Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte
My longtime penpal, Dominique, has taken to sending me YouTube videos of recipes that he recommends I try. This one came in about a month ago and I was very intrigued, as I love cherries and whipped cream, so what’s not to love? I didn’t end up using the exact recipe from the YouTube clip, instead opting for a recipe writer whose work I’m more familiar with: Rose Levy Beranbaum. This recipe, Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, comes from the Cake Bible, which I don’t own but instead borrowed digitally from the library.
The recipe is a trek, starting with the chocolate génoise. Strangely, the recipe calls for boiling semisweet chocolate in water! I was sure it wouldn’t work, but true to her word, she lead me to a thick, pudding like mix in to the beaten eggs with a little flour.
The brandied cherries were a lot of fun; I used frozen cherries and drained the juice from them, adding a bit of sugar, water, and Kirschwasser. This I boiled down until quite thick and concentrated, and then steeped the cherries in the syrup with more Kirschwasser for a few days. I still have a small jar of these cherries left that I’ll be using for cocktails!
The old-fashioned whipped cream recreates the higher fat whipping cream of yore. Most whipping cream in the US is 37% butterfat, but prior to ultrapasteurization, the butterfat content was higher. So to replicate that, and make a whipping cream that stands up to time a bit longer, you add in melted (and cooled) butter along with your whipping cream. Again, I found the idea puzzling, but it’s absolutely delicious!
Shortly after Andy had cleaned the floors, I remembered to make what Beranbaum calls “snowflakes” which are tiny shavings of dark chocolate, which I promptly got all over his nice, clean floors. Then, to make matters worse, I forgot to sprinkle them on the cake when I decorated and served it! So instead, we sprinkled them on the remaining half a day later and our future pieces will have the chocolate shavings on them.
This cake is not quick, but it is pretty simple. I highly recommend this for your next party.
