Black Forest Gateau ( Cake )

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 (25 ounce) can cherries in syrup, drained with syrup reserved
• 3 tablespoons kirsch (a 50ml miniature bottle)
• 9 extra large eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, grated

Recipe

• 1 cherry filling: stir together the drained cherries, 1/4 cup reserved syrup and the kirsch. set aside while preparing cakes.
• 2 to make the sponge cakes: preheat oven to 350ºf and butter (3) 8-inch round cake pans. line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and then butter the paper also.
• 3 put yolks and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium speed until the mixture has at least doubled in volume, is very thick and mousse-like and a wide ribbon trail slowly falls back into the bowl when beaters are lifted. this could take 5 minutes or more. don't short the time here!
• 4 sift in the cocoa and gently fold with a large spoon.
• 5 in another large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
• 6 carefully fold egg whites into chocolate mixture, 1/3 at a time.
• 7 divide the batter into the 3 prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cakes spring back when touched and have pulled away from sides of pans.
• 8 let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes; invert onto a wire rack & peel off the paper.
• 9 now go back to your cherries - drain them but hold onto the syrup! place the cherries on paper towels to dry. set aside 12 or so for garnish.
• 10 cream filling:.
• 11 in the clean bowl of your stand mixer, or with an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. sprinkle in the sugar and whip until slightly thicker.
• 12 assembly: place 1 cake layer on a large serving platter. sprinkle with 2 tablespoons reserved syrup.
• 13 spread with 1/4 of the cream filling. press 1/2 of the cherries into the cream.
• 14 stack on the second cake layer. sprinkle it with reserved kirsch syrup as before. spread with 1/4 of the cream & the rest of the cherries (except for the ones reserved for garnish).
• 15 top with final cake layer & sprinkle with remaining syrup.
• 16 cover the top and sides with all the remaining whipped cream - you can either pipe it or spread it on - then garnish with the reserved cherries & grated chocolate.
• 17 refrigerate until serving time. best eaten within 48 hours.