Black Forest Cake My Way



Black Forest Cake My Way
Photo and cake by ChristineB

 Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup softened butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar (you can add less sugar and the cake still tastes great, I halved the sugar)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Filling and Topping Ingredients:

1 can of cherry pie filling
1 carton of Nutriwhip topping (Canadian product) or Rich's Ready to Whip topping (U.S.)
Grated semi-sweet chocolate (I used a 70% cocoa chocolate bar)
1/2 cup Kirshwasser or maraschino cherry syrup to moisten the cake layers. You can also fore go tradition and make a mocha flavoured cake by dampening the cake layers with coffee.
Maraschino cherries for top of cake and syrup if you would like to dampen cake with cherry syrup.

Note:  If you like Kirshwasser and have some you can also put a teaspoon of it in the whipped topping.

Directions:

Combine first four dry ingredients by sifting together in a medium-sized bowl.

Pour the 2 cups of boiling water over the cocoa powder in another bowl and whisk.

At a high speed beat the butter or margarine with the sugar, vanilla and eggs in a very large bowl.

Slowly (in about three additions ) add dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternating with about two additions of the cocoa/water liquid mixture beating with each dry/wet addition. 

Pour into a prepared bundt cake pan (tube pan).  You can spray pan or grease and dust with unsweetened cocoa powder.  Make sure batter is evenly distributed and that air bubbles have dissipated by tapping pan on level surface.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Let cool before cutting in half and frosting.

Cut in half and dampen layers with (Kirshwasser, or cherry syrup or coffee or whatever liqueur/juice you like).

Add the cherry pie filling on one half, spread cherry layer with prepared Nutriwhip/Rich's topping (prepare topping according to box).

Top with other cake layer and ice the whole cake with the remaining Nutriwhip/topping.  You can add fancy flowers on top with topping like I did with a cake decorating bag or tube.

Grate chocolate and add to top and sides of cake.  Add maraschino cherries around the top of cake (in the flowers if you added them).


This recipe is adapted from Esther Brody's book 1500 Best Bars, Cookies, Muffins, Cakes & More.  This is an adaption of her recipe for Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake.