Black Forest Cake
Ingredients:
Chocolate Sponge:
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Cherry Syrup:
670g pitted Morello cherries in syrup, drained, syrup reserved
1/3 cup kirsch or cherry liqueur (optional)
1/2 cup superfine sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
Decoration:
4 cups heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup soft icing sugar
100g dark chocolate
12 maraschino or fresh cherries
Directions:
Prepare the Sponge: Whisk eggs briefly, then add sugar and vanilla, beating until voluminous. Fold in sifted cocoa and flour, then melted butter. Bake in lined pans until a tester comes out clean.
Make the Cherry Syrup: Simmer cherry juice with sugar, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Add kirsch, then pour over the drained cherries.
Assemble the Cake: Layer sponges with whipped cream and cherries, soaking each sponge with cherry syrup. Cover the assembled cake with more whipped cream and decorate with chocolate curls and cherries.
Chill: Let the cake rest in the fridge overnight to develop flavors and moisten the sponge thoroughly.
