Frodo > wrote:

> I would like a recipe for Black Forest chocolate cake. Does it need
> whipping cream added to the cake?
> How do you make the chocolate cake? Does it take marachino cherries as
> well? Do you have to put it in the refrigerator to chill it before serving?
> Should you add strawberries in glaze and whipping cream when serving the
> cake for dessert?

Below is a recipe that will answer your questions. It is from _Recipes:
The Cooking of Germany_, Time-Life _Foods of the World_ series.

> What meal should be served before the cake is served?

It is generally served by itself, with coffee, not as a part of a larger
meal.

Victor

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte
Black Forest Cherry Cake

To serve 8 to 10


CHOCOLATE CURLS
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

To make chocolate curls to garnish the cake, the bar or chunks of
chocolate should be at room temperature but not soft. Hold the
chocolate over wax paper or foil and shave the bar or square into thin
curls with a sharp narrow-bladed vegetable peeler. Draw the peeler
along the wide surface of the chocolate for large curls and along the
narrow side for small ones. Handle the chocolate as little as possible.
Refrigerate or freeze the curls until you are ready to use them.


CAKE
1 tablespoon butter, softened
6 tablespoons flour
10 tablespoons sweet butter
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sifted flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

Preheat the oven to 350°. With a pastry brush or paper towel, lightly
coat the bottoms and sides of three 7-inch round cake pans with soft
butter using about 1 tablespoon of butter in all. Sprinkle 2
tablespoons of flour into each pan, tip them from side to side to spread
the flour evenly, then invert the pans and rap them sharply on a table
to remove excess flour. Set the pans aside.

Clarify 10 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan by melting it slowly
over low heat without letting it brown. Let it rest for a minute off
the heat, then skim off the foam. Spoon the clear butter into a bowl
and set aside. Discard the milky solids at the bottom of the pan.

In an electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla and 1 cup of sugar together
at high speed for at least 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and
fluffy. (By hand with a rotary beater, this may take as long as 20
minutes of uninterrupted beating.)

Combine the 1/2 cup of sifted flour and the unsweetened cocoa in a
sifter. A little at a time sift the mixture over the eggs, folding it
in gently with a rubber spatula. Finally, add the clarified butter 2
tablespoons at a time. Do not overmix. Gently pour the butter into the
prepared cake pans dividing it evenly among the three of them.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a cake
tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Remove
the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for about 5
minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edge of each cake and turn
them out on racks to cool out completely.


SYRUP
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup kirsch

Meanwhile, prepare the kirsch syrup in the following fashion: Combine
3/4 cup of sugar and 1 cup of cold water in a small saucepan and bring
to a boil over moderate heat, stirring only until the sugar dissolves.
Boil briskly, uncovered, for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the
heat and when the syrup has cooled to lukewarm stir in the kirsch.

Transfer the cakes to a long strip of wax paper and prick each layer
lightly in several places with the tines of a long fork. Sprinkle the
layers evenly with the syrup and let them rest for at least 5 minutes.


FILLING AND TOPPING
3 cups chilled heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup kirsch
1 cup poached pitted fresh red cherries or 1 cup drained and rinsed
canned sour cherries
Fresh sweet cherries with stems, or substitute maraschino cherries with
stems, drained and rinsed

If you are using fresh cherries for the filling, poach them in the
following fashion: Remove their stems and pits, then combine them with 2
cups of water and 3/4 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil
over high heat, then reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5 minutes, or
until the cherries are tender. Drain them in a colander, discarding the
syrup, and pat the cherries completely dry with paper towels. Canned
cherries need only be rinsed in cold water and patted completely dry
with paper towels.

In a large chilled bowl, beat the cream with a whisk or a rotary or
electric beater until it thickens lightly. Then sift 1/2 cup of
confectioners' sugar over the cream and continue beating until the cream
forms firm peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl. Pour
in the 1/4 cup kirsch in a thin stream, and beat only until the kirsch
is absorbed.

To assemble the cake, place one of the three layers in the center of a
serving plate. With a spatula, spread the top with a 1/2-inch-thick
layer of whipped cream and strew the cup of fresh or canned cherries
over it leaving about 1/2 inch of cream free of cherries around the
perimeter. Gently set a second layer on top of the cherries and spread
it with 1/2 inch of whipped cream. Then set the third layer in place.
Spread the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream.

With your fingers, gently press chocolate curls into the cream on the
sides of the cake and arrange a few chocolate curls and fresh or
maraschino cherries attractively on top.