Hi Guys, there’s something about Christmas that makes everything a bit more magical, even the dessert. I grew up making treats to share with the entire family and I love baking so much.

And for this special day, I’m gonna share with you my signature “Christmas Blackforest Cake”. The perfect dessert for Christmas dinner that my whole family will love.

This is the first cake that I’ve learned to made when I was 13 years old. I was so happy and proud of myself at that time because everyone (specially my Mom) said that the cake was delicious.
Sometimes I think they gave me compliment just to make me feel good, they don’t want me to be disappointed.

But as I got older, I just realized that what they said was true.

This Blackforest Cake combines a very soft chocolately chocolate sponge cake, layered with a rich dark cherry fillings, covered with fluffy frostings and sprinkle with a generous amount of dark chocolate shavings.

What make it special from other Blackforest Cake is the rich dark sweet cherry filling, which people usually use only whipped ceam.

And because it has always been very difficult to get Kirsch in my country (Kirsch is a traditional cherry liquor for Blackforest Cake), I always substitute it with my favourite Dark Rum for the wonderful aroma.

You can use Vodka, wine or Brandy if you want or just leave this out if you’d like to keep it kid-friendly.

The cake so soft, melts in your mouth, full of that rum flavour cherries filling, and the fluffy light frosting and dark chocolate shaves, really create a decadent, rich!

Black Forest Cake was a staple when I was growing up. It’s a light and perfectly sweet German dessert that is easy to make and a chocolate-lover’s dream!

I created this special frosting recipe, coz I don’t like to use whipped cream for covering the cake which is melts easily.

And of course it’s not complete without some fresh cherries, sift some icing sugar for the snow effect, and I would like to add silver sugar pearls for a sweet touch.
Feel free to add other decoration as desire.

Isn’t this cake look tempting? It’s ready to serve or you can pop it into the fridge to hang out for a while.

I’m so ready for a Christmas celebration, they are also perfect with your favorite tea or coffee.

No one thought we would be celebrating Christmas in the midst of a pandemic, yet here we are. But we are still grateful for everything we have and always hope for the best.
May your Christmas be a merry one! Stay safe!! Love you All…

BLACKFOREST CAKE
Yield: One 8-inch Round Pan
Active time: 1 hour
Total time: 3 hour

INGREDIENTS
Chocolate Sponge Cake:

• 100 grams Cake Flour
• 25 grams Cocoa Powder
• 65 grams Granulated Sugar
• 50 grams Vegetable Oil
• 65 grams Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• A Pinch of Salt
• 85 grams Egg Yolks
  
• 165 grams Egg Whites
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice/ Vinegar
• 65 grams Granulated Sugar
  

Cherry Filling:

• 1 can (16 Ounces) Dark Sweet Cherries
• 80 grams Granulated Sugar
• 30 grams Corn Flour
• 3 tablespoons Dark Rum/ Kirsch
  

Frosting:

• 225 grams Shortening
• 40 grams Unsalted Butter
• 190 grams Icing Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dark Rum/ Kirsch
• A Pinch of Salt
• 60 grams Whipped Cream
  

INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the panFor the water bath; Line the inside bottom part of 8-inch round pan with parchment paper and wrap the outside bottom part of the pan with aluminium foil.
Place the wrapped pan on bigger baking pan, set aside.


Chocolate Sponge Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder, set aside.
   In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, salt and egg yolks, mix well. Pour the egg yolks mixture into the flour mixture and mix until no lumps remain.
3. In another large bowl, whip egg whites and lemon juice until a bit foamy. Add the sugar gradually, continue mixing until reach a stiff peak.
4. Very gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolks batter in three batches (don’t mix it together all at once, to prevent the egg foam deflate).
   Using spatula, mix gently just until all incorporated, make sure there’s no egg yolks batter left on the bottom of the bowl.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking pan, tap the pan a few times to get rid off air bubbles.
   And for the water bath; pour about ½-inch hot water onto the bigger pan.
   Place both pans on the bottom rack of the oven and bake it for about 85 minutes.
6. Once it come out from the oven, take it out immediately from the water bath. Tap the pan a few times so it won’t shrink too much, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack.

Cherry Filling

1. Strain the cherries and place the syrup to a medium sauce pan.
2. Soak the cherries with generous amount of dark rum for about 1 hour (you can leave this out if you’d like to keep it kid-friendly).
3. To make the cherry filling; Combine the reserve cherry syrup with sugar and corn flour (strain to make sure there’s no any lumps) pour it back to the pan.
   Cook over medium low heat, keep stirring until it boil becomes transparant and thickened. Remove it from the heat, add in rum, mix well
4. Drain the soaked cherries and combine with the cherry filling.

Frosting

1. In a large bowl combine the shortening and unsalted butter mix until soft and well combined.
2. Add in the icing sugar, rum and salt, continue mixing until becomes light and fluffy.
3. Pour in the whipped cream and mix until just combined.

Assembly

1. Using a large serrated knife, divide the cake into 3 equal layers.
2. Place the first cake layer on a cake plate, brush it with rum. Pipe a rim of frosting around the cake layer before adding the filling (this creates a nice barrier so the filling stays in place), spread half of the cherry filling within the frosting barrier.
   Place the second layer on top, repeat the step. Place your final cake layer bottom side up on top of the cake.
3. Crumb coat your cake with a light coat of frosting (freezer for about 10 or 30 minutes in the fridge to set the crumb coat). Continue frost the cake with remaining frosting.
4. Press generous amount of the chocolate shaves onto the cake, sprinkle some for the top
   (Tip: grate the chocolate 1 hour in advance and store them in the fridge so it’s easier to handle).
5. Pipe frosting to make it pretty, place some fresh cherries. Sift some icing sugar on top of the cake. Add another decoration if desire.

NOTES

1. Best serve on the day it’s made.
2. Cover in an airtight container and store leftover cake in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
3. I suggest to use 16 Oz S&W Dark Sweet Cherries brand for the best result coz it serve fresh cherries inside and better taste than any other brand.