A Birthday and a Cake

      It was my fiancee's birthday a week ago, and he unfortunately spent it on a very long plane ride returning from my sister's enchanting wedding in Stokholm.  So I surprised him with a cake and a surprise in Dolores park this past weekend full with unexpected and delightful visits from his friends.  I decided to make him a Black Forest Cake, particularly because I had never made one before, and cherries are in season right now.  I used fresh cherries in the cake, and although most recipes for this cake call for sour jarred cherries, I think the fresh ones give the cake a much lighter and a tangy, summery taste.  The cake was absolutely delicious, apart from being stunning to look at.

Surprisingly it was also quite simple to prepare.  I used a recipe that was on NY Times, although I did change it up quite a bit.  The original recipe asked for the batter to be spread amongst 3 different cake pans, but I do not own that many same-sized cake pans, so I used one spring form pan.  The original recipe also used butter (and loads of it) in the whipped cream topping which I omitted.  I think this cake has a fresh, summery feel about it, despite the layers and the rich, delectable chocolate ganache layer which took some people by surprise while eating it.

Black Forest Cake 

(adapted from a recipe by Johnny Iuzzini)

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour, sifted (or, like I used, 2 cups of all purpose flour + 2 T cornstarch)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
13/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 pound semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup kirsch
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use 1 tablespoon butter to grease the 9 inch spring form pan. Line bottom with circle cut out of waxed or parchment paper and use a little more butter to grease paper. Dust pans with a little flour. Sift remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder, cocoa and salt.
2. Beat eggs until very frothy. Gradually add all but 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, beating until mixture is thick, light and falls in a ribbon when beater is lifted. Whisk in vanilla and mayonnaise. Add dry ingredients alternately with 1 1/4 cups water, mixing just until combined. Spread in pan and bake 45 minutes, until springy when touched, and a wooden skewer comes out clean when poked. Cool on a rack.
3. Place chocolate in a bowl. Bring 1/2 cup heavy cream to a boil, pour over chocolate and mix until it makes a smooth and shiny ganache. Refrigerate until cooled and thickened but still spreadable, about 30 minutes.
4.Whip remaining cream with confectioners’ sugar until softly peaked. Refrigerate.
5. Place remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons boiling water. When sugar dissolves, stir in kirsch. When cakes have cooled remove them from pans and peel off paper. Halve the cake into two layers and once cooled, drizzle with kirsch mixture.
6. Place one layer on a flat cake plate for serving. Spread with half the chocolate ganache. Spread with cherries. Spread with 2/3 cup of the whipped cream. Top with another layer and spread with ganache, and whipped cream.  Frost cake with remaining whipped cream and dust with grated chocolate. Wipe rim of cake plate clean.  Top with a few whole cherries with stems.  Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.  Or in my case, drive in your car with the cake plate on your lap, and have the birthday boy carry it onto the train to San Francisco and walk through the crowds of celebrating people at the Gay Pride parade, until you get to Dolores Park, and dig in.