Black Forest Cherry Torte
(Schwartzwälder Kirsch Torte)

Kirsch soaked chocolate sponge cake with whipped cream, chocoalte and cherry filling, iced with whipped cream and chocoalte shavings.

Ingredients:

You will need two round 10 -12 inch cake pans.

For the cake: Ingredients: For the cake: 8 tbsp (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, plus more for the pans 1 ½ cups unbleached AP Flour, plus more for the pans 2 tsp Baking Powder ½ tsp Baking Soda ½ tsp Salt ¾ cup Cocoa Powder, (preferebly Dutch Processed) sifted 1 cup brewed Coffee 1 cup Buttermilk 1 cup packed Light Brown Sugar 1 cup granulated Sugar 2 large Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Alternative. You can also use a chocolate cake mix and fortify it with a bit more cocoa powder. Or you can use a sponge cake recipe and add cocoa powder.

Options For the Cherry Filling: *2 14-oz cans of canned Cherries or 4 cups fresh or frozen Cherries. 1/4 cup Water 1/4 cup Kirschwasser 2 tblsp. Sugar (if using fresh Cherries) 1 Tblsp Lemon Juice 1 Tblsp Cornstarch 1 split Vanilla Bean or a teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract 2 tablespoons Cherry Syrup (optional to flavor the Kirschwasser) *If you are in a hurry you can use Canned Cherry Pie Filling. For the filling and the final frosting; 1 quart Whipped Cream 4 oz Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate (1 half grate with a grater and 1 half cut large chunks) You may find a milk chocolate bar for the curls works better. Note; you can use a sweet cherry brandy instead of the Kirschwasser and cherry syrup. The Kirschwasser is a bit dry so that is why I add the syrup. You can also use fresh cherries and make your own Cherry Sauce

Note; you can use a sweet cherry brandy instead of the Kirschwasser and cherry syrup. The Kirschwasser is a bit dry so that is why I add the syrup.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2.Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Stir in the cocoa and cook until fragrant, 1- 2 minutes.

Off the heat, whisk in the coffee, buttermilk, and sugars until dissolved. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla,

3. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture till smooth.

4. I sprayed the cake pans with non-stick spray, then I sifted a bit of cocoa in the pans to keep the cake from sticking. you can also dust it with flour, but the cocoa adds flavor.

5. Divide the batter into both cake pans.

Directions:

Bake the cakes for 20 to 30 minutes until a toothpick come out clean. let the cakes cool till room temperature or overnight.

6. Cut the cake in half. I recommend that you cut the cake a few inches, spin 30 degrees and cut a few inches and repeat until you are all the way through the cake. take your time and keep your knife level.

Next get your cherry sauce ready.
You can make your own cherry sauce by adding the juice on the cherries, with some water,
and kirschwasser. lemon juice, and thicken the simmering syrup with the cornstarch that you have first mixed with a
bit of water to make a slurry.
For a fresh cherry sauce I used a pound or 4 cups of fresh cherries, and simmered them lightly with the water, kirschwasser, lemon juice and sugar.
a split vanilla bean, or vanilla extract, and you can enhance it with almond extract if you have it.

Now lets fill the cake layers with Kirschwasser or cherry brandy,
whipped cream, cherries, grated chocolate and frost the outside.

7. I combined 1 /2 cup kirschwasser and flavored it with 2 tablespoons of cherry syrup. soak 2 tablespoons of this onto each of the cakes. start with the bottom, put on the filling and then top with the next layer. Soak, fill and repeat.

Whip the cream to soft peaks and spread a cup onto each layer. Some grated chocolate for each layer. Add some cherries to the whipped cream. Here I used a cherry sauce. You can also use cherry pie filling.
You will need to divide the cherries for 4 layers. Alternatively you can also use the canned Morello cherries or fresh cherries.

Sprinkle with grated chocolate.
Repeat with the next layers.

Lets Finish the Cake Now

This is a way to make Chocolate curls
use a vegetable peeler or a paring knife. I recommend using a chocolate bar that is soft to make good curls. You may need to experiment a little. I found the baking chocolate didn't make a good curl sometimes it was too hard and brittle. I found a milk chocolate bar a bit softer and worked well.

I cut these curls on a piece of paper so that I could pick them up easy.

8. Spread the remaining whipped cream around the sides and sprinkle the chocolate curls on the top and sides. You can use also any grated chocolate you have left.

Top with remaining cherries.