Saturday, January 30, 2010

Black Forest Cupcakes - Recipe #7

Black Forest Cake, also known in Germany as Schwarzwälder Kirsch torte is one of my personal favorites. I am a sucker for cake filled with any type of fresh fruit and custard filling but this one takes that over the top. In order to bake this cake correctly the way they do in Germany you have to soak the cake with Cherry Brandy or Kirsch. In America we commonly see this cake soaked with maraschino cherry juice which in my opinion loses it's flavor in the chocolate cake. The Kirsch has a smooth, robust kick that pairs nicely with the cherries and chocolate. When baking this cake you have several options for cherries; if you take the canned route you will find black cherries in syrup (think cherry pie filling) or you will find tart cherries in water. If time is not an issue you can make your own with a few simple ingredients: a pound of fresh pitted black cherries, a cup of sugar and cornstarch. I wanted to bake a traditional German Schwarzwälder Kirsch torte so I purchased the tart cherries. In my opinion the tart cherries are more pleasant with the sweetness of the cake, brandy and hyped up whipped cream.

For the recipe I used my go-to dark chocolate cake recipe. I lined the tins with greaseproof red glassine wrappers from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery and Supplies.

Whipped Cream:
  • Whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream until you have soft peaks.
  • Add in 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of Kirsch. Continue whipping until you have stiff peaks. Do not over beat, it will separate.
Once you bake the cupcakes and they are cooled cut out the centers. Place 1 teaspoon of whipped cream in the center and top with roughly 3-5 cherries. Cut the cone part of cake tops off and place tops back onto the cupcakes. Pipe whipped cream on with desired tip (I used a round tip). Garnish with chocolate shavings or sprinkles and a chocolate covered cherry.

Perfect for Valentines day, holiday dinners or just for that someone special!

2 comments:

Matthias said...

Where are our samples? Those look so good! Is Jim holding out on us!

Janelle said...

That looks amazing!