirsch

Methods:

In a medium size pan, add chopped cherries, lemon rind, lemon juice and kirsch cooking on a medium high heat for 5 minutes.

Add approximate equal amount of sugar (as to the cherries) and reduce heat to medium.

Stir till sugar has dissolved.

Cook for an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and cool.

Decorations

Fresh Cherries ( prick and soak with kirsch)

Chocolate shave

Whipping Cream ( add a little kirsch and beat till stiff)

Methods:

1.       Put the shortcrust pastry on a cake disc.

2.       Spread the cherries fillings on the bottome layer, leaving 1 cm uncovered around the edge.

3.       Add 1/3 of the cream and flatten with a cake spatula.

4.       Put a sponge layer on top and press lightly.

5.       Sprinkle some kirsch on the sponge.

6.       Spread half of the remaining cream and add the second sponge.

7.       Sprinkle some kirsch on the 2^nd sponge.

8.       Fill a pastry bag (star shape nozzle) with 3 tbsp of whipping cream.

9.       Cover the entire cake, top and sides with the remaining cream.

10.    Decorate the cake with 10 cream roses, put a cherry on each rose and sprinkle chocolate shaves on the side and top of the cake.

11.    Refrigerate the black forest cake.