So I've been out of the blogosphere for a while now (my mind being distracted and all) and I'm back for now. Hopefully I'll update more regularly 'cause I have some plans to experiment a bit more with new techniques and recipes. Here's the first little test of mine in a while with the black forest cake.I got the inspiration on a trip to Sweet Revenge down on Main St. one night when they had the Black Forest cake as their feature of the day. I don't normally like Black Forest cake all that much (I'm not a fan of the maraschino cherries and kirsch though I know, I know, that's what makes the cake) but they were using fresh cherries instead of the maraschino ones. I was a little disappointed in that you couldn't really taste the cherries because the kirsch covered it all up. The cake itself was alright I guess; it was slightly grainy you could say. I could only finish half (it was quite filling) and I got the idea to do my own take on the Black Forest. One that I could actually enjoy.
I decided on using a chocolate sponge cake that used actual chocolate instead of cocoa powder and that was high in butter so that it was rich but the texture was still spongy. I soaked it in simple syrup with framboise and spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on top. Fresh pitted cherries came next and vanilla whipped cream with mascarpone cheese (I had leftovers). I covered the sides in chocolate panels and more fresh pitted cherries. The top picture shows the 6" version that my sister brought to work and I had some leftover cake so I made myself a mini one. I definitely enjoyed this better than the traditional one. The absence of kirsch was a blessing and the hint of raspberry jam lended sweetness and complimented the fresh cherries.
