The best Black Forest gateau
The best Black Forest gateau
The Black Forest gateau is a German classic that has now become well-known and popular all over the world. Here in Switzerland, too, this cake has, of course, become an integral part of our culture, and for many people it occasionally makes an appearance on the Sunday table. The great thing about this cake is, above all, that it looks fantastic and is really very easy to make. We’re sharing our foolproof and incredibly delicious recipe with you, so you can easily bake the cake at home.
Key figures
Quantity:1 cake | 22 cm
Baking time:20 to 25 minutes
Baking temperature: 200 ºC fan oven
Difficulty: Easy
Shelflife: 3 days
Ingredients
| Granulated sugar | 175 g | |
| Whole egg | beaten egg | 300 g | |
| plain flour | 125 g | |
| Wheat starch | 25 g | |
| Cocoa powder | 30 g | |
Jelly
| Sour cherries in syrup | 2 tins | |
| Granulated sugar | 20 g | |
| Sour cherry juice | Part 1 | 90 g | |
| Vanilla custard powder | 20 g | |
| Sour cherry juice | Part 2 | 20 g | |
Syrup
| Granulated sugar | 60 g | |
| Water | 30 g | |
| Cherry | 50 g | |
Filling & Decoration
| Double cream | 700 g | |
| Sheets of gelatine | 2 sheets | |
| Granulated sugar | 40 g | |
| Dark chocolate shavings | 200 g | |
| Cherries | whole | A few | |
Manufacture
It’s best to start by making the chocolate sponge. You can actually prepare this the day before. That gives it plenty of time to cool down and also makes it easier to cut.
Place the whole egg and the sugar in ametal bowlandset this over a suitable saucepan containing a little water. Heat the water over a medium heat, stirring the egg mixture constantly with awhiskto prevent it from burning or becoming lumpy. The mixture will become lighter in colour and frothier as it is heated and whisked. Dip your finger into the egg mixture and then rub your fingers together. If you can no longer feel any sugar crystals, you can remove the mixture from the bain-marie and beat it thoroughly with a hand mixer until it has become very pale and doubled in volume.
Mix the cornflour, plain flour and cocoa powder in a bowl and sift them into the beaten egg whites in three batches. Fold in the flour using arubber spatula. Pour the finished sponge mixture into a22 cm cake ring placed on a baking tray lined withbaking paper. Bake the sponge for 20 to 25 minutes at 200 ºC (fan oven).
To check whether the cake is ready, it’s best to do a simple test. To do this, insert a thin wooden skewer into the centre of the cake. If bits of cake stick to it, you’ll need to bake it for a little longer; if the skewer comes out clean, you can take the cake out of the oven. Now place another baking tray lined with baking paper on top of the cake and turn it through 180 degrees. Remove the top baking tray and leave the cake to cool completely. It’s best to do this overnight. You don’t need to worry at all about the cake drying out, as it is well protected by the two sheets of baking paper, and turning it ensures it has a smooth surface on both sides.
Whilst the cake is cooling, you can get started on making the jelly. This is also really easy to prepare in advance. Drain the cherries from the first jar, making sure to collect the juice. Chop the sour cherries very finely with a sharp knife, then put 90 g of the juice and the sugar into a small saucepan and heat the mixture over a medium heat. Put 20 g of the reserved juice andthe vanilla custard powderinto a separate bowl and mix the ingredients together. Add a splash of the hot juice to the bowl containing the mixed vanilla cream and stir it in well. Then pour this mixture into the saucepan and cook the juice, stirring constantly, until it thickens to a creamy consistency. Next, add the finely chopped cherries, stir them into the cream and finally transfer the mixture to a bowl so that it can cool completely. You can either leave the jelly to cool overnight or place it in the fridge for about an hour.
Assembly
If you’d like to make the classic version with alcohol, you’ll now need to make a sugar syrup and mix it with kirsch. To do this, simply bring 30 g of water and 60 g of sugar to the boil, and let the mixture simmer for about a minute. Pour the syrup into a bowl, add 50 g of kirsch and leave the syrup to cool.
Now start by whipping the double cream. Make sure you only whip it to about 70 to 80 per cent stiffness at this stage. Then add 40 g of granulated sugar (optional) and briefly fold it in with a whisk. Soak thegelatinein cold water, then squeeze out any excess water and melt it in a small pan over a low heat. Add a little of the whipped cream to the melted gelatine and mix the two ingredients together to form a smooth cream. Return the tempered gelatine mixture to the remaining cream and stir it in with a whisk. You can now give it a bit of a vigorous stir until the cream has reached its full consistency.
Now place the cooled sponge cake on your work surface and carefully remove it from the cake ring using acake ring knife. Cut the cake into four layers of equal thickness (approx. 1 cm thick). It’s best to use asponge cake cutterfor this. Place the layer on acake board(20 cm) and carefully spread the sour cherry jelly over it. Make sure you spread the jelly evenly so that the cake is nice and straight later on.
Now spoon 150 g of the whipped double cream onto the jelly and smooth it out with a spatula. Again, make sure the mixture is spread evenly. Now take a few sour cherries and press them into the cream mixture. It’s up to you to decide how many whole cherries you want to distribute per layer. Once you’re happy with the distribution, place the second sponge layer on top. Try to position it directly over the first layer and press it down gently.
Now soak the second sponge layer with your alcohol syrup. If you’d like to make a non-alcoholic version of the cherry cake, you can either leave out the syrup altogether or replace it with a fruity cherry syrup. The best way to soak the sponge layers is with acake soakeror asilicone brush.Now spread another 150 g of the cream over this layer and arrange whole sour cherries on top again. Repeat the process exactly the same way for the next layer. First soak, then spread with cream and scatter with cherries. Next, place the final layer on top and coat the cake with cream. It’s best to use 150 to 200 g of cream for this; spread it over the surface first and smooth it out. Next, run aspatularound the edge of the cake to coat the sides evenly. If any of the sponge is still visible in places, simply add a little more cream to those areas and smooth it out again.
Once the cake is nicely covered and you’re happy with the result, it’s time to ‘dress’ it with chocolate shavings. Slide an offset spatula under the top layer of the cake and lift it carefully.
Fill a large bowl withchocolate shavings, hold the cake at a slight angle over it and press a handful of shavings at a time against the edge of the cream cake. Once the edge is completely covered, you can sprinkle the remaining shavings over the top. For the top, choose shavings that are slightly larger than the rest – this gives the cake an even more attractive look.
Now it’s time for the final decoration. Traditionally, a Black Forest gateau is topped with one cream rosette per slice. Decide how many slices you want to cut, then make a small hole at intervals corresponding to the size of the slices and add the chocolate decoration. This is necessary to ensure the cream rosette stays in place later on. If you were to try piping the cream directly onto the shavings, it would simply slide right off again.
Now fill the remaining cream into apiping bagfitted witha rosette nozzle (18 mm)and pipe small, pretty cream rosettes onto the prepared areas. Now select the best-looking cherries you have left and place one cherry on top of each cream rosette. Of course, you can also use fresh cherries if they’re in season.
Finally, dust the whole cake very lightly with a little icing sugar and you’re done. We recommend putting the cake back in the fridge for about 30 to 60 minutes before cutting it, so that it’s easier to slice.
Storage & Shelf life
The finished cake will keep in the fridge for three days.
If you want to freeze the cake, you’ll need to add one sheet of gelatine to the cherry jelly and an extra sheet of gelatine to the double cream. The cake will then keep in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutritional information per 100 g
Energy value in kJ:1170 kJ |Energy value in kcal:280 kcal |Fat:15 g, of which saturated fatty acids: 8 g |Carbohydrates:32 g, of which sugars: 25 g |Protein: 4 g |Salt:0.12 g
Related products
Spatula medium
Spatula Large
Cake ring Ø 22 cm x 6 cm
Cake slices white Ø 20 cm 10 pieces
Vanilla cream powder, 120 g
Sponge cake/cake cutter
Mixing bowl stainless steel 2000 ml
Rosette grommet 18 mm
Professional leaf gelatine, 150 pieces
Whisk 25 cm
Cocoa powder, 1 kg
Disposable piping bag transparent 20 pieces
Hand mixer Clever Mix
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Comments
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beeindruckend!
By: Mary Ann On 2024-11-24Danke für dieses Rezept. Ich werde es nachmachen und freue mich sehr drauf.
Liebe grüßeReplied by: Thomas Ramseier On 2024-11-25
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