Black forest cake

To celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary,I prepared this blackforest cake. It's my first experience with fresh cream icing and I couldn't believe the result..

Ingredients

For Cake

4 eggs
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
130g dark chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Cream

400g whipping cream
3 tablespoon icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For sugar syrup

1 teaspoon kirsh or cherry brandy(optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar

For decoration

a handful of fresh or glazed cherries
chocolate shavings
grated chocolate

Method

Cake

Preheat the oven to 180 c.


In a non stick pan melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of water in low flame. Remove from fire when it's boiling and in pudding like consistency. cool it completely.


Boil 1 cup water in a pan and after it begins boiling, reduce the flame to the minimum. In a glass bowl, break the eggs and add castor sugar. Place this bowl over the pan of hot water. But, bottom of the glass bowl should not touch the water in the pan. Now with electric beater in medium to high speed, beat for 10 minutes or until the egg mixtures becomes 3 times of its original volume.

Add vanilla extract. Now slowly add the sifted self raising flour into the egg mixture and mix it slowly with the spatula. Add the chocolate mixture and mix slowly without breaking air bubbles.

Pour the mixture into a 9 inch cake pan lined with butter paper. Put in the oven in middle rack and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the pan and cool it completely in the wire rack. I prepared the cake one day earlier, wrapped it in cling film and kept in room temperature.


Sugar Syrup

In a pan, add granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water and heat till it's in rolling boil. Remove from fire, add kirsh. cool it completely.

Cream

Refrigerate electric beater and mixing bowl for 15 minutes. Now , pour whipping cream and icing sugar in the bowl and start beating with electric mixter till it forms peaks. It takes about 5-7 minutes. If temperature is very hot, we can place the mixing bowl over a bowl of ice cubes. At last add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Assembling

Cut the cake into 2 slices. Sprinkle sugar syrup in both the slices. Place the bottom layer in cake plate. Pour a big spoon of cream and spread it to a layer. Add some chopped cherries. Now place the second layer on top of the first one. sprinkle with sugar syrup. Spread remaining cream all over the cake. With star nozzle, make some stars out of icing, and place whole cherries over them. Sprinkle grated chocolate over the cake and decorate with chocolate shavings.


Note

I have made a cake with only 2 layers. If we want, we can double the quantity of ingredients and make 2 cakes. And make a 4 layer cake. since we are only 4, this quantity is enough for us..