Cherries: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (cheat version)

What do you do with leftover chocolate cake layers?  I love schwarzwälder kirschtorte, also called Black Forest Cake, Black Forest Cherry Cake, or Black Forest Gateau.  After making one just a few weeks ago, I was left with one, single layer of chocolate cake.  That's just too little for a full cake, but to throw it away would have been so wasteful.  So, I decided to do a little cheat version of the cake I love so much.

Tips:

1- If you have leftover cake layers, wrap it tightly with plastic wraps and it should store in the freezer for about two weeks.

2- It doesn't necessary have to be a heart-shaped cake, go for anything you have or like.

3- Personally, I prefer using Kirschwasser, it literally means cherry water in German.  However, if you are serving this to a child or pregnant ladies, you can substitute it with syrup from canned cherries mixed with simple sugar syrup (see recipe below).

4- You will see multiple choices for the soaking liquid.  You can chose any versions you prefer depending on your own liking and who you are serving the cake to.

5- I'm using fresh Bing cherries which are sweeter, but you can also substitute with canned cherries if you prefer.  Sweet, tart, pie filling, any kind of cherries you have are fine.  Marachino cherries, however, does not go so well if used as the filling, decorations are fine though.

6- If you don't have piping tips or piping set, you can spread it with a knife and spoon, or cut a 1/4 inch tip out of a zip top plastic bag and pipe.

7- If Chantilly cream on the cake turned soft due to surrounding temperature, do chill it in the fridge for about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (cheat version)

Cake:

1 Chocolate chiffon cake layer

Arrange and using cookie cutters, cut out 3-6 shapes of the cake.

If the thickness of the cake is at or more than 3/4 inches, half it, so that it is about 1/2 inch thick.

Fillings:

Cherries, halved and pitted 

Depending on the size and shapes of your cake, you may need less or more of the cherries.

Chantilly Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Whip all three ingredients to stiff peak and store in refrigerator until it is ready to be used.

Soaking Syrup:

Choice I)

1/8 cup kirschwasser

Choice II)

1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup water

Boil the two ingredients until dissolved for a simple syrup.

Cool the syrup and set aside for later use.

Choice III)

3 tbsp simple syrup

3 tbsp kirschwasser

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

Choice IV)

3 tbsp simple syrup

3 tbsp syrup from canned cherries

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

Choice V)

2 tbsp simple syrup

2 tbsp syrup from canned cherries

2 tbsp kirschwasser

Mix all ingredients and set aside for later use.

After cutting out cake shapes, immediately brush with your choice of soaking liquid so that the cakes does not dry out.

Set first layer on a plate and pipe a thick later of Chantilly cream around the border.

Set cherry halves on the cake.

Add a little more Chantilly cream to fill the spaces between the cherries.

Place another layer of cake on top of the first layer, with soaked layer facing bottom.

Brush the top of the second layer of cake with soaking syrup.

Repeat procedure of piping cream and placing cherry halves on cake.

Place third layer of cake over the second layer of cream and cherries.

Decorate top of the cake with Chantilly cream, and decorate with more cherry halves.

Dust with cocoa powder if you wish.

Finally ENJOY YOUR CAKE!

You can also cover the whole cake with cream as shown in the picture below.  Whatever you wish, you can make em!  As the title of the blog suggests:  PLAY!  Have fun, enjoy! ^^