Time to return after a good 6 day break in the beautiful Himalayan hills, and we landed on the eve of the lad’s birthday! Didn’t know what hit me as I faced his extreme birthday excitement, piles of laundry, the feeling of extreme food disconnect, and the panic that in 6 days I might have forgotten how to cook & bake! I was mighty relieved that I had baked the basic sponge for his birthday cake and frozen it before we left. Phew!!
Crept out early the next morning, while the rest of the family luxuriously snoozed in dreamland, cursing my luck, but the cake had to be assembled, and that too in soaring temperatures! Yes indeed, we were back into summer. From a cool 15C in the hills, we landed the night before at 39C The day highs here are back to 42-44C. The impending task of frosting a cake in such smoldering conditions was not exactly appealing, but I was determined to stick to my choice of Swiss Black Forest Cake. The upside was that almost all parts of the cake can be made in advance, so assembling it is a breeze! In retrospect, it was the best Black Forest Cake we’ve ever had! Am still ruing the fact that it disappeared rather too quickly!
Rose Beranbaums version of the Black Forest Cake, a German Classic, was inspired by Confiserie Tschirren in Berne, Switzerland. They brought the recipe from Germany after World War II, and it has since become the national cake of Switzerland. In her words, the Swiss version is far lighter and more delicate than the original German one, which also includes buttercream.
My version of the cake is one which is quite popular in bakeries and patisseries all across India. I think it’s referred often as the Black Forest Gateau here, and is made with whipped cream and canned cherries. I took advantage of fresh cherry season, and loved the way the cake came together. The crumb was light and very moist, the filling luxurious and the flavours outstanding. Mr PABs verdict … the best BFC he’s ever had!
A very sweet reader of my blog, Zareena from the UAE sent me this beautiful book a short while ago. I used The Cake Bible last month to make these Cherry and Matcha Cheesecake Pots. I waited impatiently for the son’s birthday to arrive so I could bake a cake from it. On the cover it says, “If you ever bake a cake, this book will become your partner in the kitchen”! Words that ring true for me! I am also happy to blog about this because I get a large number of requests from home bakers especially in India for a BFC recipe, and even more queries for whipping up low fat cream. Our basic problem in India is that we get just one sort of cream here, a 25% low fat cream {Amul}, and in warm weather, it almost never gets whipped up. I was thrilled to read how Rose Beranbaum found a way to get the butterfat back into the cream. To quote her, “I am both abashed and delighted to announce that it is the very soul of simplicity“… music to my ears!!
Swiss Black Forest Cake
Minimally adapted from The Cake Bible, Rose Beranbaum
Serves 12-15
2 moist chocolate genoise cakes {recipe follows}
500gms cherries {fresh, frozen or canned}
1 cup syrup {recipe follows}
1 portion Real Old Fashioned Whipped Vanilla Cream {recipe follows}
Fresh cherries, grated dark chocolate and chocolate flakes for garnishing
Moist Chocolate Genoise
Adapted minimally from The Cake Bible, Rose Beranbaum
230gms dark chocolate
3/4 cup water
8 eggs
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornflour
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